On Food and Cooking

aldehydes, including almond-essence
benzaldehyde. They’re frequently used to
enliven a salad of mixed greens, but are also
pureed into a brilliant green sauce or put on
pizzas. Even the briefest cooking will
inactivate their protection-generating
enzymes and turn them into tame greens.
Some large-leaved varieties are quite mild.
Like rocket, the different forms of cress —
water, garden, winter — are small-leaved and
pungent, usually used as a garnish or as a
refreshing counterpoint to a rich meat. Their
close relative, the window box nasturtium
plant, sometimes lends its slightly pungent
flower for a garnish; the more peppery flower
buds are also used.
Mustard greens are leaves from varieties
of brown mustard (B. juncea) that have been
selected for their foliage rather than their
seeds. Their texture is more delicate than that
of cabbage. They’re often quite pungent in the
fashion of seed mustard, but are usually