I’m always excited to taste the first local strawberries of the season but often my enthusiasm deflates with the too firm, not very sweet and not flavoursome enough greenhouse fruit. Sun and dry weather is what the little berries need and both have recently been in short supply. Still, May has only just begun and the few strawberry plants down my garden are not even flowering.
So I am definitely going to wait for some ripe berries before making the strawberry and cream Victoria sponge, which is such a classic it has to be made at least once a year. For a more accessible cake, both in terms of preparation and consuming, here’s strawberry crumble cake.
I’m still celebrating asparagus and new potatoes and I’ve found the two, cooked simply, served with butter, make the best spring dinner. That’s a suggestion you don’t need a recipe for. If you want to be a bit more elaborate, make the potato, pancetta and asparagus salad – with Jersey Royals, Majorcan or whatever new potato variety is the best in your locality.
With the new potatoes, new season lamb would be gorgeous, for instance the lamb cutlets in Parmesan crust; not a bad idea for the Bank Holiday Monday dinner. And if you’d rather have a roast, how about veal topside? Make sure the veal – like British rose veal - is humanely raised. It’s as tasty as beef but much lighter and easier on our digestive system.
Fish ideas – an unusual one: lettuce wrapped salmon. Pasta dish for this week could be bucatini alfredo with spinach and peas – or asparagus of course. And if you’d like a casserole which is meat-free, it can be a main, a lunch dish or a side, there’s spinach and cheese bake.
And finally, it might be time to pull the ice maker from the back of the cupboard and prepare it for some action.