Horseradish Fest 2013, Collinsville, IL

Did you know that more than 80 percent of the world's horseradish is grown in Southern Illinois? Collinsville, Illinois (which itself produces approximately 60 percent of the world's horseradish each year) celebrates the tasty tuber every year with the International Horseradish Festival. This year's festival is to be held May 31st through June 2nd at Woodland Park in Collinsville.

The festival includes a variety of events as well as horseradish-based food concessions, as well as a chance for home cooks to enter their horseradish recipes in competition. Bloody Marys get an event all their own, sponsored by Smirnoff and Schnucks Grocery.

For those of you who are interested in St. Louis' eats, Collinsville is located less than 17 miles northeast of the Gateway Arch. The St. Louis thread has lots of suggestions, but I invite those with specific food interests to PM me for suggestions.

A trip to Collinsville would profitably be combined with a visit to Cahokia Mounds, the largest and earliest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This would go nicely with a lunch of Carne en Su Jugo at Taqueria El Gallo Jiro in Cahokia, extolled in these pages by Santander.

The Edwardsville area also has some notable food interest for those who are looking to explore further.

One last thought: If you can't make it, you can order fresh horseradish root from this website: http://www.jrkelly.com/.

Josephine wrote:A trip to Collinsville would profitably be combined with a visit to Cahokia Mounds, the largest and earliest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This would go nicely with a lunch of Carne en Su Jugo at Taqueria El Gallo Jiro in Cahokia, extolled in these pages by Santander.

Excellent suggestion!

been wanting to shoot, down towards that area. I also like horseradish.

Thanks for the heads up.

Also in the general area is the John Boos factory store in Effingham. If you're going all the way to the end of IL, you might as well stop there on the way.

And as for a horseradish festival, my family prepared some 90 jars of horseradish a couple of weeks ago. It is an annual event. We rotate digging the roots at various places, get together to grind and pack in jars.

Then we have lunch with horseradish-friendly burgers, home-made potato salad, and brownies.

The main grilnders have passed from generation to generation. Hopefully the younger kids will carry on the tradition. I know they all like the result!

Good times, good times.

I've done the Horseradish Fest, had a great time. Parking can be a problem, as can rain. Be prepared to get muddy if it rains. There are other local treats in the vicinity as well. On IL3 just above I-270 is a new Lewis & Clarke museum that is a beaut, and a real delight to visit. In Alton, of course, there
Fast Eddie's Bon Air a must-be-visited bar. And then further north, on the River Road, is the little burg of Grafton, which has an excellent wine bar cum store, which has the greatest selection of local Missouri and Illinois wines I've ever seen, plus an excellent deck to drink/eat upon whilst viewing the river. Grafton also has several fish markets where local (river) and imported fish, smoked, frozen, fresh, or hot can be bought. I've had some nice smoked fish from here.

Geo

Good suggestions, all.

For those considering a trip south, may I also suggest visiting the St. Stanislaus Summer Polish festival in North St. Louis' St. Stanislaus Kostka Church. It's worth reading what the church's website has to say about the congregation's dispute with a former Archbishop, recently resolved after a 10-year court battle. (A joint statement suggested an amicable split.) In any case, the diverse, inclusive church appears to be thriving. The festival begins on Sunday, June 2nd with a polka mass at 10:00 AM. A Polish Dinner is served 11:30-4:00 PM. There will also be booths serving sandwiches, pastries, potato pancakes, and beer. If you are not over-stuffed, you can dance to the tunes of Larry Hallar's Two-Star Final and Czech Express. After all that, a visit to nearby Crown Candy might be in order.

St. Stanislaus Kostka Polish Catholic Parish
1413 N. 20th St.
St Louis, MO 63106
(314) 421-5948

Last night's severe weather has caused a postponement of the International Horseradish Festival events until tomorrow. Check out their Facebook page for updates this afternoon. The recipe contest is tentatively scheduled for noon, but I hope to make it for the demonstration of root grinding at 10:45 AM.