Chef Klaus
Bayerischer Wurstsalat
The Bavarian beer-garden salad that lives by the cut: thin sausage strips, raw onion, vinegar and oil, no cheese, rested long enough to taste like supper.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Radi (Bierrettich)
Created by
The Munich beer-garden radish works because salt does the cooking: it pulls water from the white root, softens the bite, and makes one crisp spiral worth eating.
Appetizers & Snacks
German
Budget Friendly
Quick Meal
Outdoor Dining
15 min
Active Time
0 min cook•15 min total
Yield4 servings
Radi is Munich summer food, a beer-garden plate set down with a Breze, butter, and a cold Helles. It looks like almost nothing: one long white radish cut into a spiral, salted, left to weep, then pulled open so it curls across the board. That is the dish. Don't improve it into a salad.
In Bavaria, especially around Munich and Upper Bavaria, the white Bierrettich is cut long and thin, salted hard, and eaten as Brotzeit, the bread-time meal between proper meals. Franconia will give you radish too, but often in cleaner slices beside beer and bread. Further north, the radish family moves toward black winter radish, pickles, or horseradish with fish and cold meat. Im Norden anders, im Süden anders.
The technique is the salt. Cut the radish thin enough to bend, then salt it and wait ten to fifteen minutes. The salt pulls water out of the cells, takes the raw sting down, seasons the flesh all the way through, and makes the spiral relax instead of snapping. Salt it too late and you chew a harsh root. Salt it too early and leave it sitting for an hour, and you've got a wet rag. Das braucht seine Zeit, but not much of it.
Use the leaves if they're fresh. Chop the small tender ones into Quark, the fresh cheese spread, or lay them under the radish on the board. Weggeworfen wird nichts. Serve the Radi with Breze, butter, and beer, never without salt.
Radi belongs to the Bavarian beer-garden Brotzeit tradition that grew with Munich's lager cellars in the 19th century, when royal rules allowed brewers to serve beer under chestnut trees while guests often brought their own food. The white Bierrettich became a standard beer companion because its sharp, watery crunch cuts malt and salt in the same way a pickle cuts smoked meat. The spiral cut is strongly associated with Munich and Upper Bavaria, while other German regions use radish more often as sliced winter root, pickle, or horseradish, a small dish that still marks a regional line.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
white Bierrettich radishes
Quantity
2 large, about 300g each
fine sea salt
Quantity
2 teaspoons, plus more to serve
Brezen
Quantity
4
to serve
good butter
Quantity
80g
softened, to serve
chives (optional)
Quantity
1 small bunch
snipped
fresh radish leaves (optional)
Quantity
a handful
washed and dried
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| white Bierrettich radishes | 2 large, about 300g each |
| fine sea salt | 2 teaspoons, plus more to serve |
| Brezento serve | 4 |
| good buttersoftened, to serve | 80g |
| chives (optional)snipped | 1 small bunch |
| fresh radish leaves (optional)washed and dried | a handful |
Equipment Needed
- •Radi cutter or small sharp paring knife
- •Brotzeitbrett or wide serving plate
- •Clean kitchen towel
Instructions
- 1
Choose the radish
Choose firm white Bierrettich, heavy for its size, with tight skin and no spongy patches. A light radish has already lost water, and this dish depends on water moving out under salt, not on a dry root pretending it still has crunch.
- 2
Trim and rinse
Trim off the stem end and the thin root tip, then rinse the radish well and scrub the skin clean. Leave the skin on if it's tender because it helps the spiral hold together; peel only tough or bruised patches, since a naked radish breaks more easily under the knife.
If the greens are fresh and small, keep them. Chop the tender leaves into Quark or use them under the radish on the board. Weggeworfen wird nichts. - 3
Cut the spiral
Set the radish in a Radi cutter and turn it into one long thin spiral, or cut it by hand with a small sharp knife, slicing around the root in a continuous diagonal without cutting through the centre. Thin cuts bend and drink salt evenly; thick cuts stay harsh in the middle and snap when you pull them open.
- 4
Salt and wait
Lay the spiral on a board or plate and salt it all over, working a little salt between the folds. Leave it ten to fifteen minutes, until clear beads gather and the radish relaxes. The salt pulls water from the cells, softens the peppery bite, and seasons the flesh from the inside. Erst verstehen, dann kochen.
- 5
Pull it open
Gently stretch the radish into a loose spiral just before serving, letting the wept liquid drain away instead of pooling under it. Don't rinse it. Rinsing washes off the seasoning and gives you wet radish with no point to it.
- 6
Serve with Brotzeit
Set the Radi on a Brotzeitbrett, the snack board, with Brezen and softened butter, and add snipped chives only if you want a little green bite. Put extra salt on the table. Radi without salt is just a vegetable looking for work. Schön ist, was schmeckt.
Chef Tips
- •Use white Bierrettich if you can get it. Daikon will stand in for shape, but it is milder and wetter, so salt it a little less and serve it sooner.
- •A Radi cutter gives the clean beer-garden spiral. A sharp paring knife works too, but take your time and keep the cuts thin; thick radish does not curl politely.
- •Salt shortly before eating. Ten to fifteen minutes is enough to soften the bite and make the spiral weep; much longer turns it limp.
- •Serve with Breze, butter, and Helles or wheat beer. This is a Brotzeit plate, not a garnish hiding beside something else.
Advance Preparation
- •Wash and trim the radishes up to 6 hours ahead, then keep them wrapped in a damp towel in the refrigerator so they stay firm.
- •Cut and salt the Radi only 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Once salted, it keeps giving up water and loses the clean snap that makes the dish work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 260g)
Calories
425 calories
Total Fat
18 g
Saturated Fat
11 g
Trans Fat
1 g
Unsaturated Fat
6 g
Cholesterol
45 mg
Sodium
2050 mg
Total Carbohydrates
57 g
Dietary Fiber
4 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
9 g
Where cooking meets culture.
Culinary guides, cultural storytelling, and the editorial depth that makes cooking meaningful.
Discover Culinary ExplorerMore from Brotzeit: The Bavarian Grazing Board
Browse the full collection
Chef Klaus
Bayerisches Griebenschmalz
Bavarian Brotzeit in a crock: slow-rendered pork fat, browned cracklings, onion, and apple, set firm for dark bread because the cheapest part of the pig still deserves proper work.
Chef Klaus
Bunter Leberkäsesalat
A Bavarian Brotzeit salad built from leftover Leberkäse, cheese, pickle, onion, and vinegar sharp enough to wake cold meat without turning it sour.
Chef Klaus
Erdäpfelkäs (Kartoffelkäse)
The Lower Bavarian potato spread with no cheese in it at all: floury potatoes, sour cream, onion, caraway, and enough patience to keep it loose, cool, and clean.