Sweet, delicious seasonal fruits from strawberries to black and red currants, gooseberries and raspberries – even rhubarb – are ready for picking at Millets Farm Centre and other Oxfordshire PYOs right now. Eat them au natural as soon as you’ve picked and paid, or capture their taste of summer sunshine in a summer pudding or simply dipped in chocolate.
Picking the fruit for many is a traditional summer pastime, which starts in childhood and can last a lifetime. Picking fruit with mum, tasting a blackcurrant for real rather than as Ribena, helping to ‘top and tale’ at home, watching how rich colours, textures and flavours combine and tasting the final wondrous concoction create memories and stories that are passed down through the generations.
However, Nature’s sweet berries aren’t the only produce that is ready for picking this time of year. Vegetables such as spinach, courgettes, purple sprouting broccoli and broad beans grown in rows of different shades of green invite you to pick, twist and snap off leaves, stalks and pods destined for al fresco summer salads and the BBQ season.
Over the years, certain vegeatable and fruits fall out of favour only to enjoy a culinery renaissance years later. Gooseberries and broad beans are two such examples whose unique attributes and flavours have once again become a focus for magazine features, seasonal recipes and restaurant menus.
Bursting with phosphorous, vitamin A and C and notably rich in protein, broad beans date back to stone-age times. According to the Vegetarian Society they were offered in marriage to ensure the birth of a baby son and were also important enough to warrant the death sentence for their theft from open fields – PYOers beware!
When you pick broad beans, make sure the pods are pale green and feel soft and tender. The common mantra for all PYO crops is to eat it as soon as possible to ensure best flavour and this is definitely true for broad beans, as the carbohydrates quickly turn to sugar and change the flavour of the bean. They do however freeze very successfully if prepped soon after gathering.
In terms of cooking, they are used extensively in Middle Eastern dishes while in Italy the raw beans are often served with pecorino cheese, in Greece they are traditionally eaten raw and in the UK served with parsley sauce as an accompaniment to ham.
Food stylist and writer, Tonia George offers the following inspirational recipe ideas. Old and young broad beans alike appreciate a bit of grassy extra virgin olive oil or salted butter and come alive with a splattering of chopped mint or parsley. Their sweet flavour lends itself well to all salted pork products: a few nuggets of crisp, fried bacon, chorizo or pancetta work wonders with cooked beans; young, raw beans prefer thin slices of Serrano ham. Crumbled chunks of milky Feta, creamy goat’s cheese, Parmesan flakes and hot chunks of Halloumi all have something to offer too. Try spreading sourdough toast with buffalo Ricotta, then top with garlic- and basil-braised broad beans.
So here’s to a summer of locally grown seasonal fruit and veg bursting with flavours. Whether in or out of favour, give them a try!
