Pomegranates take to centre stage this week as the season across Europe hits its stride. We’ve already seen the early pink Mollar D’Elche variety from Spain, as well as some Hicaz from Turkey. This week we play host to the burgundy-coloured Wonderful variety from Agricoop in Sicily. The juice of these fruits is a deep, blood-red and the taste is intense – both sweet and sour with cherry-like hints, the arials go perfectly atop a bowl of porridge or thrown into a pilaf or middle-eastern style salad.
On the veg side, the winter brassica range is providing us with a much needed dose of green – purple-inked January kings and majestic Tundras from the Wasses in Yorkshire join Savoys and Cavolo Nero in a line-up of handsome-looking cabbages.
It’s the last few days of the year to buy the gorgeous banana shallots from Carey down in Herefordshire too – try roasting them whole in their skins or sautéing with mushrooms and thyme, they’re sweet and sticky with a rich taste which is far less harsh than their onion relatives.
Thursday sees our first pallet of the season from Univert in Provence – a French cooperative of growers who specialise in salads and leafy greens. We’ve got lettuces, spinach and coriander as well as some very good value bunches of radishes en route. After visiting these guys in October we can vouch for the quality and care that goes into their production, we’re dead lucky to have a direct link to such fresh and tasty produce at this time of year.
