Watercress soup

Foraging diaries # 25: fool's watercress.

Hampshire has been cultivating watercress for centuries. Hampshire's fairly flat and chalky land and waterways make it for the ideal conditions to grow watercress. Wild watercress can be easily found in areas of slow moving water on river banks.

River Itchen's banks are the ideal location to find watercress. We live a few minutes from the river and the river path is popular with local walkers and dog walkers. Even when, as today, it was overflowing and you couldn't tell what was river and what was path... Wellies were absolutely mandatory!

We set off to find watercress (Nasturtium officinale) but we completely forgot that it's season ends in November. Instead, we found fool's watercress (Apium nodiflorum), which can be found until the end of December.

Both have the same habitat and are incredibly similar. Fool's watercress has serrated leaves whilst true watercress has smooth wavy margins. Watercress has a cress, peppery smell and taste, Fool's watercress smells and tastes of carrot.

We collected it anyway as I was intent in cooking a soup. Although watercress is lovely in salads, wild watercress should be cooked as it may contain river parasites.

This soup is perfect with watercress, you get the peppery flavour of it coming through. With fool's watercress is has a more subdued taste but still makes for a lovely soup.

Serves: 8 persons.

Ingredients:

• 1 turnip - 150g, peeled and chopped
• 1 slice of pumpkin - 100g, peeled and chopped
• 2 carrots - 250g, peeled and chopped
• 1 large onion - 250g, peeled and chopped
• 2 medium potatoes - 300g, peeled and chopped
• ½ leek (white end) - 200g, sliced
• 1.5 litters of water
• 150g watercress, washed and chopped
• olive oil to taste
• salt to taste

Method:

1. Add all the vegetables, except the watercress, to a large pan with the water and let it cook until the vegetables are cooked and soft, about 20 min.
   

   
   
   
2. Blitz the soup with a handheld blender.
3. Add salt and olive oil to taste.
   
   
   
4. Return the pan to the heat until it boils. Reduce the heat to low, add the watercress and let it cook for 5 min.
   

   
   
   
   
   
5. Serve warm.