Watercress

Peppery bitterness is the only green that survives next to a rested steak.

Sweet citrus against mustard heat, and the pith echoes the bitterness.

Starch rounds the heat and turns a sharp leaf into soup.

Yolk fat blunts the isothiocyanate burn without hiding it.

Oily cured fish needs peppery bite more than it needs lemon.

Two bitters, one tannic and one hot. They agree to share.

Acid curd and mustard heat, both sharp, neither sweet.

Dress it late. Acid wilts the stems within a minute.

Identical mustard oil from two plants. Stack them and the pepper doubles.

Same isothiocyanates, one leafed and one grated. Doubling down.

Sugar and water underneath, so the pepper has somewhere to land.

The cress does what mignonette does, with texture instead of acid.

Cocoa butter lactones round the mustard heat into something floral.