IngredientsSpices
Gartenkressegarden cress
Lepidium sativum, in the mustard and radish family. You eat the seedlings, not the grown plant.
It goes on buttered bread, into herb quark and onto a boiled egg, and it is one of the seven herbs in Frankfurt's Grüne Soße.
Geschmacktaste
The heat comes from mustard oils. It is dry and sharp and goes up the nose, not the burn of chilli on the tongue.
Cooking kills it. Cress never goes in the pan; cut it with scissors over the finished plate.
Auf der Fensterbankon the windowsill
Scatter the seed thickly on damp kitchen paper or cotton wool in a shallow dish, keep it light, wet it every day.
After about a week the seedlings stand up and you cut them. The Nayarit climate is no obstacle.
In Mexikoin Mexico
It is called berro de jardín, and cut cress is next to impossible to buy.
Seed is on Mercado Libre. The mercado sells berro, watercress, the closest relative on the shelf.
Ersatzwhat to use
Watercress works, but it is milder and wetter. Use a bit more of it.
Shake it dry first and cut it fine, or it waters down the quark.