Rishshaad

Rishshaad (garden cress/peppergrass) is an herb with ruffled leaves and a pronounced sharp peppery taste. The ancient Mesopotamian herb ‘erishtu,’ hitherto unidentified, might well be the same as our modern rishshaad. At any rate, the herb was well known to medieval Arab cooks. Ibn al-Baytar, for instance, points out that the best rishshaad was grown in Babylon (south of Baghdad). It is always consumed raw as a salad green.