April heralds the arrival of the spring season's finest British produce. From cockles to mussels there is a wealth of locally sourced, fresh food available…

It has already been quite a season for rhubarb, the vegetable that is also a fruit. In fact, rhubarb has been enjoying a resurgence for some time with chefs such as Jamie Oliver and Marco Pierre White rooting for the plant and Rick Stein naming rhubarb crumble as Britain's finest pudding.  In Spring 2010, scientists released findings that showed rhubarb to be a cancer-beating superfood.  There is strong evidence to suggest that baking the plant for twenty minutes greatly increases the concentration of polyphenols which kill or prevent the growth of cancer cells.

In February, the European Commission awarded Yorkshire forced rhubarb PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status. It became the 41st product from Britain to acquire this exclusive label, and shares it with Cornish sardines, Melton Mowbray pork pies and Swaledale cheese. Yorkshire forced rhubarb is grown and harvested in an area known as the “rhubarb triangle” — between Bradford, Wakefield and Leeds. Roots are grown in fields for two years and then replanted in sheds where they are kept in dark, moist conditions for about ten weeks. The lack of light draws energy from the plants’ roots to give the rhubarb a more sweet and delicate flavour - the 'forcing' process.

As the forced rhubarb season (December - March) ends, so the field season (April - September) begins. And the 'Delia effect' is once again gripping the nation.  The British supermarket, Waitrose, after recently featuring the chef sharing a rhubarb and ginger brûlée recipe, sold enough of the plant for 61,000 desserts in four days alone, or the same quantity as it usually sells in 12 weeks.  British growers are struggling to keep up with demand and the supermarket has had to resort to importing some from Germany, where rhubarb tends to be treated with gibberellic acid.

A metabolism booster that is high in calcium, rhubarb stems should be crisp, realising sap when snapped.  The basic method of cooking it is to stew it with very little water over a low heat for twenty to thirty minutes, adding sugar or fruit juice to taste.   It is tremendously easy to grow your own rhubarb, but if you have missed the plot this year then it is always worth laying some down for next Spring.  You never know, you might be able to subsidise your local supermarkets... 

If you are unable to source some British rhubarb then there is an abundance of alternative fresh British produce to devour this Spring.  April is also a wonderful month to engage children in eating local, seasonal food.  Cauliflowers, for example, can be cooked and served with a local speciality-cheese based sauce.  Choosing a cheese by tasting samples at a local Farmers Market is almost as fun as foraging for wild garlic in  local woodland. The garlic can then be incorporated into a spring risotto alongside broad beans and asparagus.  Try putting some asparagus spears alongside some toasted 'soldiers' to dip into a boiled egg.  As for beetroot, it can be mashed with cream cheese and put into sandwiches or used to make a delicious 'pink' soup. Watercress is really entertaining and easy for small children to grow, be it in a pot on the windowsill or in the garden.  Once harvested it can be incorporated into an egg mayonnaise sandwich filler. 

And no meat sums Spring up better than lamb.  April sees the first of the Spring lamb which is tender in texture, mild in flavour and bursting with freshness.  A perfect ingredient for a St George's day feast on 23 April.  This month The Sauce puts British lamb to the test. 

For more information on where and how to buy British [click here]
For the Virtual Farmers' Market [click here]
For advice on buying British lamb [click here]
For recipe ideas for April [click here]
Food Safari run events and workshops that take you behind the scenes of some of Suffolk's best food and drink producers. From hands-on butchery to cookery course...  [click here for more information].

The Sauce

Lamb with Goats Cheese - served with purple sprouting broccoli, potatoes and spring greens

• How readily available were the ingredients?
  British spring lamb is plentiful at the moment and being just before Easter my local butcher had copious legs of lamb sourced from a local farm. Most lamb is sold on the bone but the butcher had a few legs already boned. British goats cheese is also readily available.  I didn't find British sun blush tomatoes so opted for Mediterranean ones. The potatoes and cabbage were from my farm box and British purple sprouting broccoli was from Sainsbury's.


• How easy was it to make and how much time did it take?
  The goats cheese stuffing only took 5 minutes to make, as all I really needed to do was combine all the ingredients. I bought the knuckle end of the leg so there was a natural hole where the bone had been taken out. It would have been very awkward to open it up to roll, as the recipe said to do, so instead I just pushed the stuffing into the hole, therefore the total meat preparation time was very quick. Cooking the vegetables and bringing the meal together at the end took about half an hour.


• What was the sum total cost of this meal
  £27.70. The lamb was £15.88 per kg which is fairly expensive but, for me, totally worth it because the quality of meat from the butcher is so fantastic. It is possible to buy cheaper British lamb, such as directly from the farmer.


• How many people did it actually feed?
  Four


• What did you do with leftovers?
  I bought 1.8kg of lamb (the total cost above is for 1.3kg as per the recipe) so I used the remaining cooked meat to make a traditional shepherds pie.


• Is there anything you would have done differently?
  I would have bought meat that could be rolled more easily and spread the stuffing over the meat more evenly.


• What did your guests think of the meal?
  They thought this deserved an 8.5 out of 10. Two of us who ate it were not expecting the combination of ingredients to work, but were pleasantly surprised. I am not a huge fan of sun blush tomatoes and am also a fairly traditional when it comes to lamb.  I didn't envisage that the goats cheese and sun blush tomatoes would enhance it, but they did. Everyone unanimously thought the stuffing provided a fantastic sharpness against the the lamb which was delicious and quite unusual. This would be great for entertaining or as a family meal.

Try the recipe yourself and let us know if you agree with The Sauce by This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For other Love British Food lamb recipes [click here]