Water Cress Leaves

Why Chefs Order Live Wheatgrass Trays

Watercress has the strongest flavour of any salad leaf. The bite comes from mustard oils in the stem, which is why chefs use it where lettuce would disappear.We cut ours the same morning it leaves the farm. The leaves reach you deep green with firm upright stems, not the limp yellowing bunches that sit in cold storage for days.

Restaurants use watercress for steak plating, smoked salmon, egg dishes and green soups. The classic pairing is potato and leek soup, where a handful stirred in at the end lifts the whole bowl. Home cooks add it to sandwiches instead of lettuce. Nutritionally it ranks near the top of all leafy greens. High vitamin K, vitamin C, calcium and iron for very few calories.

Handle it gently. Wash in cold water, spin dry, and wrap in a damp cloth inside a sealed container. It stays crisp for four days that way.Never cook it long. Thirty seconds is enough or the leaves collapse. Kitchens ordering greens weekly often add a wheatgrass tray to the same delivery.