So you say you can handle the heat, any heat?  Maror is like getting punched in the nose, and I guess that is the point. We have been out for a long time, because I forgot to dig up some horseradish from the garden and irrigation ditches last fall, and it is still frozen in the ground. Finally I saw some big horseradish roots in the grocery store and I bought a large one, and three large red beets. This is how I make maror with wild or garden horseradish.

Horseradish heat, wasabi being the same thing but powdered and dyed green, is totally different than heat from hot peppers. One Valentine’s day  years ago, I was cooking for about 70 of our employees and I made this, warning them that it is very hot. A dear lady from Mexico insisted that she can handle any heat and nothing, not even ghost peppers, was too hot for her. We all sat in dismay as she panted, screamed, cried and almost fainted after eating maror. Hard not to laugh.

Frankly, this is impossible to make without a food processor, and even then, I needed a gas mask today. Whew!

Peel the horseradish and chop into big chunks. Process until as fine as you can get it in your processor.

Before you take the lid off your food processor, invite your husband into the kitchen and ask him if he thinks this smells delicious, then take off the lid for him to take a deep breath.

Run.

Peel and chunk the three large red beets and do the same (minus the breathing and running part, as the fun has worn off.) Mix well in a large bowl and suffer being punched in the nose yourself, as this is HOT!

I use living kefir whey to ferment it, and just pour it off the top of jars of kefir that has been in the fridge for a while. Yogurt whey would also work. If you don’t have any whey, you can add a little water, but it would be better with either beet kvaas or kombucha. About a cup of whey is what I used.

I added a tablespoon of real salt, because this was about a half gallon of horseradish/beets, which is the proportion used for fermented vegetables in Nourishing Traditions, and how I make beet kvaas.

Pack into small mason jars and leave a little headroom in each jar.  Don’t put the lids on too tight.  Keep in room temperature for three days for the probiotics to begin to ferment the vegetables and then tighten the lid and put in the refrigerator.  It will last for at least 6 months fine, and if I am going to keep it longer, I freeze it.

I like to serve it two ways, either straight up like this as a side for leg of lamb or something, or stir in some heavy raw cream that has been separated with a cream separator.  If you don’t have that you could use heavy cream, even sour cream, or thick Greek yogurt.  This will make the most beautiful pink sauce and tames down the heat a little.