The seasonal kitchen
Following the growing year through simple food, seasonal ingredients and the changing rhythms of the kitchen.
Following the growing year
I have come to think of seasonal food as a movement through the landscape.
In spring, the first shoots begin to rise from the soil. Tender leaves and young vegetables appear close to the ground, reaching towards the returning light.
By summer, growth has travelled upwards and outwards. Gardens are full, trees are in leaf, and fruits ripen in the warmth of the sun.
As autumn arrives, the movement begins to return towards the earth. Pumpkins rest on the ground. Apples fall. Nuts and seeds ripen. The food I want to cook becomes warmer and more substantial.
In winter, much of life has disappeared beneath the surface. Roots and bulbs wait in the soil, while the harvest of the previous months sustains us.
I like to let my kitchen follow this movement. What I cook changes gradually, as the garden, the markets and the landscape change around me.
From the seasonal kitchen
Recipes gathered through the year, following what is growing, what is abundant, and what I find myself wanting to cook.
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Spring Chard with Lemon and Olive Oil
EARLY SPRING
Tender spring chard, simply cooked and finished with olive oil as the first greens return. -
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MUNG BEAN & BROWN RICE WITH THE FIRST GARDEN CHIVES
EARLY SPRING
Rice and mung dal gently cooked with warming spices for a simple, nourishing bowl. -
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Chargrilled Asparagus with Baby Leek Gratin & Pine Nuts
SPRING
Spring asparagus with tender baby leeks and toasted pine nuts, made for the weeks when green begins to fill the kitchen again.
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PEA AND MINT SOUP
EARLY SUMMER
Fresh peas and garden mint in a simple green soup for the beginning of summer. -
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GRAPE & ROSEMARY FOCCACIA
LATE SUMMER - EARLY AUTUMN
Grapes, rosemary and olive oil in a warm focaccia for the turning of summer towards autumn. -
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EARLY AUTUMN MINESTRONE
EARLY AUTUMN
Late-summer vegetables meet the first desire for warmer food in a generous bowl of minestrone.
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WILD FENNEL CHAI
AUTUMN - WINTER
Cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, clove, black pepper and bay leaf slowly infused into a warming cup of chai. -
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CHESTNUT & MUSHROOM FILO PARCELS
WINTER
Chestnuts and mushrooms wrapped in crisp filo, made for carrying outside on a clear winter day. -
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ROASTED GARLIC WITH WINTER HERBS
WINTER
As the days become colder, I find myself returning to garlic.
I keep a plait of it hanging in the kitchen, and through autumn and winter I take down a few heads at a time. I slice across the tops, exposing the cloves, drizzle them generously with olive oil and tuck in whatever winter herbs I have nearby before putting them into the oven.
It is one of the simplest things I make.
