BY KAREN BINDER
Illinois Correspondent

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. — There was no missing the International Horseradish Festival in Collinsville – one just needed to look for the gargantuan jar of horseradish on the festival grounds.

It actually was a 25-foot tall hot air balloon, which had made its first appearance at the early June festival. It also helps welcome the upcoming International Herb Assoc. “Herb of the Year” salute to horseradish in July.

Started in 1988, the festival celebrated “the multi-faceted and vastly under-utilized horseradish,” explained festival chair Kim Pamatot. “People come from miles around for the usual festival fun, but also for fun with horseradish.”

There were the food booths, each offering their own horseradish delectables, such as raspberry horseradish burgers or bourbon shrimp with horseradish; a root toss; root golf, where the root is the club; a 30-second root sacking contest; a Bloody Mary contest; a horseradish recipe contest; and the annual Horseradish Root Derby.
“I know this all sounds crazy, but people love it,’’ Pamatot added.
Horseradish is a root plant from the mustard family, and is related to kale, cauliflower … brussel sprouts. It is harvested in the spring and fall. Processors buy up the roots for grating, which releases the hot and spicy isothiocyanate oils that distinguish horseradish from all other flavors. Ground horseradish is mixed with distilled vinegar to stabilize the heat, and occasionally contains sugar, salt, cream or vegetable oil depending on the processors.

While the festival offered bushels of fun, horseradish is a big business in this part of the country. In the U.S., an estimated 24 million pounds of horseradish roots are ground annually to produce 6 million gallons of prepared horseradish. Roughly two-thirds of this horseradish is grown in the potash-rich soils around Collinsville, with up to 85 percent of all horseradish coming from southern Illinois.
The region’s climate offers cold winters to provide dormancy for the root and the long warm summers for growing.

Come July another type of horseradish celebration will commence when the International Herb Assoc. convenes its annual conference on July 9 to 13 in Collinsville. In fact, 40 years ago, the land where the conference hotel (Double Tree Suites) stands was a horseradish field.

July 10 is Public Education Day, allowing the public opportunity to learn more about herbs from herbalists Betsy Williams with her Mrs. Thrift’s Herbal Tips and Sal Gilbertie, a long-time commercial herb grower from Connecticut, on how to get started with an herb garden.
The professional program on Sunday and Monday is geared to commercial growers. It includes discussions about growing, “Fire Cider,” upcoming food trends, a panel discussion by seasoned herbal entrepreneurs, highlights of important herbal literature and more.
There also will be tours, including a trip to Keller Farms, a large family-owned farming operation near Collinsville and located mainly in the American Bottoms of the Mississippi River Valley.
Visit www.iherb.org for more information.