Brighter, Lighter Summers

There’s something wonderfully British about waiting all year for the first proper tomato.

Not one that’s travelled further than you have on holiday – a waxy tasteless object, but a gloriously sun-ripened, juice-dribbling-down-your-chin tomato that actually tastes of … well, tomato.

Just like the 200g of toms we simmer into every 100g of our Real Tomato Ketchup.A summer tomato needs very little encouragement. In fact, refrigeration dulls its flavour, so we leave them out at room temperature and let nature do the talking.

Large beef tomatoes become the star of sandwiches, while sweet cherry tomatoes are perfect for roasting until they burst into little pockets of sunshine.Summer Tomato Bruschetta

Ingredients

• 4 ripe British tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves
• Fresh basil
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Sea salt & black pepper
• Toasted sourdough

Dice the tomatoes and mix with chopped basil, olive oil and seasoning. Rub warm toasted sourdough with garlic before piling the tomatoes high. Finish with another drizzle of olive oil and enjoy while pretending you’re sitting in Tuscany instead of the British patio.

Courgettes are the vegetable that just keeps giving.

Every gardener knows the familiar panic. One minute you’ve got a few tiny courgettes. The next, they’re multiplying faster than rabbits.

Thankfully, they’re wonderfully versatile. Slice them onto the barbecue, grate them into cakes, spiralise them into ribbons or simply sauté with garlic and herbs.

Their delicate flavour pairs beautifully with almost anything.Quick Garlic & Lemon Courgettes

Ingredients

• 2 courgettes, sliced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• Zest of ½ lemon
• Fresh mint or basil
• Parmesan shavings
• Black pepper

Cook the garlic gently in olive oil before adding the courgettes for just 2–3 minutes. Stir in a tsp of our sweet garden Mint Sauce to balance the garlic. Toss through the lemon zest, herbs and Parmesan.

Serve with grilled fish, chicken or simply with warm crusty bread.Ratatouille Rainbow

This is a take on classic ratatouille, presented in an attractive dish jam-packed with seasonal veggies.

To make this more of a substantial meal, serve it with small shell pasta or couscous. You could also add some slices of mozzarella into the dish prior to baking.

Slice and build, alternating green and yellow courgette, aubergine, tomato – you can add colour varieties of peppers too.

Make a sauce gently frying a couple of garlic cloves, adding mixes Mediterranean herbs, a good few glugs of our Bloody Mary Tomato Ketchup and 1 or 2 tins of chopped tomatoes.

Simmer, reduce and pour over the rainbow of vegetables, letting the sauce slide between your colourful collection.

Bake for 25 minutes and serve. We love it simply in a bowl with crusty buttered bread on the side.Fishy Summer Tacos

This is simply a great way for the family to enjoy a crispy summer salad of absolutely whatever you like – fresh cucumber, salad leaves, onion, herbs. Air Fry golden goujons of fish (or chicken), grab and go.

Question – do you go Tartare Sauce, smooth and creamy jam-packed with coarsely chopped gherkins and capers … “tartare without the eye-watering tart!”

Or – Sweet Chilli Sauce, made with red chillies and red peppers overflowing with the vitality of the Orient.

Or – one of our amazing selection of Mayonnaise, all of which you will find with their tasting notes – HERE.

What really is the difference between shrimps, prawns, crevettes, langoustines?

And, which of our magical mayos goes better with each?

There’s always so much to learn, taste and love in our wonderful world of food.

Well – Biologically, shrimps and prawns belong to entirely different scientific suborders.

You might have guessed that shrimps have plate-like gills and a curved body, while prawns have branching gills and a straighter body. Crevettes is simply the French word for larger shrimp/prawns, and langoustines are a separate, lobster-like crustacean.

In the kitchen however, shrimps, prawns, crevettes etc are often used interchangeably by chefs. America tends to lean towards shrimps, whilst we favour the prawn.

They are all plump, juicy, sweet little voices in a seafood choir.

Whichever you prefer, Mayonnaise & Seafood is a match made in ‘heaven’, or anywhere you would expect a glorious collection of British seafood to be brought ashore.Sicilian Lemon & Dill Mayonnaise

Release the Sicilian sunshine with this superbly rich and fresh mayonnaise. It has Sicilian lemon juice, aromatic chopped dill and is made with British free-range eggs. Garlic Mayonnaise

A velvety aioli-style Mayonnaise made with British free-range whole egg and real garlic puree. Perfect for those who crave the flavour and richness of a quality aioli. Delicious mixed into mash potato or as a ready-made dip for hot prawns.Habanero Chilli Mayonnaise.

A hot and spicy mayonnaise with fermented red habanero chilli and fragrant coriander for a real depth of flavour. All this wrapped in velvet-smooth mayonnaise.

But there’s more. Meet our full Mayonnaise Family HERE.

This week, instead of planning dinner around the recipe, try planning it around what’s in season.

Visit your local farm shop. Wander through a farmers’ market. Pop into the allotment. Browse ‘market street’ in your supermarket.

Pick whatever looks freshest, brightest, British and most tempting – then build your meal around that.You might discover that the best cooking isn’t about complicated techniques or expensive ingredients. It’s about letting Summer do most of the hard work for you.

There comes a point every summer when nature gently taps us on the shoulder and says, “Honestly, you don’t need yet another avocado from the other side of the world today.”

This is the season when allotments become treasure chests, gardens quietly show off, and farm shops overflow with local vegetables.

They’re fresh, colourful, gloriously imperfect and, quite frankly, taste like vegetables are supposed to, wabbly or not.

Buying ‘seasonal’ isn’t about denying yourself life’s pleasures. It’s about discovering that the best ingredients often need the least fuss. A handful of herbs, good olive oil, a pinch of sea salt and dinner practically cooks itself.

Stir it into a pasta and enjoy the simple things!

The Courgette Conspiracy

Every gardener knows the truth about courgettes. You spend weeks wondering if they’ll ever appear, then suddenly you’re leaving bags of them on neighbours’ doorsteps under cover of darkness.

Freshly picked courgettes are wonderfully delicate, with a unique sweetness.

Slice them into ribbons for salads, grill them until lightly charred, fold them into risottos or bake them into cakes that somehow disappear faster than the vegetables themselves.[[Slice, scoop, stuff with slices of chicken and mustardy cheese sauce. Bake and serve. Delicious.]

And if you happen to miss one hiding beneath the leaves? Congratulations … you’ve grown a marrow!

Summer tomatoes are proof that patience is rewarded.

Cherry tomatoes pop like little sweets. Beefsteak tomatoes demand nothing more than a drizzle of olive oil and torn basil. Heritage varieties come in every shade from golden yellow to deep purple, proving that tomatoes have far more personality than they’re usually given credit for.If you’ve grown your own, you’ll understand why gardeners leave a little jar of sea salt in the greenhouse and so few make it to table!

Beautiful Beans

Runner beans and French beans rarely make magazine centerfolds, but perhaps they should.

Picked young, they’re sweet, crisp and satisfyingly fresh. Steamed with butter, tossed through pasta, added to salads or quickly stir-fried with garlic and Mint Sauce, they prove that simple really can be spectacular.

There’s also something deeply satisfying about watching bean plants climb skywards, producing handful after handful of supper.

Aubergines – the surprising Egg Plant

For years, aubergines suffered from an image problem. Too often they were undercooked, overcooked or simply misunderstood.[A beautiful looking play on parmigiana slices. Grate with cheese and finish under the grill – wow!]

A fresh summer aubergine is a revelation. Roast it until silky, grill thick slices until smoky, or transform it into rich parmigiana, velvety baba ganoush or fragrant curries.

It’s a vegetable that rewards confidence … and plenty of olive oil.

Onions – the unsung heroes

Not every vegetable needs to steal the spotlight.

Fresh summer onions, spring onions and sweet varieties quietly underpin countless meals. Slowly caramelised, they become jammy and rich.

TASTY TIP: Add a spoon or two of our Red Onion Marmalade to help and further sweeten the caramelisation of your onions.

Sliced raw, they bring gentle sharpness to salads. Roasted whole, they become meltingly soft and surprisingly sweet.

Don’t forget the supporting cast

Summer’s vegetable orchestra has plenty more performers waiting in the wings.

Sweet peas that barely make it indoors before being eaten straight from the pod. Crunchy cucumbers still warm from the greenhouse.[Beetroot salad with cucumber, melon, spring onions and olives.]

Beetroot with earthy sweetness. Rainbow chard that looks almost too beautiful to cook. Sweetcorn picked and cooked within hours, when every kernel still bursts with sugary juice.

Add to the earthy charm of a salad with our Beetroot Relish – packed with crispy refreshing shards of beetroot steeped in a deliciously syrupy red wine sauce.

Even humble lettuce deserves another look when it’s freshly harvested rather than shrink-wrapped.Caesar Salad

Nothing humble about the salad leaves, cucumber and tomatoes, strips of chicken, crunchy croutons, grated parmesan, and our own creamy Caesar Dressing.