June
Mint
The unmistakable whiff of mint boiling with new potatoes for me signifies the arrival of a proper summer. The Mentha family is enormously wide ranging in flavour scent and ability to cross between sweet and savory dishes so successfully. Each variety having its own identity - choose perky looking leaves and use as soon as you can after picking or unpacking.
A couple of my favourites are:
Mint Apple, it has large flat oval fluffy leaves with subtle flavour of minty apples, goes really well with blackcurrant's and cassis or strawberries and is very tasty in a really well made sunny day Pimms.
Moroccan Mint, very occasionally (well actually only twice) I have tried to cut down on coffee and having been given a moroccan mint plant from kent i made a really refreshing tea out of the pungent Moroccan mint leaves and lemon, very aromatic and quite spicy.
Chocolate mint , good with chilies, lime, coriander and peppers.
Spinach
English spinach is full of flavour now. These dark green leaves were made famous by Popeye in the 1930s but they have been a popular choice for centuries. Rip away and discard its tough stalks and carefully wash the leaves in several changes of cold water before cooking.
Blanch and squeeze dry for Middle Eastern salads flavoured with yogurt and mint, or puree into creamy roulades, especially in italy where dishes called Florentine have a high spinach content. Look for clean dark green leaves and reject any that are yellow, wilting or damaged. Spinach reduces dramatically when cooked. Spinach is one of the most nutritional foods around.
Cheap, abundant, tasty and rich in fibre, vitamins and minerals, spinach is one of the healthiest foods in the world. It was first cultivated in the Middle East many centuries ago, but has now spread all over the world, as different cultures have come to appreciate its flavour and health benefits.
Asparagus
It's a welcome sign of spring when the first of the season's asparagus begins to appear in the greengrocers and supermarkets. Feast on fine-flavoured English asparagus before its season ends around 21st of June. Prepare by trimming the cut ends and if necessary finely peeling the tough skin near the stalk base. Cook loose in boiling water until tender and serve with melted butter or vinaigrette or the best is wilt in butter with garlic, salt, pepper and nutmeg, throw in double cream and a handful of parmesan, yum!.. Asparagus derives its name from the ancient Greeks. But it was the Romans who were hooked on this vegetable.
Asparagus comes from the lily family and can be traced back to the Romans in the last century AD. they documented detailed growing instructions, they enjoyed eating it in season and they were the first to preserve it by freezing. Fast chariots and runners took asparagus from the Tiber River area to the snow lined alps where it was kept for six months until the Feats of Epicurus.
Folklore credits eating asparagus with everything from curing toothaches to being a reproductive tonic. A true food hero, modern science has found that asparagus is the second best whole food source of folic acid, a B vitamin that is associated with a decreased risk of neural tube birth defects and lowering risks of heart and liver disease. It is also known as a natural remedy. Asparagus can help relieve indigestion and act as a mild laxative and sedative
Look for the first crop of British Asparagus, it will be gone by the end of july so enjoy it while it lasts.
Blue eggs
Sourcing and having access to beautiful ingredients is one of the best bits about working with food and a shear pleasure to cook with, which is reason in itself to try blue or jade-green eggs from Cotswold Leg Bar hens.
Recipe: Blue Eggs
Also in season
peas
elderflowers
strawberries
cherries
redcurrants
lettuce
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