It probably WAS a radish. A friend who's grand parents were German would make a "rettig salat", which was very thinly sliced radishes simply dressed with salt pepper and a bit of oil and vinegar. The radishes were just the regular ones we get here but I can see how having a large er variety of radish would be wonderful for that.
Linda C

They are radishes but I have never seen those here in the US. We went to Oktoberfest as guests of the German government one year and enjoyed them also. Good luck in your search. By the way, my sister makes a radish salad that my German grandmother used to make but think it is just sliced radishes with a vinegar and oil dressing.
Will ask her.

Oh Thanks so much Roselin. I would LOVE to have your german radish salad recipe, if possible.
Bree

Fly,
I emailed my sister yesterday and as I suspected, it is just sliced radishes, salt and pepper and a vinegar and oil dressing. My brother in law said to be sure to keep it in a tightly covered dish in the refrig because it does have a pungent odor.

Thank you Roselin. A simple radish with salt & dressing. Oh so good!!

I know there are radishes called "German Giant".....just google..

Barb

When we lived in Germany we often got an appetizer called Grufte or I think it's also called Obzada. It is made with a REALLY long (can be up to a couple of feet long or longer)white radish called a Daikon Radish. We also ate alot of these radishes when we lived in Korea. Almost all Korean restaurants here in the states use the Daikon radish to make a kimchee and also pickle it a yellow color and use it inside Kim Bab, kind of the Korean version of Sushi...YUM!

I don't know if you can find the seasoning for the Grufte here in the states (I have my friend that still lives there send it to me) but here's the recipe for it.

Grufte

Camembert Cheese
1 cup butter
Onion
Maggie 3 to taste
Daikon Radish

Bring cheese and butter to room temperature. Chop onion very fine. Mix together butter, cheese, onion and maggie 3 very well. Slice radish VERY fine, use a mandolin if you have one. Serve chilled or room temperature with a crusty bread or a Farmer's bread if you can find it. YUM! Great with German beers.

The Maggie 3 makes this a little orange, You may be able substitute a little paprika with garlic powder mixed in.

yummmy that too sounds good lmodrell. I'm going to look for the ingredients for this one this weekend. THANKS!

I forgot to tell you, most grocery stores carry the Daikon radish but if you can't find one at your local grocery check out an Asian grocery. Almost all cities have one of those and they are GREAT places to shop. They have some wonderfully unique items to try. The Daikon kind of looks like a gigantic white carrot on steroids :)

Hope this helps!