The Wonders Of Watercress! (Watercress)

Member Name: Machair1

Product:	Watercress
Date:	10/01/09 (216 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Full of vitamins and minerals and cheap too. May even have anti cancer properties.

Disadvantages: Just make sure you wash it well to prevent disease.

The Wonders of Watercress!



I love watercress and have been eating it for years. It is extremely nutritious, cheap and may even help to prevent cancer so why is it such a forgotten salad vegetable? I think the simple reason is that it is more often than not sold in bags in supermarkets, and whilst I do buy it this way unless you select the newly delivered bags or shop in Waitrose you often find it doesn't keep all that well. This is difficult because we are all so busy and trying to watch the pennies that wasting food is simply not acceptable. If you can go to your local greengrocer you will be able to pick actual bunches tied up and these are the best as they are bought daily and are the freshest you can buy.

Recently on holiday and passing through the Isle of Skye I was able to buy some grown hydroponically and it was the most delicate and beautifully flavoured I have ever tried- so look out for this. The organic watercress sold in Waitrose from John Hurd's farm is delicious too. Sometimes our local greengrocer has some from Aquitaine in France, and this is also really lovely especially good to look out for if you don't like the intense peppery flavour.

Most of the watercress eaten in The UK is grown in Hampshire near to the village of Alresford (which is known as the capital of watercress) and in nearby Dorset and it is here that three firms Vitacress, The Watercress Company and Bakkavor have formed an alliance to promote the health and taste benefits of watercress. Each year there is a festival in May to celebrate watercress and the Watercress Heritage Railway which acquired its name because it was used to transport all the watercress to the markets in Covent Garden.


Watercress is grown in spring water on shallow gravel beds and for this reason cultivation in the home garden is difficult.

The plant has a long and interesting history beginning in 400bc on the Greek island of Kos where Hippocrates is said to have located his first hospital next to a stream so that he could grow watercress to treat his patients. The Romans and the Anglo Saxons ate it because they said it helped to prevent baldness! By Victorian times it was reputed to be a treatment for toothache and for freckles and hiccups!

In the 19th century it was an integral part of the working class diet especially in families too poor to buy bread. They would often eat it by itself like an ice cream and would chew a big bunch for breakfast- I'm not sure I would like this!


It is in recent times though on a serious note that scientists have been looking into the possible anti cancer properties of eating watercress. The three companies mentioned above commissioned a study into the health benefits of eating watercress in 2007 through Ulster University and the research yielded some promising results.

It was found that eating watercress daily significantly reduced the DNA damage to blood cells and also that it enabled those blood cells not to succumb to the further damage caused by free radicals. This study was on 30 men and 30 women including 30 smokers who ate watercress for 8 weeks. The interesting point here is that the best benefits were in the group who smoked. Amongst the main findings the scientists discovered that there was also a fall in their harmful fat levels in the blood and an increase in their circulating antioxidants especially of carotene and lutein. Lutein is thought to be a protective chemical in relation to cataract and macular degeneration of the eye both really unpleasant to have.

Further studies by others have indicated a possible reduction in bowel cancer too. This is also true of many leafy green vegetables and I think it may be wise for us to include some each day. Kale is also a good alternative as it is quick to cook-only a couple of minutes!

It is certainly a superfood and contains vitamin A C, B1, B6, K and E, iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese and zinc. It actually has more iron than spinach, more vitamin c than oranges, more foliate than bananas and more calcium than milk!

So having got your watercress and apart from adding it to sandwiches what can you do with it? Well I make it into soup but I don't make the full of calories and fat versions which you normally buy full of cream and butter. I actually make a very simple cheap and delicious soup which all the family love and the great thing is it might even shift a bit of Christmas weight!

Before you start if you have bought the watercress in a bunch please wash it over and over again as tiny little wormy creatures often pop out when you least expect it and this is in my opinion the reason why you have to be vigilant. Not so common in the bagged versions but still look carefully. One other small warning there is a minute risk that you may pick up Sheep Liver Fluke from eating watercress- it is not common but it is the only way that humans in the UK are infected with the parasite. A snail that loves watercress, breeding on it and eating it, can transmit liver fluke to humans. Most of this cultivated watercress is free of this risk but some cases have occurred and for this reason eating wild watercress is not recommended.

So to make my soup!

A large bunch of watercress or two small ones
2 pints of vegetable stock. Oxo cubes are good for this as they have a good flavour.
I large onion
Lots of salt and pepper.

Method
Fry the onion for a few minutes till soft and add the washed watercress. Then add the stock and cook for a few minutes. Timing here isn't too important as you are going to liquidize it so I would say about 10 is perfect. Add plenty of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Liquidise and serve. Don't purée for too long as it is nice to have a more textured soup. This is fat free and delicious and really great with crusty bread. Makes 3 good portions.

If you visit www.watercress.co.uk you can find a wealth of information and more recipes too!

Summary: A great salad vegetable which is cheap and nutritious.