What's In Season

So refreshing! Add chunks of cucumber to your water bottle to help with hydration during the working day. Cucumber is also a key ingredient in Pimm’s. For a salad, use a vegetable peeler to create ribbons of cucumber – these look dazzling on the plate

British apples are the best in the world. The fruit ripens slowly in our temprerate climate, producing complex flavours and lovely acidity.
Discovery is the first early variety, followed by crops of Early Windsor, Worcester, Spartan, Egremont Russet, Cox, Gala and Braeburn

This exotic fruit is also known as pitaya. The flesh can be white, yellow or red and is speckled with tiny edible seeds. We love both the flavour and the striking appearance of the dragon fruit. The skin really does look like a dragon’s scales.

Crunchy celery is a wonder for the health – packed with fibre, full of water and with next to no calories. It is also helpful for reducing blood pressure and levels of cholesterol. Don’t forget the leaves, too. These are strong in flavour, and can be used as a herb to flavour savoury dishes.

We can’t get enough of strawberries this year. New modern varieties mean the flavour is better than ever. For homemade desserts, strawberries go brilliantly with meringue – such as in the classic Eton Mess or decadent Pavlova. Or use the fruit to decorate a homemade trifle.

Mint is known as a cooling herb at its best in the summer. Infuse sprigs in hot water for a simple mint tea. For a cheffy trick in the kitchen, pick the leaves from the stalk, stack on top of each other, roll into a tight bundle then slice into thin ribbons – this technique is known as the ‘chiffonade’.

Every August, we source our citrus from Southern Europe, Morocco and even South America. Peru, for example, is a key producer of easy peeling satsumas at this time of year. Slices of colourful citrus are an easy way to jazz up summer drinks. Anyone for Sangria?