There’s something about radishes that summons up summer and images of picnics in the fresh country air. Probably originating in the Far East, radishes were soon being grown in China and Japan. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks were familiar with the radish, but it was the Romans who first introduced it into Switzerland and Germany, where it was considered a medicinal plant in medieval times.

The ancient Greeks had so much respect for this vegetable that they offered radishes to the god Apollo on golden plates, while beets and turnips were entitled only to silver and lead.

A garden plant with an edible root, from the Cruciferae family like cabbage and turnip, the radish has a red robe that conceals white, cream-colored or even red flesh that is juicy and crunchy.