Market Report - UK Seasonal update 29 July 2013

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Good morning chef

So long July, hello August, the month where our wild offering extends to the animal kingdom once more.

Wild Mushrooms

• Girolles have shot down in price from Belarus. Both medium and mini sizes are stocked depending on your preference and tolerance for prep.
  Our contacts in the Scottish Highlands are again expecting rain early next week, to bring the first decent crop of homegrown girolles by the end of the week.


• Trompette are in from Bulgaria.


• Mousseron from Bulgaria.


• On Wednesday we will be having a look at a box of cep and a box ofpied de mouton also from the unique micro-climate of Bulgaria. If nice our wild mushroom range will be unusually broad for the end of July.

What a consistently excellent season Italy is having this summer.

Year after year I have shied away from the allure of Australian winter truffles, as I’m not one to encourage air freight or tinker with seasonal offerings. I’ve just seen some which match the best of last year’s perigords. The time to supply is ripe. Let us know by 10 am and we can buy for the next day. Excellent form, nose and marbling. Prices likely to be stable and the season should see us through the month.

Fruits

Mara du bois strawberries are between flushes.

Stone fruits are all strong including some rare but lovely German, yes you read it correctly, German cherries. Why not steal a tip from Wild Harvest’s Paola and make a lovely cherry & rosemary focaccia.

White nectarines also join the party.

Black fig availability in Provence is weak. We will buy what we can, but the Turkish season is due to kick off in a matter of weeks. This is when we get truly figgy.

A box of blood (aka vine) nectarines will also be sliding across La Manche for our team to try next week. If good they will be closely followed by the ugly-named but adorableblood peach. These are called vine peaches as they are grown at the end of grape vine rows in France as a kind of coal miner’s canary early warning system; the peaches and nectarines alert farmers to disease in good time to prevent grapevine spoilage.

Too early I guess, but we are looking at the first greengage plums next week. The French call these Reine Claude in honor of a Duchess of Brittany who seemed like a good sort.

Vegetables

The candy (also known as choggia) beet has returned from Holland. A bit of a Wild Harvest poster boy this one.

We are working on corn on the cob from France, but we fully expect to switch to England this week. It’s true for all produce, but these affordable and unsung heroes of summer really benefit from minimum delay between field and plate.

Wood Sorrel is in excellent shape from the Scottish Highlands, as are many foraged treats. I may take advantage of this lemon-flavoured, elegant leaf to accompany a mighty sea trout at the weekend whilst both seasons still have legs.

Game

The Glorious 12th will soon be upon us. We have already picked up red deer stag supply from the Scottish Highlands.

We are also busy compiling details for a genuine French wild boar launch by the end of August and working with our friends at South Downs Venison to offer some prepped local game within a similar time frame.

As usual, this is only the tip of the iceberg. Call in on 020 7498 5397 to chat about what else is on offer.