Southwestern Illinois brings the heat when it comes to production of horseradish.

Depending on conditions, farms in Madison and St. Clair counties grow between 60 percent and 80 percent of the horseradish in the world in a given year. This is attributed to the sandy, potassium-rich soils of the American Bottoms area near the Mississippi River. Commercial cultivation began there during the 1850s, and by the 1890s, the region dominated horseradish production.

Today, there are many farms and production facilities in the Collinsville area, which produces six million gallons of prepared horseradish annually. There’s even an International Horseradish Festival held on the first weekend in June every year in Collinsville that features root grinding demonstrations, a Bloody Mary contest, a Little Miss Horseradish pageant and much more.

Learn more:
The horseradish root has no odor until it is ground or grated. Here’s how you make prepared horseradish.
Horseradish is neither a horse nor a radish. It is related to mustard, wasabi and cabbage.