Welcome to the summary page for FabulousFusionFood's Cook's Guide entry for Watercress along with all the Watercress containing recipes presented on this site, with 50 recipes in total.

This is a continuation of an entire series of pages that will, I hope, allow my visitors to better navigate this site. As well as displaying recipes by name, country and region of origin I am now planning a whole series of pages where recipes can be located by meal type and main ingredient. This page gives a listing of all the Watercress recipes added to this site.

These recipes, all contain Watercress as a major wild food ingredient.

Watercress, Nasturtium nasturtium-aquaticum, is a fast growing aquatic (or sometimes semi-aquatic) perennial of the Brassicaceae (cabbage) family. Botanically it is a close relative of both garden cress and mustard (they all have a tangy, peppery, flavour). Watercress is native from Europe to central Asia and is one of the oldest of the leaf vegetables known to be consumed by humans.

As an aquatic plant the stems of watercress float and the leaves are pinnately compound. The plants produce clusters of small white and green flowers. Cultivation of watercress is practical on both a large scale and a garden scale. Being semi-aquatic, watercress is well-suited to hydroponic cultivation, thriving best in water that is slightly alkaline. It is frequently produced around the headwaters of chalk streams. Watercress seeds are commercially available and should be planted in damp compost within pots. These pots can then be placed in ponds (watercress is an excellent oxygenator and helps to keep ponds clear) or they can be placed in polythene-lined pits that are topped-up with water.

Unharvested or mature wild watercress can grow to a maximum height of 120cm and plants harvested about two days after germination are sometimes sold as sprouts. The older the plants the more pronounced the flavour, though the leaves tend to become bitter and unpalatable when in flower. Wild watercress tends to grow wild in fast-flowing streams and they prefer alkaline waters. As a result you will tend to find watercress most commonly near the headwaters of chalk streams. If you pick wild watercress make sure you cook it before consumption as it can harbour the larvae of liver-fluke. Commercially-grown watercress is safe to consume raw in salads. Watercress also makes an excellent green soup.