Watercress North Fife

Garden watercress, It's been a very wet summer thus far, though we get a good crop whatever the weather here in north fife. This photo is where a land drain comes to the surface and retains moisture enough for prolific growth. Unless it resides in moving water its quality and nature changes, in the pond for instance which is static, the growth is less in stature and much darker in colour, purple greens. Just as tasty though, peppery mustard essence. Watercress is superb on its own, in a mixed salad, a smoothie or as a soup.
This is a far Eastern Recipe, worth a try.

Watercress Soup

3 to 5 bunches of Watercress (a lot)
1 TBS of crunchy peanut butter (subs crushed peanuts)
2 TBS of oil
17 oz veg stock (use veg stock cube)
17 oz water
2 tsp of turmeric
A pinch of nutmeg (optional)
1 TBS Dark Soy
1 inch of fresh ginger (Chopped)
(Bean curd if desired)


Mix salt, pepper, nutmeg and turmeric in a bowl with enough of the dark soy to make a paste.

Heat oil in a saucepan; add ginger and fry for a few seconds. Add the peanut butter. Stir rapidly as the peanut butter will stick to the bottom of the pan. After 30 seconds add the stock, stir rapidly. Take a ladle of the stock and add to the turmeric paste. Stir the paste into the liquid in the bowl. Add the rest of the soy and the turmeric mixture to the pan. Stir. Add the watercress to the pan. Cook for about 2-3 minutes until the watercress is cooked. Add tofu or bean curd one minute before the end if you have it lurking in the fridge.

Brimming with 15 essential vitamins and minerals, watercress has enjoyed superfood status for centuries. Greek soldiers were given it as a tonic before going into battle and the seventeenth century herbalist Culpepper claimed it could cleanse the blood.
This book celebrates the renaissance of the UK's most historic salad leaf with great recipes, fascinating facts and folklore.Watercress .

Culpeper's Complete Herbal.Culpeper's Complete Herbal - Nicholas Culpeper . By the time Europeans arrived in the Americas, they possessed a long list of medicinal plants. They also began looking for new plants to use in medicine. The "Badinus" was the first manuscript to bring New World botanical medicine back to Europe in the 1550s. It was based on the work of an Aztec physician. However, Flannery pointed out, the "Badinus" disappeared, moving from one library to another, until it surfaced in the Vatican in 1929, so it had no effect on the way botanical medicines were used in Europe, that's by the way, The best medicine is food, it's said that a local cure or restorative will be at hand, not so easy in the city but you'll know what I mean.

North Fife History. Cupar: A History History of North Fife Cupar. North Fife Property. Tour Scotland. North Fife Maps. St.Andrews and East Fife: Cupar, Anstruther and Crail (Explorer) Rent a Cottage in North Fife Scotland.