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Spring into May with the season's freshest produce.
The season is fantastic for a variety of fresh produce.
The next few months offer a bounty of fruits, vegetables, and flowers at their peak.
Whether you're craving a classic potato salad, roasted asparagus, or a new Sunday dinner side dish, here's your guide to the must-have ingredients as we transition into the new season.
Asparagus
Asparagus season in the UK is quite short and typically runs from late April to late June – making now the perfect time to enjoy it.
“Currently we’ve got some Spanish asparagus, but that will give way to the UK asparagus in the next couple of weeks,” Bob Andrew, brand chef from organic veg box company Riverford says.
“It’s one of those iconic vegetables that’s got a very set season. On the farm we tend to roast our asparagus for best taste. We will throw it in a roasting tray, put it on a high heat for about six to eight minutes and then either serve it with a dressing or a sauce on the side.”
Morels
Head chef at The Plough Shiplake, Ian Normington confirms that morels are in season from late March right up until June.
“What we do with the morel is once they have been washed and cleaned, we then stuff them with a basic chicken mousse and then braise them in chicken stock and butter,” says Normington. “You can’t really overcook a morel which is a good thing, so it is OK to braise it for quite some time.”
Radishes
The season for radishes in the UK is typically from late spring to early autumn with the peak season being from May to June. “You can plant radishes and they then go from being planted to harvested when we get into the full swing of summer – within four or five weeks,” says Andrew. “They are a very fast summer crop.
“When cooking radishes we either braise them in a pan with a little bit of lemon juice and liquid for about 10 minutes. Then we throw them into the oven in a roasting tray. People are used to eating radishes raw, however, they cook really well if you leave a little bit of a bite to them. When they cook, the pink colour of the skin bleeds into the white flesh and you get these beautiful pink radishes that are really good thrown into a salad – they also make a really striking side to a roast dinner as well.”
Salad leaf
“We grow salad leaf all year around,” Andrew says. “However in the winter, we grow it in unheated tunnels whereas at this time of year, we will start moving our salad leaf outside.”
Jersey Royal potatoes
Jersey Royal potatoes are usually seen in supermarkets from spring onwards and Andrew calls them a young potato where the skin has yet to set and are a very iconic, early spring vegetable.
“These are picked early and young in time for spring and summer,” Andrew says. “If people are cooking with new potatoes there are a lot of great dishes like a potato salad – but I don’t mean the heavy mayonnaise-laden salads. You should cook the potatoes really well with lots of seasoning and aromatics in the water because these type of potatoes love to soak up flavour.
“We then always make sure to throw lots of garlic, bay and herbs into the water when we boil them and plenty of salt that soaks it up as it cooks. We will then throw those in with radishes, boiled eggs and lots of chopped herbs.”
Elderflower
Elderflowers are in season in the UK from late May to the end of July, and Normington says they use it to make their own cordial and to glaze their sponges.
“We will soon be picking our own elderflowers and using them to make an elderflower syrup which is made with a liquor called St Germain and sugar,” Normington says.
“We then get a fermented dough that we turn into a sponge. That sponge is then soaked in our elderflower syrup and then we serve it up raspberries which have been compressed in white balsamic, caramelised white chocolate and creme fraiche sorbet.”
English (US) ·