Here are the foods that are at their best in April and some great recipe ideas.
April is marked by sunny evenings and the fields springing into life. It's a great month to cook with local and seasonal ingredients. Here are a few ideas...
Vegetables
It’s time to start digging up those spuds, with Jersey royals appearing in most supermarkets and maincrops also starting to surface. It’s watercress season too, so spice up your early season salads with its peppery tang alongside cucumber, lettuce and spring onions. Good green vegetables include peas, spinach and purple-sprouting broccoli.
If you're foraging, don't forget wild garlic and wild nettles.
Try...
Wild garlic and mushroom tartlets with wild garlic pesto
Broad bean, quinoa, watercress and feta salad
Ching-He Huang's hoisin chicken lettuce cups
Rack of lamb with mustard mash and minted peas
New potatoes with pickled samphire and sorrel
Meat
Lamb and rabbit are two spring favourites, with new season lamb now bounding into supermarkets and butchers. Or get crackling with a nice piece of pork.
Try...
Toasted ale pulled pork sandwiches
Heston Blumenthal's roast leg of lamb
Seafood
Once the weather warms up, there are few things better than eating well-dressed crab, crayfish and lobster sandwiches at the seaside. Or you can stick to the shellfish with oysters and cuttlefish. Fish-wise, choices include salmon, sea trout and hake
Try...
Cuttlefish with meatballs and peas
Salmon, fennel and spelt salad
Fruit
If you just can’t wait until summer, get your fix of red fruits with frozen berries – or start planting your own strawberries. Meanwhile, greater quantities of lemons and oranges are now coming in from the Mediterranean rather than the Middle East.
Try...
New York cheesecake with berry compote
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