In-Season March
Early rhubarb
Actually a vegetable but prepared as a fruit, early rhubarb has long, pale, pink stems with small leaves that don't look enticing but have all the freshness and flavour needed to make delicious pies, fools, sorbet or ice cream. Forced or early rhubarb needs very brief cooking and, unless you have a palate for tartness, it always needs sweetening with sugar.
Radishes
The radish has an ancient history and, in distant times, was grown as a staple. As it was cultivated, many varieties were established from the Mediterranean to the Orient giving us the red radish, the large white radish (also known as the daikon or mooli) and the black radish. The common red varieties are eaten and enjoyed as a salad vegetable. When choosing radishes, look for bright green leaves, which indicate freshness and promise a crisp texture and peppery flavour. Radishes are excellent when eaten raw or marinated in vinaigrette.
Parsley
One of the few herbs to stand the chilly air of early spring, parsley comes in two main varieties: flatleaf and curly. Favoured by Mediterranean cooks, flatleaf parsley has a more robust flavour than the curly-leaf variety, making it ideal to sauté with other strong flavours, such as garlic and onion. Whichever you choose, use parsley abundantly to lift other savoury flavours and enhance dishes such as soups, casseroles, sauces and salads.
Also in season
rhubarb
sardines
carrots
leeks
purple sprouting broccoli
lobster
sorrel
beetroot
mint
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