From soups and greens to roots, how to survive the ‘hungry gap’
The weeks before the full spring bounty arrives are a perfect time to bring a lighter approach to winter crops, and make the most of frozen fruit and spring greens
Spring may have firmly sprung – I write this with a view of vivid yellow forsythia blossom in next door’s garden, and the melodious warble of full-throated birdsong – but though the greenery may be flourishing in our gardens, it’s a different story at the farmers’ market. Despite a few spindly spears of asparagus and miniature jersey royals making an appearance on our Easter tables last weekend, the new season of British produce doesn’t kick off in earnest for another few weeks yet. That means we’re now heading into the so-called “hungry gap”, an annual quirk of our relatively northern latitude, when temperatures are too high for much winter veg such as kale and brassicas, but too low for the more delicate likes of peas and broad beans to ripen – let alone high-summer treats such as berries, squash and stone fruit.
Happily, many hardy winter crops store well, and are versatile enough to shake off their heavy winter coat of cream and butter in favour of a lighter treatment. The late Skye Gyngell gifted us a carrot, celery, farro and borlotti bean soup, Nigel Slater has an early spring laksa with purple sprouting broccoli (and some spinach, which I suspect you could use frozen), and Nicholas Balfe offers a ceviche with celeriac and a baked beetroot dish (pictured top) – both of which look just the thing to wake up your taste buds. If it stays salad weather, I’m also rather taken by the sound of Thomasina Miers’s purple sprouting broccoli with sunshine dressing. Then again, with a name like that, who wouldn’t be?
Spring greens have been knocking about for a while, and I often grab a bag as a far cheaper alternative to the more fashionable kale. Anna Jones’s herby cannellini beans on toast with wilted greens looks like a dream lunch date. And I cannot tell you how excited I am by the idea of Meera Sodha’s cheesy picnic focaccia, with what she describes as an “excessive amount of spring greens”, although I’ll probably end up eating it snug indoors.
Of course, as gardeners know, one crop already flourishing is nettles. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has a white bean and nettle soup and a nettle and ricotta gnocchi recipe, while Jon Tyler suggests a nettle pesto and Blanche Vaughan a nettle ravioli. And if you can’t quite face going out with your rubber gloves and scissors to forage, Joe Trivelli has some nice ideas for the preserved bounty of seasons past, including an excellent-looking Russian salad, which he says is “satisfying in every way – to make and to eat”.
On the sweet front, Tim Dowling has put together a collection of 17 ways with vivid pink forced rhubarb, including my fool and Dan Lepard’s rhubarb upside-down cake. Or, if you, like me, have more fruit in the freezer than you know what to do with, Anna Jones has a couple of recipes that are actually better with the stuff, including a cherry and smoked-salt clafoutis that sounds the perfect vehicle for the frosty sour cherries I spotted in the local health-food shop. Meanwhile, Rachel Roddy suggests a simple panna cotta with a warm compote – and it’s always wobbly pud season, as far as I’m concerned. Whatever the weather brings, enjoy it!
My week in food
Books, etcetera | A recent visit to Scotland for a family birthday happily coincided with the opening of the country’s only dedicated cookbook shop on Edinburgh’s Leith Walk, which we were chased into by some vicious hail. The new space includes a foreign language section and a children’s room, as well as some sweet food-themed accessories, including croissant earrings and pasta fridge magnets, and my favourite Norwegian salty chocolate snacks, Smash (clearly the place is owned by people of taste). Dogs and children encouraged.
Leftover chocolate | This is very much a thing in my house. If you similarly can’t be trusted around half-eaten Easter eggs, may I recommend Yotam Ottolenghi’s pistachio and mint chocolate fridge cake? Don’t be put off if you have neither mint chocolate or pistachios: this recipe is adaptable to all sorts of chocolate and crunchy things (including the last few biscuits in the tin), and is great for taking to work or sharing with friends.
The green fairy | I developed an unexpected taste for chartreuse when I was in the Alps at the end of last month – in his cocktail Substack, The Spirits, Richard Godwin beautifully describes it as tasting “as I imagine Getafix’s magic potion tastes in Asterix, and at 55% ABV, it has a similar effect. But how, precisely, to describe it? Sunshine on dew? A memory of a forest … somewhere? The Emerald City in the Wizard of Oz? A rainbow?” Although I drank it on ice after dinner, I’ve developed quite a taste for the topically named spring green with elderflower liqueur and fino.
In-N-Oot | In-N-Out is a Californian fast-food chain that has achieved cult status by doing one thing (hamburgers) well and for a limited audience – it only recently expanded as far east as Tennessee, so don’t expect to see it in the UK any time soon. If you’re in London this weekend, however, you can get an In-N-Out-inspired burger (and far better chips) at the Auld Hag in Islington, which is running an evening pop-up from 9-11 April to coincide with the release of James McAvoy’s new film, California Schemin’. Having sampled one last week, I strongly advise you to take your own napkins: it’s a deliciously messy affair. Don’t miss the Irn-Bru milkshake, either.
• If you want to read the complete version of this newsletter please subscribe to receive Feast in your inbox every Thursday.