2017

More’s the pity that a frosty, snowy Christmas seems unlikely. It’s normal, though, as are the stresses and strains of preparing for the festivities and trying to remember what it’s all about among the last-minute minor crises. Will fruit become a last-minute crisis? There is no need! With Christmas on a Monday, there is plenty […]

We are left in no doubt that Christmas is around the corner: supermarkets are already loading up aisles with mountains of produce and there is still over three weeks to go. I always feel slightly unnerved by the sight, as though I need to start buying in case the crucial piece of fruit runs out.

A slight consolidation of the fruit ranges has taken place over the last couple of weeks with European apples and pears all picked and stored; Brazilian grapes in full flow; South African peaches and nectarines nicely established, and the full range of new season Spanish citrus on our shelves. We are all set for a

A settled period of fruit supply beckons, as settled as any time of the year, though there is always some change afoot, something to anticipate! In the next 2 to 3 weeks, look forward to new Mediterranean oranges, more Brazilian grapes, southern hemisphere plums and European Pink Lady apples. However, it is the here and

After the strange warmth and luminous light brought by Ophelia, a real misty autumnal ambience has descended on the country. Appropriately, the choice of fruit is in sympathy with the mood: the comforting flavours and sweetness of newly picked apples and pears, clementines and satsumas, persimmons and custard apples. FOR OUR FRUITBOWL, WE WOULD BUY:

Depth of flavour abounds if you know which fruit to buy: the Autumn harvest! Lovely apples and pears from British orchards; exotic mangoes, cherimoya and persimmon from Spain; sweet sticky Turkish figs and tangy, fresh Mediterranean satsumas and clementines. Fill your fruit bowl! FOR OUR FRUITBOWL, WE WOULD BUY: Figs: Delicious Black Bursa from Turkey;

Autumn Attractions: Dominating the taste buds this week are the autumnal fruits of the long summer growing season. It’s a very European scene with Spanish grapes, stone fruit, satsumas and persimmons; Israeli mangoes; Turkish figs and central European blueberries, but the new British apple and pear season demands attention, as do the rather unusual local

All Change: Early September is a time of the most interesting waxing and waning of fruit seasons. Much is drawing to a conclusion as the summer passes, but we can also savour the harvest of those fruits that have grown throughout the long, warm months: delicious Turkish figs, wonderful Spanish grapes and, of course, the

Scrumptious Discovery: There is a distinct mellowing in the air as we enter late summer, with nothing more evocative of the season than the first English apples in the shops. The soft, perfumed Discovery are all but past, but other early varieties such as Delbard Estivale and Scrumptious are here to tempt us with fragrant