Author: Georgina Campbell
Although available all year round, leeks are at their best in winter and early spring and this versatile member of the allium (onion) family is a very useful garden crop as they are hardy and can be left in the round to harvest through the winter as required.
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Author: In Season
Okay, lentils are dried, so they don't have a specific season of use, but they're especially relevant this month as pulses are set to be one of the top food trends of 2016 - and not just for their wholesome goodness, but because the UN General Assembly, no less, has declared 2016 the International Year of Pulses (IYP).
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Author: Georgina Campbell
A gorgeous display of marrows in the window of the Ward family’s superb shop and café, Country Choice, in Nenagh, Co Tipperary has reminded me that we hear plenty about other, more exotic, members of the Cucurbita (gourd) family - which includes squash and pumpkin - but very little about the whopper marrows that I remember from my childhood.
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Author: Georgina Campbell
Not exactly ‘in season’ of course, but the crunchy sweet, Yellow Man, is unique to Northern Ireland and - although it is also found on stalls at other country fairs and, nowadays, in the shops - this traditional toffee-like sweet is firmly associated with Lammas Fair, which is held at Ballycastle, Co Antrim, in late August and marks the end of the summer (24-25th August 2015).
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Author: Georgina Campbell
Wild strawberries, Fragaria Vssca, the woodland strawberry or fraises des boi,s grow abundantly all over the northern hemisphere and their small, but sweet and intensely aromatically flavoured, fruits are produced generously over a long season - it will surprise many who think of strawberries as a fruit of high summer, that they continue to fruit well into autumn (in season from June to late September).
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Author: Georgina Campbell
With the mayfly hatching this month, it’s peak season for trout. Closely related to salmon and Arctic char, the name trout actually covers a number of fish including the prized sea trout (a large salmon-like migratory form of river trout), brown trout and rainbow trout.
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Author: Georgina Campbell
The common Stinging Nettle, Urtica dioica, was for many generations an important traditional food in Ireland, providing a free and tasty ingredient for soups, purées and sauces in the spring.
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Author: Georgina Campbell
Although Easter is just around the corner (and early this year) March is only the beginning of spring and it can be a very chilly month, when comfort food that makes the most of the remaining autumn and winter ingredients can be very welcome.
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Author: Georgina Campbell
Blood oranges are a variation of the familiar orange (Citrus x sinensis) with slightly reddish tones showing in the skin and deep, in some cases almost blood-red, flesh. They are grown mainly in Mediterranean countries and one, the Arancia Rossa di Sicilia ( the Red Orange of Sicily), has PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) status.
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Author: Georgina Campbell
A member of the brassica (cabbage) family dating back to the 16th century or earlier, cauliflower is one of our healthiest and most versatile vegetables. With its white curdy head surrounded by a collar of green leaves, it is a lovely plant when freshly picked, yet it is widely undervalued - and that despite the fact that its image in some quarters has had an unexpected boost thanks to its rise to stardom in top restaurant kitchens of late.
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