Hidden Horseradish

For some reason, when I was at the store, I just had to have some horseradish.  Maybe it’s because I haven’t had any in years, but I had a hankering.  So I went over to the condiments, as one is wont to do when one has a hankering for a condiment, and sought out the fiery comestible.  What do I find?  Creamed horseradish, spicy horseradish, and every other type of horseradish other than what I was seeking.  See

, the tangy spread I was looking for was the horseradish of my youth: a bottle with little more than ground horseradish root, some vinegar, a little salt, an acid, and pretty much nothing else.  All of these things on the shelf had an ingredient list almost as long as on most "healthy" ice creams (emulsifiers, eggs, mustards, polysyllabic chemicals).  Not for me.  I was very very disappointed.

But then I remembered: the horseradish of my youth was always refrigerated.  Maybe in the meat and cheese case.  Voila!  There, almost hidden away in an easily overlooked corner, the object of my search: simple prepared horseradish.  Oh, I had forgotten how well it can infiltrate one’s nostrils, but that was fine.  The taste more than made up for it.  This was what I’d grown up eating.  After crushing disappointment, my sense of dogged persistence allowed me to find a treasure (yeah, I could have asked…but where’s the fun in that?).  My taste buds are well content.

Now if only I can find some potato flakes–they’re not just for mashed potatoes anymore, but I can’t find them locally any more.  What’s up with that?