If you love hot radishy flavors try to seek out winter’s offering of black radishes. Sometimes spherical, sometimes elongated like daikon, they are soot-black but with a white creamy center and are bolder than regular radishes. Sobakevich, in Gogol’s Dead Souls, likes his black radishes doused in honey, and this salad reproduces that sweet bitter flavor mix. Across the Black Sea, in Turkey, radishes are turp and black ones, kara turp, are often simply grated and soused in vinegar, olive oil and salt.

For the quick-pickled black radishes:

200 grams black radishes, lightly scrubbed clean

3 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 tablespoons water

1 tablespoon honey pinch of salt

For the carrots:

250g carrots, peeled and cut into thick coins

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

2 tablespoons sunflower oil

1 tablespoon honey

1 garlic clove, crushed

1 teaspoon water

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

good grind of black pepper

Step One

Start with the radishes, cutting them into thick matchsticks, keeping the charcoal-coloured skin on (a mandoline with a julienne blade makes quick work of this). Mix the vinegar, water, honey and salt in a small pan. Stir gently over low heat until the honey dissolves. Remove from the heat and stir the sliced radishes through. Transfer to a bowl and leave to one side while you prepare the carrots.

Step Two

Begin by heating a dry frying pan and toasting the caraway seeds for 1-2 minutes until fragrant, then lightly bash them using a pestle and mortar, without crushing them entirely, releasing the scent more. Tip into a large bowl and whisk in the oil, honey (if you measure the oil first, then use the same measuring spoon, without washing it, for the honey – the honey will easily slide off, leaving no sticky residue), garlic, water, salt and pepper, then add your prepared carrots. Stir to combine and set aside.

Step Three

Leave both the radishes and the carrots in their separate bowls for a couple of hours at room temperature to let the flavours develop. Keep any juice created by the carrots and toss in.

Step Four

Serve the pickled radish matchsticks, to taste, on top of the carrots. If you don’t want to use all the radishes at once, place in a sterilised jar and keep in the fridge. They will be good for 3 days or so.

This article was originally published on May 21, 2019.