Watercress Festival

World Watercress Soup Championships to be Staged at the Watercress Festival – Sunday 20th May 2012

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, the search for the ultimate watercress soup will be realised and the winner named the World Watercress Soup Champion 2012. Click here to download an entry form…  World Watercress Soup Championships 2012- Entry Form.

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, a representative from the Watercress Alliance, and some soon to be announced “foodies”, 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 £500 cash prize.

Charles Barter, of the Watercress Alliance, principal sponsors of the Festival, said: “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.”

World Watercress Eating Championships

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 is plenty to keep the kids amused too, including a petting zoo, a climbing wall run by the local Scout group and policeman stilt walkers. Children will also be able to learn about eco-farming on the Watercress Alliance stand on Broad Street and have their photograph taken with one of the falcons, which are flown on the farms to deter pigeons from eating the crop.

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 (£3 in Alresford and £5 at the park and ride in Ropley). 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.

Grown in flowing spring water, these days watercress is truly recognised as a super food for a super you!  Packed with 15 health giving vitamins and nutrients watercress not only supports the immune system but it improves the condition of skin and hair to help you look good, and research even suggests that it could play an important role in the field of cancer prevention. With so much to celebrate is it any wonder that the annual Watercress Festival, now in its 9th year, just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

To find out more, visit www.watercressfestival.org

Please note: The shuttle from Ropley is running at reduced capacity this year, carrying only 250 passengers per trip, so please be aware that there may be an increased waiting time for transport into Alresford.  Alternative parking is available – please see the festival website (as above) for details of this.