ravanello / radish

Raphanus sativus

My mother would never buy this root vegetable and as a result, to this day, whenever I eat it, I feel like I am tasting some exotic product decked in lovely purple, with a pungent flavor and a musical name. Radish greens are also edible, something I have not yet told my mother.

The name ravanello (often pronounced rapanello) comes from rafanello, which is a diminutive of rafano, horseradish (Armoracia rusticana).

In Italy ravanelli are usually served with other raw vegetables (carrots, celery, fennel, etc.) to be dipped into pinzimonio, a sauce made of olive oil, salt and pepper (and possibly vinegar or lemon juice).

I believe (and certainly may be wrong) that pinzimonio in this country has given rise to the custom of offering small plates of olive oil-based dip together with bread or plain focaccia, a custom I have observed in many restaurants, at least in the Bay Area. However, when a plate of verdure in pinzimonio is served in Italy, usually as an appetizer, each guest gets his or her own small plate of sauce, so that there is no movement of oil-dripping morsels across the table. The guest is also provided with a bowl of water in which to wash his or her fingertips, which would otherwise leave around oily fingerprints.

This is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, a food blogging event started by Kalyn's Kitchen, hosted this week by Rachel's Bite. I got inspired to write this post by reading several entries from previous weeks that featured radish. Here's the roundup of WHB #87, though for some reason my post is not listed.

---

Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post: 

ravanello

or launch the ravanello audio file [mp3].

[Depending on your set-up, the audio file will be played within the browser or by your mp3 player application. Please, contact me if you encounter any problems.]

Comments

[Kalyn]

I love hearing you say the words! I wonder why your mother didn't like radishes? When I was a kid, we used to eat them just dipped in salt. I think the Italian pinzimonio sounds much more interesting. And I do think I would like a little lemon juice in mine. I am loving your blog.

[Simona Carini]

Good question! My mother does not like spicy foods, so she never added radishes to our daily salad. I also like the idea of lemon juice in my pinzimonio. I am glad you like hearing the Italian words: I think that both ravanello and pinzimonio have a lovely sound.

[Paz]

I'd like to try this with the sauce you've mentioned -- olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice... And I'd like try it with the carrots, fennel and fennel... Yum.

Paz

[Simona Carini]

I agree, Paz, fennel is delicious and it is perfect in pinzimonio.

[Lisa]

I love that word! "Ravanelli." And maybe that's because I'm crazy for radishes. I love to make "pickles" out of them; not true pickles, but just marinated in vinegar, a little sugar, red pepper flakes, and salt of course.

[Simona Carini]

I am glad you like the word Lisa. Radishes marinated in vinegar: sounds delicious!