Gourmet Britain

New this month: Jersey Royal new potatoes are at their peak now – and their price now more reasonable, not to be missed especially, gently scrubbed and boiled with mint and served with good butter. By mid June they have a little less flavour. For all other new potatoes, rub their skin with your fingers, and if the skin doesn’t flake off, the skins will almost certainly be tough, and the flavour disappointing.

Home-produced varieties from the mainland, are also in the shops. With new potatoes, you get what you pay for, on the flavour-stakes.

English Asparagus is in full flow – and our green variety is probably the best in the world.

British strawberries are also plentiful, and have more flavour, than those of a month ago. The first outdoor rhubarb has also appeared, replacing that ‘forced’ in the spring.

On the meat front, Spring Lamb is now a little cheaper, and although its flavour is mild – if you seek out lamb bred on salt marshes, it’s a real treat, if handled simply, and not cooked until it’s ‘grey’.

Sea Trout should be sought out if spotted on fishmongers slabs, and with the extreme price demanded for wild salmon, it’s a delicious treat – and even preferred by many people to the latter.