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April

Rosemary

RosemaryRosemary is an evergreen plant, so it can be enjoyed all year round. At this time of year, as the weather gets warmer, the plants start to bush out and produce scented blue flowers. The flowers look great and give a delicate flavour to sweet dishes, such as ice cream, mousse and fool, or can be scattered on food as a garnish for meat, fish or a salad. It's the intensely aromatic leaves of rosemary that give the strong flavour that marries so well with mutton, lamb, pork and poultry. Insert sprigs into roasting joints, pop a few in when roasting vegetables or fish or add a different dimension to chocolate sauce or fruit syrup. It's best to remove the sprigs after cooking but if you chop the leaves up very finely, you can add them to flavour stuffing and sauces.
Try Rosemaried Sweet Potatoes

Spinach

SpinachFirst mentioned in AD647 in the Orient, spinach is a vegetable that features in cuisines all over the world. Full of vitamins and iron, its health-giving properties are well known, but it's generally loathed by young children - in spite of Popeye's attempts to promote its virtues. Young leaves are best as older leaves can be tough. Spinach has a distinctly earthy flavour; the leaves can be enjoyed on their own as a vegetable or a salad or they can be incorporated into a wide range of dishes.

Spring lamb

Spring LambLamb is traditionally associated with spring in many cultures. In Christian cultures, it's the traditional roast to serve on Easter Day. Lamb is available all year round but spring lamb has small, slender bones with pink, rosy coloured flesh that is meltingly tender and more subtle than darker-fleshed summer or autumn lamb. Choose joints and cuts carefully; go for lean pieces and avoid any with yellow or crumbly fat. (See Back to basics for information on cuts, joints and lamb recipes.)
Try Marinated Roast Lamb

Strawberries

StrawberriesThe first seasonal strawberries appear in our markets and shops in April. The earliest come from Europe's warmer climates but in Britain we have to wait until the weather gets a little warmer to taste home-grown varieties. The fruit we know today has evolved from the wild or alpine strawberry, which can still be found in grassy woodlands all over Europe. You can experience their delicate flavour in wild strawberry jam which is available from specialist shops. Cultivated strawberries come in many varieties and in all shapes and sizes. Look for fruit that is firm and unblemished and go for smaller fruits, because larger ones, although they may may look like more of a treat, are often watery. Supermarkets will often stock only one or two varieties but if you venture out and find a pick-your-own farm you should get wider choice and more fruit for your money.
Try Strawberry Jam

Cockles

CocklesTraditionally sold with winkles and whelks, cockles have been a popular seaside snack for many years. They were also sold by vendors outside London pubs who, in the absence of scales, used a pint glass as a measure. They've been sold by the pint ever since. Cooked and shelled cockles can be bought in jars, preserved in brine or vinegar, or are sold loose. They can be used in seafood pie or tossed in a salad, eaten raw or steamed until their shells open, like mussels. Use them in soups, risotto, paella or stew them in a tomato sauce for pasta.

Whats in season information taken from the BBC food website.