the.com/nasturtium
a peppery garden rebel that's entirely edible, from flame-colored petals down to its caper-faking seeds.
means A trailing or climbing garden plant (genus Tropaeolum) with round leaves and showy red, orange, or yellow flowers, all parts of which carry a sharp, peppery flavor and are edible.
from From Latin nasturtium, traditionally explained as nasus 'nose' + a form of torquere 'to twist' — literally 'nose-twister,' for the way its peppery bite makes you wince. Romans first applied the name to watercress, another plant with that same sinus-clearing sharpness; when the unrelated New World Tropaeolum reached European gardens, its similar pungency earned it the borrowed name. So the flowers you sprinkle on a salad still answer to a word that means, roughly, 'this'll twist your nose.'
- fully edible
- Leaves, flowers, and seeds all taste of pepper
- fake capers
- Pickled green seeds masquerade as real capers
- wrong name
- Botanically Tropaeolum, not the watercress it borrowed
- glowing trick
- Flowers reportedly flash faint sparks at dusk
- trap crop
- Gardeners plant it to lure aphids away
nasturtium watercress salad — culinary use in european cuisine since the 16th century, peppery edible flowers and leaves
tropaeolum majus — scientific name for garden nasturtium, native to south america, cultivated worldwide since 1600s
indian cress — common name in britain and europe, introduced from peru by spanish conquistadors in 1500s