The horseradish is specific and popular condiment. According to the " Encyclopedia of healing food"  by Michael T. Murray and Joseph E. Pizzorno, this plant was well known and used in the ancient Egypt. Legend has it the Delphic oracle told Apollo: " The radish is worth its weight in lead the beet its weight in silver, the horseradish its weight in gold". Jules Verne, French novelist and pioneer of science fiction literature, in his "Mysterious Island" wrote:
From time to time, in certain places where the landing was easy, the canoe was stopped, when Gideon Spilett, Herbert, and Pencroft, their guns in their hands, and preceded by Top, jumped on shore. Without expecting game, some useful plant might be met with, and the young naturalist was delighted with discovering a sort of wild spinach, belonging to the order of chenopodiaceae, and numerous specimens of cruciferae, belonging to the cabbage tribe, which it would certainly be possible to cultivate by transplanting. There were cresses, horseradish, turnips, and lastly, little branching hairy stalks, scarcely more than three feet high, which produced brownish grains.

Jules Verne, "Mysterious Island"
Total Time:  45 min
Prep:           15 min
Cook:          30 min
Yield:          4 servings
Level:          Medium easy

Ingredients:  
Soup
  • 4-5 cups veggie stock (chicken or beef stock might be also used)  

  • 1 tbs clarified butter
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 medium size leek
  • 1 small celery root
  • 1 parsley root
  • 2-3 tbs freshly grated horseradish root               

  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 1/2 cup white wine
  • 1 crushed or finely minced clove garlic (optional)
  • 1/2 lemon
  • salt pepper 
Topping:
  • 4-6 potatoes
  • 8 oz.  bacon
  • 1 tbs clarified butter (optional it depends on how fat bacon is)
  • 
1 tsp marjoram
  • 1 sprig  of rosemary  (or 1/2 a teaspoon of dried rosemary).
Direction:
  1. Over medium-high heat, bring the veggie stock to a boil. 
  2. Wash and peel carrots, leek, celery root, parsley root. 
  3. Diced veggies into ½ inch cubes. 
  4. In a sauté pan, warm clarified butter over medium-high heat. Pour veggies. Cook and stir  them for about 5 minutes. 
  5. Add wine and 1 cup of veggie stock. Bring mixture to a simmer and cover. Allow to cook for 10 minutes or until veggies are almost tender.
  6. Pour veggies into the boiling veggies stock. When all veggies are soft, add horseradish and crushed garlic.
  7. Add lemon juice.  Season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat.
  8. Mixed the heavy cream with 1 cup of soup. Incorporate the mixture into soup.  
  9. Use a mixer or an immersion blend to puree the soup. 
  10. Wash, peel and diced potatoes. Boil until almost soft. Drain the potatoes well, slice them.
  11. Cut bacon into stripes. 
  12. In a sauté pan fry bacon, until lightly golden and crispy, add sliced potatoes. Dust with the marjoram and rosemary. Fry the mixture until well golden.
  13. Ladle the soup into warmed bowls and serve immediately, topped with the fried bacon and potatoes.