It's the beginning of the watercress season. After months of creamy, cloudy, comfort food, its peppery crunch and vibrant green juiciness make it one of theliveliest harbingers of spring. ItsLatin name is Rorippa nasturtium aquaticum, and you can't really ask for more than that in a Latin name, can you? As if Rorippa isn't enough (I'd propose it is a good name choice for the next crop of Hollywood A-list boy babes), nasturtium actually means "nose twister".
Watercress is a member of the mustard family, and it flourishes inthe cooler temperatures of spring and autumn – summer heat can bring out its bitterness because it sends the plant to seed. To thrive, watercress needs cool, clean, running water – lots of it – and the pure water that springs from the chalk downs in Hampshire and Dorset provides the perfect growing conditions.
Historically, watercress was used as everything from a bracing tonic toa cure for baldness, restorer of youth and banisher of freckles and hiccups. What helps it achieve some or all of these effects may be the factthat it contains more vitamin C than oranges, more calcium than milk and more iron than spinach.
Like herring, watercress is a food that entered its boom years, a sort of"green rush", with the expansion of the railways. The Mid-Hampshire Railway opened in 1865 and was quickly dubbed the Watercress Line as it took carriage-loads of the stuff from Alresford to London. In its heyday, it created fortunes, not least that of Eliza James, the Watercress Queen. At five, she sold bunches of watercress on the streets of Birmingham. By the end of her life, she was selling 50 tonnes a week to London's restaurant trade from her vast watercress beds in Hampshire and Surrey. In 1927, her obituary in the Daily Mirror feted her success as "surely one of the most wonderful romances of business London has ever known". James's coffin, fittingly, was adorned with an enormous wreath of the green stuff.
A few good sprigs of watercress make a lazy but worthwhile and appealing garnish for richer, stronger meats such as duck, venisonand lamb. It is also a terrific companion for most kinds of fish (see today's sandwich). And it makes adelicious sauce for fish: sauté a couple of shallots in butter until soft, add asplash of white wine and about 80ml of stock, and simmer for a couple of minutes. Pour in agood slug of cream, add a generous handful of chopped watercress and warm through. Either serve just as it is or purée it into a smooth sauce. Watercress makes a bracing addition to salads, too, particularly those containing citrus. Try it tumbled with thin slices of orange and ascattering of fat black olives, all trickled with fruity olive oil. It also peps up a mild leek and potato soup no end. Blitz it right into the soup, or purée it separately with just alittle stock, and use to add adramatic, peppery finishing swirl of emerald into the creamy, white soup.
Sea trout and watercress sandwich
This perky spring sandwich makes aterrific light lunch. Choose sea trout that are tagged from a certified fishery. Later in the year, use mackerel instead. Serves four.
1 egg yolk
½ tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp lemon juice
50ml light olive oil or rapeseed oil
100ml groundnut or sunflower oil
2 tbsp very finely chopped chives
Salt and pepper
4 thick slices light sourdough bread
1 sea trout, organic farmed trout or mackerel, cooked, cooled and flaked
1 handful watercress
First make a mayonnaise. Whisk the egg yolk, mustard and ateaspoon of the lemon juice until smooth. Begin to whisk in the oils, only a drop or two at a time at first, then more quickly as it begins to thicken. Stir in the rest of the lemon juice and thechives, taste and adjust the seasoning. Toast the bread, spread with some mayo and layer on the trout and watercress. Trickle over alittle more mayonnaise if desired.
Watercress bubble and squeak
Standard leftover fare is given atouch of peppery glamour by the addition of a couple of handfuls ofwatercress. Serves four to six.
About 500g leftover floury cooked potatoes (or mash)
A little butter and milk
3 tbsp groundnut oil
4 spring onions, trimmed and chopped
About 120g watercress, washed, picked over and roughly chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Poached or fried eggs, to serve
If the leftover potato isn't already mashed, or if the mash is very stiff, mash with a knob of butter melted in a little warm milk and season well.
Heat a tablespoon of groundnut oil in a large frying pan over mediumheat and sauté the spring onions for a couple of minutes. Addthe watercress, stir for a minute until just wilted, then tip the contents of the pan into the potatoes, season and stir to combine.
Heat the remaining oil in the same pan, add the potato mixture and, using a spatula, pat into an even round. Sizzle gently until the underside is crisp and golden brown. Turn the bubble over by inverting it on to a plate and sliding it back, cooked side up, into the pan. Don't worry if it breaks up a bit – just squish it back together in the pan. Keep going, squishing and turning, then leave to brown for a couple of minutes, until you have a well-formed, piping hot cake with a golden-brown crust both top and bottom. Serve at once with poached or fried eggs.
Watercress and goat's cheese tart
A great tart for a spring picnic. Serves six.
For the pastry
125g plain flour
½ tsp salt
75g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small cubes
1 egg, separated
3-4 tbsp iced water
For the filling
20g unsalted butter
3 shallots, finely diced
180g watercress, well washed, picked over and roughly chopped
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
120g crème fraîche
40g hard goat's cheese or parmesan, grated
120g soft goat's cheese, crumbled into biggish pieces
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a mixing bowl, rub together the flour, salt and butter until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs, though leave afew pea-size pieces of butter in thefinal mix – this helps to ensure aflaky end result. Add the egg yolk and use a knife to combine it with the flour mix. Add just enough water to bring the dough together, pat into a flattened disc, wrap in clingfilm and chill for an hour.
Butter and flour a 24cm flan tin. Roll out the pastry and use to line the tin. Chill for 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 180C/350F/gas mark 4. Place the tart tin on a baking sheet, prick the pastry base all over with a fork and line with baking parchment or foil weighted down with uncooked rice or pulses. Bake for 15 minutes, remove from the oven and take out and discard the liner and rice. Brush with the egg white and return to the oven for 12minutes, until the base is cooked.
Meanwhile, warm the butter over a medium-low heat and sauté the shallots until soft – about 10 minutes. While they're cooking, put the watercress in a food processor along with the eggs, egg yolks and crème fraîche, and pulse to a green purée. Stir in most of the grated cheese, all of the crumbled cheese and the softened shallots, and season. Tipthe mixture into the tart shell, sprinkle on the remaining cheese and bake for 30 minutes until golden.
