The British Larder Inspirational recipe diary

I have been on the elderflower watch for a few weeks and finally this week they were in full bloom. There were a few bushes by the road side with lovely big flowers, however I’m cautious to harvest them as they would be drenched in petrol fumes and covered with pollution.

As we live in a small village there are a few public foot paths near by. Between the heavy rain showers we  ventured out to forage for healthy fresh elderflowers. The season is short and as we all know  theyonly bloom once a year between end of May to the second week of June. As we were picking the elderflowers we were smelling  and nibbling them. We agreed that it smells and tastes like green almonds. My brain started to work over time and I was day dreaming about all the different dishes that I could make. As it

It’s Saturday morning and the high street is buzzing with lots of people going about  their normal Saturday business.  I was dashing about to complete all the tasks on my list until I came to a complete standstill in front of the local fruit and vegetable stall…..

…….I spotted them! In their tight grass green jackets all packed in tightly like sardines in a can. New season garden peas.

They were  so tight in their fresh new season pods that they almost looked like square peas instead of round.

They were not just any peas they were peas from Hertfordshire! It’s my locality and I was so incredibly pleased to have found vegetables on offer that were picked that morning from no more than a 5 miles away. Now that is what I call local and fresh!

I was pretty impressed as I did not expect to see peas around

When I received loquats in the  box of wonderful inspirational goodies last week I could hardly contain my excitement. Loquats ,also known as nispero fruits, are medium size oval-round milky orangery fruits with two large round pips inside. The skin is slightly furry when they are green but it becomes smoother when ripe. They remind me of apricots however the colour is slightly darker.

I know that they are not native to Britain but they are in season in Spain at the moment and you can find them at fruit and vegetable markets around Britain.

I actually grew up with loquats, so the sight of them took me back to my childhood. The neighbours two doors down had a huge loquat tree in their back yard. As a child when my friends came around we would walk past this house on our way to the clay pit behind the grave

When Richard phoned and asked me to make one kilo of strawberry chutney, I was confused and slightly sceptical.

Wow was my scepticism put to bed once I got started. This fragrant, fresh and brightly coloured chutney has certainly made me think twice about choosing the combinations of my ingredients.

As we are heading for summer and conscious that we are going to have plenty of fruits and vegetables to pick and choose from, I thought it’s the perfect time to share this brilliant and very clever chutney with you.

Razia Laljee whom I have recently met is the inspiration behind the flavour combination. Her cooking style made a true impression on me. Razia is a wonderful modern cook born in India but has lived most of her life in North Africa and England. So her cooking style is by no means traditional Indian, and this inspired me as Razia