May
Seasonal stars don’t come any better than May’s offering of beautiful British asparagus, says Tom Norrington-Davies.
To Americans, they're fava beans, to ancient Romans (and Latin teachers) they're Vicia faba, to the delicious. web editor, they're the undisputed best vegetable in the world (hey, we've all got our favourites). Broadly speaking, if ever there was a month to be full of beans, it's May.
Also known as 'rucola', this peppery-tasting veg could win a popularity contest.
If you can't stand the bleats get out of the kitchen, because we love the delicate flavour of spring lamb.
There's a sense of summer in the air this month: enjoy juicy peas and broad beans, fresh beetroot, succulent spring lamb... and don't forget the short but sublime British asparagus season.
Celebrate elderflower
Nothing reminds us more of an English country summer than the aroma of elderflowers...
To the nostalgic English, the pungent, heady smell of elderflowers are synonymous with the summers of childhood, but elderflowers are by no means purely British.
According to folklore elder trees gave protection from
evil – a belief held by cultures across the globe. The ancient Pagans deemed it very
unlucky to cut them down, unless a incantation was chanted to the potentially vengeful
'Elder Mother'.
The flowers can be used to make herbal tea – a good herbal remedy for colds and fever – and syrup or cordial (as used in the recipes featured here), which needs to be diluted with water, soda, or – even better – champagne.
In Hungary, elderberries are used to make brandy and cooked elderberries to make jam and as a filling for pies. A word of warning, however: don't eat the berries raw – they're poisonous.
delicious. recipes with elderflowers