On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 801

available fresh in the West; whole and partly
used roots keep for several weeks in the
refrigerator.
Mostwasabiservedinrestaurantsisinfact
ordinarydriedhorseradishpowder,colored
greenandreconstitutedwithwater.Ithasa
similarpungency,butlittleelseincommon
withtruewasabi.Whenthefreshstemis
gratedafewminutesbeforethemeal,it
releasesmorethan20enzyme-generated
volatiles,somepungent,someoniony,some
green,someevensweet.
DealingwithanOverdoseofWasabior
Horseradish
Thoughamouthfuloffoodoverdosedwith
chillicanbepainful,it’snotasstartlingas
too much horseradish or wasabi, whose
volatile irritants can quickly get into the
airstream and cause a bout of coughing or
choking.Thesereactionscanbeminimized
byrememberingtobreatheoutthroughthe


mouth—sparingthenasalpassages—and
breathing in through the nose, to avoid
drawing irritants from the mouth into the
lungs.
TheBeanFamily:
LicoriceAndFenugreek

LicoriceLicoricecomesfromtherootsof

Glycyrrhizaglabra,anativeofsouthwest
Asia.ItsEnglishnameisamuch-altered
versionofitsgenusname,whichderivesfrom
theGreekfor“sweetroot.”Thewoodyroots
ofthisshrubareremarkableforcontaininga
steroid-likechemical,glycyrrhizicacid,that
is50–150timessweeterthantablesugar.The
waterextractoftherootscontainsmany
differentcompounds,includingsugarsand
aminoacids,whichundergoflavor-and
pigment-producingbrowningreactionswith
eachotherwhentheextractisconcentrated.
Licoriceextractsareavailableasdarksyrups,