Ćwikła, Polish beetroot and horseradish relish: finely grated beetroot, fresh horseradish, lemon, in jars
The Easter condiment without which white sausage and eggs are incomplete: boiled beetroot grated fine, mixed with freshly grated horseradish, lemon juice, a little vinegar and sugar. Hot, sweet-and-sour, ruby red. Made from a kilo of beetroot in half an hour, it keeps up to two weeks in the fridge, or longer pasteurised.
Your own work in that: 30 min.
- Beetroot boiling 60 min
- Grating and mixing 20 min
- Jars 10 min
- Resting 10 min
Step by step
0 / 6 doneBoil the beetroot in their skins
Scrub the beetroot; don't peel or trim the tails so they keep their juice and colour. Cover with water and boil 50–60 minutes, until a knife slides in without resistance. Drain, cover with cold water and cool. You can also roast them in foil for an hour at 200 °C: sweeter and less watery.
Ingredients: 1000 g beetroot · 100 g fresh horseradish root · 1 pcs lemon, juice · 2 tbsp spirit vinegar, 10 % · 1 tbsp sugar · 1 tsp salt · 1 pinch caraway
TipBeetroot boiled in their skins keep their colour and sweetness; peeled before boiling, they give both to the water.
In their skins, an hour, then cold waterGrate the horseradish
Peel the horseradish root and grate on the fine side, splashing with lemon juice as you go: without acid, horseradish browns and quickly loses its heat. Grate by an open window or in a food processor; fresh horseradish draws tears more effectively than onion.
TipHorseradish's mustard oils are released only on grating and evaporate fast. The acid in lemon fixes them: hence lemon at once, not at the end.
Fine, with lemon at onceGrate the beetroot
Peel the cooled beetroot by rubbing the skin off with paper towel and grate on the fine side. Ćwikła should be smooth and fine, almost a paste; coarse shreds make it a beetroot side, not a relish. Gloves save your hands from turning pink.
Fine holes, almost a pasteMix and season
Combine the beetroot with the horseradish, add the vinegar, sugar, salt and caraway. Mix thoroughly and taste: it should be clearly hot and sweet-and-sour. Too mild? A spoon more horseradish. Too hot? A teaspoon of sugar. Leave 10 minutes for the flavours to marry and taste again.
Hot, sweet-and-sour, rubyInto jars
Spoon the relish into scalded small jars (4 of about 250 ml), pressing down with the spoon, to 1 cm from the rim. Screw on the lids. It keeps 2 weeks in the fridge. For longer: pasteurise 10 minutes in a pot with water to three-quarters of the jars' height and store in the fridge for up to 2 months; it will lose some heat. Do not keep it in the pantry: beetroot is a low-acid vegetable and the acidity of homemade ćwikła is not tested, so a sealed jar at room temperature carries a botulism risk.
TipDon't pasteurise longer than 10 minutes: horseradish mellows at high temperature. Ćwikła is best fresh, made a week before Easter.
Small jars, pressed down, into the fridgeServe
With white sausage, hard-boiled eggs, ham, pâté, żurek. A spoon of ćwikła on a roast-meat sandwich replaces mustard. Use an opened jar within a week.
White sausage, an egg, a spoon of ćwikła
Before you start
With apple
One tart apple grated fine into the beetroot: a milder, juicier relish for those who find the horseradish too sharp.
With sour cream
To serve, mix 3 spoons of ćwikła with a spoon of sour cream: a pink, creamy sauce for roast meat and fish.
It turned brown
Too little acid, or horseradish grated without lemon. Colour doesn't affect the taste, but next time lemon straight onto the horseradish and vinegar into the beetroot.