I've written here before about how the kitchen gardener copes with gluts. Last year one of those, for us at least, was quinces, used with apples in pies and breakfast purees, added to lamb stews, poached in sweetened wine, baked... But sometimes the opposite happens, with a crop failing, as indeed is the case in 2019 with.. quinces.
Our tree had a few small fruits visible in early summer, but one by one they've dropped off, or more accurately been washed off by the heavy and all too frequent showers of August, or been blown away by this summer's equally prevalent gales.
It's not disastrous, as quince is hardly an essential in the kitchen. But one of our major reasons for kitchen gardening is growing things that are either absent from the shops, or rarely seen and very expensive. Things that improve our quality of life; fruits and vegetables that make cooking and eating a pleasure.
My apologies for widening this out, but our agriculture is fragile: weather extremes happen all too often; industrial farming is weakening the soil; the B word threatens to hit the sector from all sides. The British Retail Consortium just said Michael Gove's statement that Brexit would not bring any fresh food shortages was categorically wrong. We may find that the opposite of glut is not just a gardener's problem soon.
Showing posts with label Brexit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brexit. Show all posts
Monday, 2 September 2019
Tuesday, 5 March 2019
A Lemon Tree, My Dear Watson?
It was brought home to me this morning how important the seemingly humble lemon actually is in culinary life. I'm not talking about fancy dishes with lemon as a major ingredient - ah, childhood memories of lemon meringue pie, and childhood nightmares of the school version possibly made with a by-product of petrol refining.
As is normal here we had a bowl of fruit as part of breakfast. Having shopped yesterday at my favourite local Asian supermarket dragon fruit was part of that. The last time we had it thus the flavour was almost non-existent; today, with a big squeeze of lemon it was brought forward hugely. Guava benefitted too, its strange (and enjoyable) man-sweat quality enhanced by the citrus. I always prepare papaya with a similar dash of lime juice, which raises its game greatly. The list goes on, and includes lemon as an acid helping reduce the GI value of certain foods, which is great long term for the waistline.
I also recalled that imported supplies of citrus fruits are expected to be hit by the looming no-deal Brexit. Dover, apparently, accounts for 80 per cent or so of imports, and will be a car park if general expectations of government planning come about. With Chris Grayling (I have complete confidence in... per the marvellous Mrs May's sell) in charge of transport what could possibly go wrong?
We have grown our own - yes we have a lemon tree, my dear Watson, and a lime - with somewhat limited success for a few years now. I hope that the couple of lemons and one lime expected as our annual crop will not have to suffice this summer. The Dear Leader's G&T needs a slice. And so do a vast range of salads, fish dishes, fruits and sauces. We're buggered, aren't we?
As is normal here we had a bowl of fruit as part of breakfast. Having shopped yesterday at my favourite local Asian supermarket dragon fruit was part of that. The last time we had it thus the flavour was almost non-existent; today, with a big squeeze of lemon it was brought forward hugely. Guava benefitted too, its strange (and enjoyable) man-sweat quality enhanced by the citrus. I always prepare papaya with a similar dash of lime juice, which raises its game greatly. The list goes on, and includes lemon as an acid helping reduce the GI value of certain foods, which is great long term for the waistline.
I also recalled that imported supplies of citrus fruits are expected to be hit by the looming no-deal Brexit. Dover, apparently, accounts for 80 per cent or so of imports, and will be a car park if general expectations of government planning come about. With Chris Grayling (I have complete confidence in... per the marvellous Mrs May's sell) in charge of transport what could possibly go wrong?
We have grown our own - yes we have a lemon tree, my dear Watson, and a lime - with somewhat limited success for a few years now. I hope that the couple of lemons and one lime expected as our annual crop will not have to suffice this summer. The Dear Leader's G&T needs a slice. And so do a vast range of salads, fish dishes, fruits and sauces. We're buggered, aren't we?
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