Horseradish can easily become a pest when left to its own devices. Learn how to control horseradish to prevent your garden from becoming overrun. But there’s no need to get rid of the stuff entirely, harvest the main root for culinary use. Our favourite recipe is horseradish sauce. Simple to make and delicious with a roast lunch or steak supper.

For a less conventional way to use your horseradish, try our beetroot and horseradish vodka. The winner of The Field’s Hip Flash Championships 2013, consume your concoction at once, before someone else gets to it.

HOW TO CONTROL HORSERADISH

Our garden is overrun with horseradish. We are unsure how to use it and, really, how to control it. It seems rather a shame to dig the whole plant up, so I’d like to keep a small amount. I buy horseradish sauce as we find it delicious with venison but it would be lovely to make our own.
RE, Oxfordshire

Left to its own devices, horseradish spreads via underground shoots and can become a pest. After the first autumn frost, dig up and divide the roots. Harvest the main root for culinary use and replant one of the large offshoots of the main root for next year’s crop. If the roots have been left undisturbed for a long time they become woody and are no longer useful to cook with, but you can divide these old plants to start new ones. The young, tender leaves can be eaten in salads.

Here is a basic recipe for horseradish sauce: grate 4 tbsp horseradish root and mix it with 1 tsp sugar that has been pounded to a powder. Add 1 tsp salt, 1⁄2 tsp ground pepper and 2-3 tsp cider or mustard vinegar. Stir to ensure the horseradish is covered; then stir in 2-3 tbsp cream until you have the right consistency.