Fleeting delights of spring
/Hello my loves,
A few weeks ago I wrote about the sparseness of the early spring harvest. While we think of spring as a season of growth, its onset is more about buds, blooms and intrepid seedlings than a great bouncing harvest. However. The weeks have marched on, and we are now on the cusp of welcoming two exquisitely special stars of spring. Both of these ingredients have shorter seasons than the supermarkets would have you think, and both of them start around about now. So, drum roll please… let us welcome, revere and devour the fleeting delights of strawberries and asparagus.
Strawberries have a sacred significance in many ancient and indigenous cultures, being one of the first fruits to appear after winter. Unfortunately, we tend to experience them as a year-round fixture on the supermarket shelf, shining in all their ruby-redness but tasting of absolutely nothing most of the year. Poor old strawbs. If you’re wanting to lean into eating more seasonally, now is the time to tuck into the blessed little things. I have a clutch of them that somehow self-sowed in pots on my balcony, and have rambled out over two seasons to occupy three tubs-worth of real estate. Their first fruits are just starting to peek coyly out from under their green umbrella of leaves, ripening rosily each day, and my goodness, they are so soft and juicy and fragrant and sweet. If you’re buying strawberries in the supermarket, have a check of the pack – in Sydney they are grown locally, and at this time of year you may be able to find a nice juicy box that’s been grown not too far afield.
My favourite way to eat strawberries is simply to slice them in half, and sprinkle them with a spoon or two of icing sugar. Give them a good mix, then leave them to sit for half an hour or so. The icing sugar pulls the juice from the strawberries, creating a deliciously tart-and-sweet sauce, which I then shovel into my mouth along with the slightly-softened strawberries. A dollop of whipped cream is optional, but certainly won’t do any harm.
Now, on to the other star of spring: all rise please for the upstanding asparagus! Oh my word do I love asparagus. Much like the strawberry, it has a flavour all of its own, and a very short season that is has just begun, and will end sometime in November. Asparagus isn’t widely grown in New South Wales, as the climate doesn’t usually suit it, but it loves Victoria, and for my beloved asparagus, I’m certainly willing to extend my net that far. I love to briefly boil it, then souse it in melted butter and a generous rain of finely grated bottarga. Bottarga is dried mullet roe, which may sound confronting, but believe me, the flavour is everything. In Sydney you can get it at the fish market, and there’s even a company who makes it from wild Australian sea mullet. This is what we used at Hearth & Soul – you can find it here.
Asparagus also pairs beautifully with eggs, parmesan and lemon, in any combination, so feel free to get your hands on a tight bunch of proud green stalks, and go wherever you like with them. It’s the start of the season, so it could still be a little pricey, but over the next couple of weeks it’ll become gentler on the hip pocket.
There is one final new entrant on the harvest scene that I also want to highlight, and that is the delicious zucchini. Both the flowers and the zucchinis themselves have just come into season, causing me to wriggle with delight. They’ll be around until late autumn, so you have plenty of time to enjoy them, but there is just something so special to me about their first appearance back on the scene. Absence surely does make the heart grow fonder, and I’ve been savouring their earthy sweetness in many different forms this week.
And so my loves, I shall leave you to your weekend, which I hope will be peppered with delicious spring delights. I’m planning some light-touch home improvements, and a spell of gardening, both of which I’m very much looking forward to 💛.
Love, Rachel xxx
