As British food lovers, we spend most of the year coveting Mediterranean climates and ingredients, gazing longingly over the channel at the greener pastures of the continent. Once a year though, we finally get the sun we’ve been longing for and we’re blessed with our own bounty of fresh, juicy, flavourful summer ingredients. Leading the charge in June is the famous British strawberry – although they’re not necessarily at their best until next month, strawberries in June are still delicious. Keep an eye out for raspberries and gooseberries too – the latter are hugely underrated and delicious in sweet and savoury dishes.
That said, there’s so much more to British summer than strawberries. June is also the month for foragers to scour their local hedgerows for elderflower – the season only lasts about a month, but elderflower is easy to find and you can keep it all year round in the form of elderflower cordial. In fact, we have a handy guide on making your own elderflower cordial right here!
Other stone fruits like apricots and nectarines really come into their own this month, and peaches will soon follow in July – look out for fruits with a little bit of give in the flesh when you’re buying, and don’t be afraid to ripen them at home for a couple of days before you use them! June is the time to be eating watermelon too – it’s more versatile than you might think, and as at home in a salad as it is in a dessert.