The Spring equinox has passed, and as the daylight hours now exceed the dark things are really starting to move. Scientists have calculated that between 1891 and 1967 the arrival of spring travelled up country, in a north-easterly direction, at the rate of around 1.2 mph, or around 28 miles per day. Recording the first appearances of flora and fauna is an obsession of far more than just the scientists, but they collate the data, and have found that spring’s arrival has now sped up to 1.9 mph which is 45 miles per day.
One of my personal yardsticks is the appearance of the first St George’s mushrooms, so named because they were expected to appear on St George’s Day, 23rd April, which for years I found here to be a little early, by about a week to 10 days, but which have now started to sprint forward to the beginning of April. It’s only one measure, but as a wild food, more reliable than cultivated foods, whose seasons seem to be forever being extended but usually by artificial means. This makes it very difficult to recall when foods are likely to be in season and, for me at least, these extended seasons often seem to have been achieved at the expense of flavour and also at some environmental cost. When most people don’t have daily access to the countryside it is no wonder that it is so easy to pull the wool over people’s eyes about what is actually happening there.
So wild foods are my most important barometers of springs arrival, but also the most consistently available early foods of the year. They have already developed a hardiness to the cold, from which they have merely been hibernating until it is safe to emerge. Ramsons (wild garlic) seems to be the most fashionable food for spring foraging, but actually you should be able to observe young nettle tops, dandelions and other edible weeds wherever you live.
Some plants (and animals) are more receptive to light than warmth. In the past, chickens did not lay eggs in the winter, but they have now been bred to do so, especially when given artificial light. And whilst home chicken keepers will notice a drop in productivity in the winter months that improves as soon as the lighter days arrive, other birds, such as ducks and geese, still have much shorter laying seasons. So, a fresh duck or goose egg is very much a seasonal specialty to be savoured.
Adding to the confusion over when foods are in season is the fact that our major springtime celebration, Easter, has a variable date depending upon the full moon. The earliest it can fall is 21st March, but this year it will be late, on 20th April. The speed at which Spring advances means there is a sizeable difference between these two dates as to what food might be available. The subject which I most often exclaim about at Easter is lamb. It is considered the traditional meat for Easter Sunday and yet this years lambs will only just have been born (again depending on whereabouts in the country you live). Most lamb sold at Easter comes from New Zealand, and if you do see any for sale purporting to be British, it has either been in the freezer for some time or will have been reared in a barn since being born in December, never have seen grass, and cost you a pretty penny. A better bet would be a lamb born last year (or even the one before) which failed to carry a lamb itself and has now been finished on the early flush of spring grass. Lamb over a year old is known as hogget, or mutton when it passes its second birthday, and will have more flavour than lamb, but flavour seems to scare some people.
So, what else is available in Spring? Fresh curd cheese would be my choice for dessert – you could turn it into a baked cheesecake, which has a lengthy British heritage, or try Italian Cannoli or the Russian Orthodox Easter dessert, Paskha. Both goats and sheep naturally have a dry period during winter (goat’s are milked for about 10 months after giving birth but sheep only 8) so after giving birth this year they will be producing milk again and once their offspring are weaned and the weather dry enough to put them out to pasture, fresh goat and ewes cheese will become available again.
Young greenery is another option, and you will find examples of Easter Tarts in Italy that feature both wild greens and the eggs which are again plentiful. Watercress, which used to be harvested in the wild but is no longer safe to do so, will be available from carefully monitored beds. You could even sprout your own micro-greens to add a bit of freshness to meals.
Or will you turn to imports at this time? It has become very hard to assess whether the environmental impact of transporting food is more or less than the cost of the heating and lighting required to bring things on early here. I will certainly welcome the arrival of Majorcan new potatoes, the earlier ones from Egypt don’t have much flavour, nor too, sadly, do Jersey Royals anymore. The best flavoured potatoes from Britain are, in my opinion, from Pembrokeshire, although I don’t seem to be able to buy them as easily as in the past. The Cornish new potatoes will take over from the Majorcan just as they start to get too large, small potatoes do seem to taste so much better than large. Of course, the closer they are to having been dug the better, but that’s still a long way off as Easter is the traditional time for planting. Other than potatoes, I try to keep my imports down to bottles and jars that are not dependent on air-freight for freshness. Jars of artichoke hearts in olive oil are top of my list – my favourite pizza topping. I seem to make quite a few bread based meals at this time – a Calzone or fold-over dough is ideal for chard, the crop that keeps on giving, with cheese – Taleggio would be traditional in Italy but I often use Montgomery’s Ogleshield. My wild rocket has already sprouted this spring, it gets quite hot with age, but is another favourite to scatter over pizza. Also growing in my garden now is sorrel, and the recipe for using it in a risotto is the one I have chosen for this month. A little really does go a long way and if you don’t grow it you can pick Sheep’s Sorrel in the fields – the field behind our house is thick with it right now.
Risotto with Sorrel
This recipe is by Gennaro Contaldo, famously the man who taught Jamie Oliver to cook. Sometimes I stir in some potted shrimps with their butter to finish the dish – divine!
Serves 2
1 litre (1½ pints) chicken or vegetable stock
2 tbsps olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
225g (8 oz) risotto rice
50g (2 oz) sorrel
50 g (2 oz) butter
25g (1 oz) parmesan cheese, freshly grated
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Put the stock in a saucepan with a level teaspoon of salt and bring to a gentle simmer, leave over a low heat.
Heat the olive oil in a large heavy based saucepan. Add the finely chopped onion and celery and sweat until soft. Add the rice and stir until each grain is coated with oil. Add a couple of ladles of stock and cook, stirring all the time, until the stock has been absorbed. Continue adding stock, a ladle at a time, until the rice is tender, i.e. soft on the outside but al dente inside, this will take about 30 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the sorrel, butter and parmesan. Mix well with a wooden spoon to obtain a creamy consistency, taste and adjust the seasoning.
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