Market Report - UK seasonal update 11 April 2016
This week's market report from Wild Harvest features mousseron mushrooms, finger limes and French white asparagus as well as a whole host of other fruit and vegetables currently in season which you can see below:
Just in case someone is paying attention to these updates, I haven’t been bold enough to wax lyrical about wild garlic or English asparagus again this week as if they haven’t been available for weeks now.
I expect no seismic shifts in April.
The warmth of May will ring the true changes.
So to whet the appetite and fill the page here are some of our favorites to expect in May.
Before you scream “My supplier has been getting peaches since February” my response is, yes we have been offered Moroccan peaches and Caribbean Charentais melons.
As tempting as it is to rush the seasons (I’m dreaming about blood peaches already) we will be waiting for the quality, reduced transportation and value which European sourced fruit represents.
Some Glorious Gifts Of May
- Cherries, apricots, peaches and nectarines.
- Alfonso mangoes
- Charantais melons
- The first decent girolles towards the end of the month
- Wet almonds
- Strasberries, mara des bois, wild and white strawberries
- More than just the odd bunch of purple asparagus
- Wild asparagus
- Our foraged offering opens up to cover the likes of sweet cicely, hogweed, sea arrowgrass, wild fennel and spruce shoots
- Our baby veg range widens
- Borlotti beans appear
- Jersey Royals hit their peak production zone
- We strengthen our tomato and salad leaf offering to suite summer plates
Anyway, enough day dreaming, back to the here and now.
We are leaving summer truffles in the ground for another week or two to allow the nose and marble to develop.
The South African cep season continues.
Turkish morels are excellent, and the price is now workable.
St George and their cousin mousseron (aka fairy ring) mushrooms have hit town early. The traditional start date being St Georges day towards the end of the month.
Prices are high, but as soon as Bulgaria reaches abundance the price of the delicious mousseron in particular will plummet.
Fruits
Citrus fruits cling on and normally hang around to exchange the baton with stone fruits in May.
Tomatoes from France, Spain and Italy are now excellent.
Without further ado here are some seasonal fruits worth designing dishes around:
- Blood oranges
- Clementines
- Gariguettte strawberries
- Finger limes
- Unwaxed Italian lemons
Vegetables
As quickly as we are saying goodbye to roots we are welcoming shoots.
Nettles and sea beet are being picked again by our forager in Norfolk.
Jersey royals need more warmth, and green English asparagus requires a week or so until abundance brings a price drop.
As with fruits here are just a few bullet pointed bad boys in great shape for next week:
- French white asparagus
- Wild garlic
- English rhubarb from the Wye Valley
- Monk’s Beard
- Fresh peas and broad beans
As usual, this is just a small selection of what we have on offer. Call in on 020 7498 5397 to speak to the team about what other treats we have in store for you today. Visit the website here.
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