| 1 | Gently fry onion and garlic in a small amount of butter until transparent. |
| 2 | Season lightly with salt and pepper, and add water and potato and boil until soft. |
| 3 | Pick over watercress and chop 4 or five sprigs and set them aside. |
| 4 | Put onion and potato mixture in blender and puree. |
| 5 | Add most of watercress, blend, re-season to taste and return to heat. |
| 6 | Bring mixture to boil and simmer for 2 or three minutes. |
| 7 | Stir gently to prevent soup from sticking to bottom. |
| 8 | Remove from heat. |
| 9 | This is the decision point. |
| 10 | Either set aside to cool, then chill, or carry on to serve the soup hot. |
| 11 | Stir in cream and chopped watercress. |
| 12 | Heap a teaspoon of caviar on each of the water biscuits and float one on each bowl of soup immediately prior to serving. |
| 13 | Notes: * watercress soup, hot or cold -- this thick, creamy soup is equally good whether served hot or cold. |
| 14 | I have had watercress soup in restaurants, and my mother sometimes makes it, too, but this recipe is my own interpretation of the idea. |
| 15 | Yield: serves * use the minimum amount of butter, oil, or margarine that will turn the onion transparent. |
| 16 | Those who are particularly diet-conscious could dispense with this step, and with the cream. |
| 17 | Don"t overdo the garlic, ?a small clove is ample since it is a background flavour, not one that you should be aware of. |
| 18 | * a caution regarding seasoning. |
| 19 | Potatoes absorb a lot of salt so you may find it under-salted. |
| 20 | The caviar on the other hand, is very salty. |
| 21 | This, for me, is a delightful and important contrast. |
| 22 | Guests can always add extra salt if they choose. |
| 23 | * water biscuits are made by carr"s, amongst others, and can be found in most supermarkets, possibly in the gourmet food section. |
| 24 | They are variously known as water biscuits, water crackers and table water crackers. |
| 25 | To my mind the best for eating with cheese are the high-bake ones, but the regular type are better for this recipe. |
| 26 | If you can"t find them, then any round dry bland low-salt cracker will do. |
| 27 | * a 2 oz jar of lumpfish caviar costs a little under $3.00, but it does keep in the fridge so you can get two batches of four servings from one jar. |
| 28 | I suppose if budget is a prime consideration one could dispense with the caviar, too, but that would be like serving a martini without the olives. |
| 29 | (treasonable). |
| 30 | : difficulty: easy to moderate. |
| 31 | : time: 20 minutes of preparation, ?hour of simmering. |
| 32 | : precision: approximate measurement ok. |
| 33 | : marcus g hand. |
| 34 | : at&t information systems, holmdel nj : ihnp4!mtunh!mgh : |
