Seasonal Treats in May

Let’s celebrate balmy spring days with four of the best British savoury spring ingredients.

Spring lamb

Succulent spring lamb is a Great British classic. Keep it simple to make the most of its tender, mild flavour and pair with earthy seasonal ingredients like boiled Jersey Royals or roasted aubergines or asparagus. While leg is the default family roast joint, fattier shoulder is often tastier and definitely cheaper. Lamb is traditionally served with mint sauce, but mint or apple jelly makes an interesting alternative. Try searing it in a hot griddle pan for an additional burst of chargrilled flavour.

Radishes

Traditionally, we like our radishes small and peppery in Britain. Use them simply sliced or chopped in salads, or try them cut in half and dipped in a little salt or salted butter, which compliments their nutty taste. You can also eat the leaves, which are slightly pungent, like rocket. Radishes are quick to grow, so if you’d like a home-grown supply, get planting now and you’ll be enjoying your own crop by the time our June issue pops through your letterbox!

Herring

The Atlantic herring, with a beautiful silvery skin and cream-coloured flesh, has been prized right across Europe for centuries, with records of salting recipes (think rollmops) dating back over a thousand years. It’s often sold smoked, as kippers or bloaters. If you’re buying fresh, look out for red rather than brown gills and bright eyes, and eat within 48 hours, as this is a fish that doesn’t keep well. Herring is excellent fried, grilled or baked. It’s easy to find sustainably fished herring – just look out for the blue MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) logo.

Wild things: fennel

Growing profusely in fields and hedgerows, wild fennel is a common sight in the English countryside, although it’s not actually a native species but was brought here by the Romans as a culinary herb. Not to be confused with poisonous species like hemlock, its delicate green fronds have a distinct fennel smell. Finely chop and use in casseroles, in stock for gravy or fresh as a herbal tea, where it will impart a sweet aniseed flavour. The pretty yellow edible flowers, which appear in July, are wonderful in salads or as a garnish, while the dried, crushed flower heads give chicken, pork or fish an aromatic kick when used as a seasoning. The seeds are even more perfumy and intense – grind them up and add to sweet or savoury homebaked biscuits.

May Shopping List

Asparagus, Aubergine, Cabbages, Carrots, Cauliflower, Cucumber, Horseradish, Jersey Royals, Kale, Leeks, Lettuce, Radishes, Rocket, Shallot, Spinach, Spring Onions, Raspberries, Rhubarb, early season Strawberries, Brown Crab, Herring, Sea Trout, Turbot