Show your appreciation for the little green stuff and help celebrate the start of the British watercress season by cooking up a watercress feast during National Watercress Week (17 to 24 May 2009). Pile it into a sandwich, whiz it into a soup, stir into pasta, or simply serve as a delicious tangy salad.
For a watercress-packed day of family fun, head to the beautiful Georgian town of New Alresford in Hampshire, the home of English watercress on Sunday 17th May for the 6th annual Alresford Watercress Festival (10am to 4pm).
A highlight of the event will be the festival Cavalcade. A horse and cart, followed by a procession of Morris dancers, musicians, street entertainers, The Green Man and school children, will bring the first leaves of the season into the town, to be distributed to festival goers by the watercress May King and Queen.
This year's watercress cookery demonstrations will star several celebrity chefs who live and work in Hampshire:
- Two award-winning chefs from Winchester's Lainston House Hotel - executive chef Andy MacKenzie (Hampshire's Food & Drink Chef of the Year) and head pastry chef Mark Tilling (2008 British Chocolate Master)
- Jennifer Laing, who runs the catering company Cresson Creative, which won the prestigious Gold Star in the national Great Taste Awards 2008
- Executive Chef, Paul Bingham from Romsey's Silk Hotel
Making their debut in Alresford as part of this year's huge festival Food Market is a special Hampshire Farmers' Market. Located in the town's beautiful Broad Street, it will feature almost 50 local producers offering an unparalleled range of local food and drink - everything from watercress pesto, watercress scones and even watercress chocolates.
In the weeks leading up to the festival, budding amateur chefs will compete to create a new dish using watercress and other local produce. On 17th May, the finalist will compete head to head with one of the celebrity chefs in the festival's take on the BBC show "Ready, Steady, Cook".
The 'World Watercress Eating Championships' are back by popular demand and there's also live music, street entertainment, children's cookery workshops, face painting and much more for all the family to enjoy. For more information, visit www.watercressfestival.org.
Grown in mineral rich spring water, drawn from deep under the chalk downs of Hampshire, watercress is one of our natural superfoods, gram for gram containing more iron than spinach, more vitamin C than oranges and more calcium than milk. Visitors can see the real thing on a free watercress farm tour at either Pinglestone watercress farm or Manor watercress farm. Both are just a short stroll from Alresford's Broad Street. Tours are running at 11.30am and 1.30pm at Manor Farm, (call 01929 463241 to book a place), and at 11.00am and 2.00pm at Pinglestone, (call 01264 732034 to book a place).
Or pick up a Watercress book containing everything you ever wanted to know about watercress and more from The Watercress Alliance stand, at a special festival price of £5.00.
The Mid Hants Railway 'Watercress Line' makes for a great day out in its own right. The preserved steam railway acquired its name because of the vast quantities of watercress it used to transport up to Covent Garden Market. On the day of the festival, there will be a historical display including some original goods carts. There will also be a "park and ride" scheme running between Ropley and Alresford stations with a charge of around £2 per person. See www.watercressline.co.uk for all day and all station fares.
Admission to the Watercress Festival is free, although there will be a charge for parking. The event, which runs from 10am until 4pm is organised by New Alresford Town Council, The Watercress Alliance (made up of Alresford Salads, Vitacress Salads and The Watercress Company), Alresford Chamber of Commerce, The Hampshire Farmers' Markets, The Watercress Line and a host of other community groups. The Watercress Alliance is also the principal sponsor.
There are so many things to enjoy in Alresford and visitors can easily make a whole day of it:
- Take a wander round Alresford's many wonderful specialist shops, selling food, gifts, antiquarian books, arts and crafts.
- There are a number of beautiful walks around Alresford. Venture away from the town centre and follow one of the trails taking in the River Arle and the Weir.
- Local heritage site the Eel House will be open for festival goers to visit. The Eel House was originally part of the Arlebury Estate and was used to trap eels right up until the 1950s. For more information on the Eel House visit www.alresford.org.