Kokova Magazine

Delia makes it with leeks, potatoes and crème fraiche; Raymond Blanc uses onions, leeks, garlic and spinach and adds ice cubes to retain the bright green colour, while Nick Nairn uses cornflour to thicken and double cream to taste...

Watercress soup - it's a classic but which variation is the best?

This year at the 9th annual Watercress Festival on Sunday 20th May 2012, the search for the ultimate watercress soup will be realised and the winner named the World Watercress Soup Champion 2012.

Last year 15,000 people descended on the small market town of Alresford in Hampshire, capital of watercress, to celebrate the start of the season for this very British crop.

Organisers this year are encouraging festival goers, together with restaurateurs and food producers, to come armed with their very own version of watercress soup to tantalise the tastebuds and be judged!

Entrants should bring a flask of their soup to Alresford's Cook Academy where celebrity chef Sophie Grigson and a representative from the Watercress Alliance will be among the judges, to select the best variant on the traditional classic, but also the best 'speciality watercress soup'. This could be a watercress based soup but which features other unusual or interesting ingredients.

The winners of both the classic watercress soup and the speciality soup will be announced on the day and presented with a stunning 'golden' ladle plus a cash prize.

Watercress Soup is one of Britain's best known dishes - served hot or cold - it is healthy and easy to cook. It first became popular in the 17th century when it was claimed to cleanse the blood and then 200 years later was still a mainstay of Victorian cuisine. They believed the plant was a cure for
toothache, hiccups and even freckles!

Today watercress soup remains the most searched for recipe on our watercress website. Everyone has their personal quirk that makes it their own and we want to capture as many of these as possible. We challenge the Great British public to bring us the best watercress soup they have to offer.

Charles Barter, of the Watercress Alliance, principal sponsors of the Festival

To inspire any possible 'golden' ladlers out there, check out the watercress website, www.watercress.co.uk for a range of delicious watercress soup recipes.

Of course the ever popular World Watercress Eating Championships are another highlight of the Festival. Men and women of steel will compete to consume two bags of watercress in the shortest time in an effort to beat the current Guinness world record holder, Sam Batho and his time of just 49.69 seconds.

If you fancy your chances in this testing gastronomic feat, simply submit your name on the day!

The Festival starts in traditional fashion with a cart load of the first new season British watercress being showered down on spectators by the newly crowned, Watercress King and Queen, as they process up the length of Broad Street.

The Festival provides not just a spectacle but also a great day out for all the family with cookery demonstrations, food stalls run by local producers showing their wares, musical entertainment, food awards for the most interesting products featuring watercress and the chance to tour a real watercress farm and see how this amazing crop has been farmed for centuries.

There will also be a collection in aid of the Festival's chosen charity, The Joe Glover Trust.

This is a Hampshire based children's cancer charity working with families and specialist children's cancer units across Hampshire, Dorset, Wiltshire, East and West Sussex, the Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands.

Admission to the Watercress Festival is free, although there is a charge for parking. The event, which runs from 10am until 4pm is sponsored by Alresford Chamber of Commerce, New Alresford Town Council, The Watercress Alliance (made up of Alresford Salads, Vitacress Salads Ltd and The Watercress Company), Hampshire Farmers Market and a host of community groups.
www.watercressfestival.org.