Market Report - UK seasonal update 25 April 2016

This week's market report from Wild Harvest features black summer truffles, alphonso mango and green English asparagus as well as a whole host of other fruit and vegetables currently in season which you can see below:

Wild Mushrooms & Truffles

The fresh morel season is now mature. We need to see a second flush from Turkey to bring sizes and prices down.

Very nice mousseron and St George mushrooms are coming from the sheltered microclimate of Bulgaria, as are the first passable girolles.

The late spring and summer months will be almost exclusively about the pine/apricot scented girolles (when it comes to wild mushrooms), and prices and quality will improve steadily.

Black summer truffles have hit entry level from Italy.

Prices are very accessible, and nose and marbling will intensify with time.

Fruits

The mighty Alphonso mango has hit our shores from India. I personally look for a baggy skin with these to ensure ripeness and a yellow fleshed juice and flavour explosion.

For fact collectors they are named after a Portuguese general.

The clever people from Holland are now shipping pineberries and strawberries.

The former being a white strawberry with a pineapple flavour. The Dutch saved a South American white berry from extinction by crossing it with red berry cultivars.

The latter looks like a raspberry x strawberry cross, but is in fact a strawberry x strawberry cross originating in Germany.

Gariguette strawberries go from strength to strength, as do mixed adult and cherry heirloom tomatoes.

The citrus category which got us through the winter is dwindling, and we are busy tasting the likes of Charentais melons and stone fruits before jumping in.

Vegetables

We have been enjoying early specimens of green English asparagus for some weeks now.

St George’s day marks the official start of the season, and should coincide with a significant price drop as our direct links to Oxfordshire crops kick in.

Jersey Royal shortages have eased, and I can vouch for how lovely they are.

We have added the French famed spud from the Noirmoutier island on the Atlantic coast for a Gallic option.

I’m cutting to the chase now with a small selection of seasonal goodies in bullet pointed brevity:-

• Wild garlic


• Purple English asparagus


• French white asparagus


• Peas & broad beans


• Monk’s beard


• Wild sea aster, purslane & beet from the Norfolk coast


• Wet garlic


• Multi coloured radishes


• Purple sprouting broccoli