Description Herb, Cress Curled There are many cresses and many ways to confuse which cress is which. Cress Curled which is also known as Pepper Cress or Peppergrass is an ancient herb/salad green/condiment which is believed to have originated in Persia and then quickly made its way throughout the civilized world. A curious fact about the plant is that it is called by wildly different names in Bengali, Arab, Persian, Hindustani, Albanian etc. suggesting that each culture independently knew of and used the herb. It is a member of the Mustard Family and possesses some of the same peppery flavor as many mustard varieties. Pepper Cress was a staple of the kitchen garden. It was primarily used as a fresh herb, but was sometimes added to soups and stews as a fresh condiment. It appeared in many of the seed catalogs of the early 1800s. One of the curious applications of pepper cress was as an ingredient in a hair tonic when combined with sage, henna and Chincona bark. Today it is popular as a sprout, because its tangy flavor is intensified in the young plants.
