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Creating the 'World Watercress Cuisine Atlas' with Claude: A Farmer-Engineer's First Web App Launch
topics: [Claude, Notion, HTML, WebApp, AgriTech]
published: true
Introduction: Starting from a Conversation One Day
When I opened Claude, I saw an introduction to several new features. When I clicked on one of them regarding recipe information, it displayed: "Tell me about your cooking preferences! Let me ask you a few questions."
On a whim, I decided to ask:
"Please give me a watercress recipe."
Immediately, suggestions started coming in: watercress and pork belly bowl, watercress peperoncino, Japanese-style cooked rice with beef and watercress stems... one after another. I run a farm called Nanaka Farm, where we grow watercress. While I have no trouble consuming it in my daily diet, I had a challenge of wanting to provide better proposals to restaurants.
At that time, I didn't realize that my curiosity—"Why not spread this to the world?"—was the gateway to an incredible journey.
Development: Chasing Watercress, Expanding the World Map
When I asked, "How is watercress used in French cuisine?" Claude taught me about the history of its culinary culture, from potage au cresson (a classic soup dating back to the 17th century) and Victorian watercress sandwiches (which the working class brought to school as "poor man's bread"), to how to garnish entrecôte with a bouquet of watercress.
As I continued to ask, "How about in Japan?" "What about Korea?" "And in Cantonese cuisine?", the map kept expanding.
- In Canton, it became established in the 1930s as "Sai Yeung Choi" (Western vegetable). Academic research even shows its flavonoid content is the highest among production areas globally.
- In Korea, it is naturally used as an ingredient for namul and bibimbap, and is even adopted by Michelin-starred Korean restaurants.
- In Vietnam, it is known as "Cần tây lục sơn" and is a staple in daily meals as a quick 5-minute homemade soup.
- In the UK, the watercress industry is highly developed, with offerings in three areas: "drink, eat, and spread"—from smoothies and gin cocktails to savory scones.
- In Brazil, it is recognized as "agrião," a medicinal herb for coughs and fevers, and is so established as a health food that books on the "agrião soup diet" have been published.
Watercress, highly regarded by Japanese chefs as a "vegetable that absorbs dashi (broth) well," was loved around the world for surprisingly similar reasons. Whether as a vegetable to neutralize spicy curry, a star of medicinal soups, or an ingredient for fermented foods—the structure of the role watercress plays was common across cultures, despite their differences.
Ultimately, I had compiled:
- 19 genres
- Over 190 watercress dishes
Twist: "This is a database"—From Notion to a Map
As I organized the gathered dish names, genres, and features into Notion, I realized something.
"Is this not just another database?"
If so, couldn't I display dish information on a map based on this database?
I asked Claude to add data via the MCP (Model Context Protocol) connection to the Notion page, and simultaneously requested the creation of an interactive world map in HTML using Leaflet.js.
After a short while, a beautiful HTML file based on dark green was completed.
- Regional Filters (Europe, Middle East, Africa, North & South America, Pacific, East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Modern Cuisine)
- Keyword Search for Dish Names/Genres (Filtering is possible by "dashi," "medicinal," "cocktail," "fermented")
- Clicking a marker expands a list of dishes in the side panel
- A pulse marker with a HOME badge at Nanaka Farm in Kumamoto
"I want to publish this."
When I asked how to publish it, the answer was, "Using a rental server offers the most flexibility." I happened to have a rental server from Onamae.com. As I followed the how-to instructions and operated the file manager in my browser...
nanaka-farm.com/watercress_world_atlas.html
The World Watercress Culinary Atlas was published on the internet.
Conclusion: The Day I Crossed a Barrier
Building applications using Claude has become truly easy in 2026. However, I have personally always felt a high barrier when it came to publishing them.
I think of all those files that remained buried in my local storage for reasons like, "The level of completion might not be enough" or "I'm not confident it will be useful to anyone."
This time, a conversation about "watercress recipes," which started by chance, flowed naturally from building a Notion database to generating an interactive map and publishing it to a server. Before I knew it, it was published.
I think choosing a simple theme like "displaying information on a map" was a good move. It doesn't need to be a perfect app. First, put something that works out into the world.
While wearing multiple hats—farmer, engineer, researcher, and blogger—I feel that the experience of publishing a database that connects to global food cultures, centered around a small vegetable called watercress, was the moment I personally crossed a barrier.
Next, I want to use this atlas as a sales tool for Nanaka Farm targeting restaurants, while fleshing out data from a farmer's perspective, such as detailed watercress recipes and seasonal information.
Nanaka Farm produces watercress in Kumamoto Prefecture. For inquiries from restaurants and chefs, please visit nanaka-farm.com.
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