PICK OF THE CROP
FRESH SPRING PRODUCE OFFERS A FLAVOUR BOOST TO ANY MENU
Seasonal produce is a reminder for us to leave the hearty casseroles and slow-cooked meals behind and look to lighter dishes for the warmer months ahead.
Home vegie patches, market stalls and greengrocers are all filling up with foods which thrive in spring. And while most of our favourite fresh fruit and vegetables are now accessible year-round, all produce still has a natural season when it flourishes, tastes best and produces the best crops.
Wendy Helps is the price and produce reporter for Adelaide Produce Market, SA’s centre for the distribution and marketing of fresh fruit
and vegetables.
“Stone fruits will start to appear in the next few weeks and mangoes will be in good supply this year, they will be a highlight,” she says.
“A lot more asparagus from Victoria is coming in, we don’t grow a lot of asparagus here, and it’s really good quality, beautiful stuff.
“There is always an apple and a pear variety for every season and spring brings lovely Sundowner apples and Corella pears.”
Other spring favourites include broad beans, artichokes, green peas, beans, tomatoes, sweetcorn, strawberries and citrus fruits such as mandarins, grapefruit and blood oranges.
Spring is also an ideal time to enjoy succulent lamb, according to Adelaide Hills meat producer and purveyor Richard Gunner.
Richard’s premium Suffolk sheep, known for their juiciness and flavour, are used either for branded Pure Suffolk Lamb which is best from November to July or as milk-fed lamb from August to November.
“Spring lamb is extra special as the grasses that the lambs are grazing are at their best in spring…and you are what you eat!” Richard says.
“In winter, grass is full of moisture and short, in summer it gets pretty dry and autumn grass is either non-existent or very, very short whereas in spring it’s abundant and has the perfect mix between how green and dry it is.
“Also most lambs are born around the same time and when spring comes around, they are at the perfect age of about four to seven months to be at their most juicy and tender.”
Richard says his favourite lamb cut at the moment is butterflied leg cooked slowly on a low heat and stopping when the inside of the thickest part of the leg is 60C on a meat thermometer.
“I am particularly loving Middle Eastern sumac spice as a flavour to go with lamb,” he says.
One local restaurant which favours Richard’s spring lamb is Rigoni’s Bistro, in Leigh St, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year and three years under the ownership of Aaron Martin and Tony Bailey (pictured).
Their spring menu includes a roast leg of pure Suffolk lamb with braised shoulder cannelloni, brussel sprouts, rocket and mint salsa verde, crisp fried shallots, fried parsley and jus (pictured).
“Italian food is all about the seasons, what’s best at various times, we follow those principles strongly here,” Tony says.
Spring ingredients are used throughout the menu such as a breakfast dish of watercress crepes with smoked trout, white asparagus, fresh herbs and rocket-mint-macadamia pesto. Poached eggs and spinach are served with a maltaise sauce - a hollandaise sauce made with blood oranges.
Broad beans star in a dish with roasted Berkshire pork belly while seasonal rhubarb features in a brulee with Granny Smith sorbet, chocolate sauce and pineapple chips.
www.feastfinefoods.com.au
www.rigonis.com.au
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