Spring is a difficult time of year when cooking seasonally. Nothing is quite ready, yet after a cold winter of heavy, rich flavours everyone is craving the green, white and incredibly peppery and fresh flavours and colours of early spring. You can call on a few bits preserved from seasons before, but when trying to reflect time and place through food, it can be challenging. Spring, for me, is a time to reflect on how fortunate we are for the abundance we have the rest of the year, at a time when we have very little to work with. Spring is a time of creativity and a time of challenge as we enter the beginning of the seasons’ cycles once again.

All of the recipes offered are very simple and rely 100% on the quality of the ingredients used. Shop from your local farmers’ market and seek out organic growers. Better still, harvest from your own or a friend’s garden if you are fortunate enough to be in this position. When using herbs and greens, harvest and use within hours of picking; without this freshness the food will be bland and rather boring to eat, and who wants that? I imagine all of these dishes as nice picnic items to be eaten in the fresh spring air when venturing outside after a cold winter.

Preparation: 10 mins

Serves: 4

Cook: 23 - 30 mins, plus approx. 1 & 1/4 - 1 & 1/2 hours for the duck

PREGO DUCK & MIXED MUSHROOM TRUFFLE RISOTTO

Preparation: 45 mins plus 2 hours resting time

Serves: 4

Cook: 45 mins

MOI MOI PIE & MUSTARDY GREENS

Preparation: 10 mins

Serves: 2

Cook: 10 mins

BOILED DUCK EGG ON BRIOCHE WITH HERB BUTTER & HERB SALT

Preparation: 15 mins plus overnight pressing

Serves : 4

Cook: 15 mins

LEEK TERRINE, CHILLI, GOAT’S CHEESE & BAGUETTE

Preparation: 20 mins

Serves: 4

Cook: 10 mins

Preserved Pear Souffle & Cream

Preparation: 20 mins

Serves: 4

Cook: 45 mins

ASPARAGUS SOUP TOPPED WITH CURIO BAY PECORINO & OLIVE OIL