Some ingredients just beg to be coupled up and, like the most dynamic couples, they bring out the best in one another. From the glorious minute that Jersey Royal potatoes come into season - and they are, happily, well and truly with us by now- I long to cook them and eat them with fresh crab. Jerseys and crab hold a particularly special place in my repertoire because they will always remind me of my dear dad, who, growing up in and later moving back to Kent, had a keen sense of British seasonality.
I have an enduring memory of his passion for Jersey potatoes, his excitement at the beginning of their fleeting season, and his penchant for pairing them with some fresh crab from the fishmonger. He'd bring home a large, recently dispatched beast wrapped in newspaper, open it up on the kitchen table and pour himself a strong G&T.
Then he'd take a good few hours cracking and mining it for the sweet, tasty meat, using special implements he'd brought back from our French camping holidays.
He took such pride in dressing the crab himself, carefully making his own delicious mayonnaise and folding it through the meat, along with a good pinch of cayenne pepper and a little spritz of lemon. We'd eat it with poached and buttered Jersey Royals, and there's something about the combination of the creamy, yet deeply mineral potatoes with the nutty, sweet crab that is wonderfully harmonious.
Jersey potatoes are cultivated in soil richly fertilised with vraic - a plentiful seaweed harvested on the beaches - on the steep, coastal slopes or 'cotils' of the island, so I suppose it makes sense that they have a natural affinity with seafood. They'll be served with many a fish supper in my house until the season is over. I'll also be working them into tarts, roast dinners and, quite frankly, eating them on their own with quite a lot of butter, sea salt and black pepper. A true simple early summer pleasure.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
kitchen therapy with Rosie Birkett
Give salad the Jersey Royal treatment with Rosie's rustic new potato platter
PUB MENU The Barley Mow
Put aside some quality time at the weekend to recreate this relaxed Anglo-French pub menu from a newly restored Mayfair landmark
BOLTHOLE Fort Road Hotel, Margate
Kentish ingredients, local artists and extra touches of hospitality give this distinctive seafront hotel the perfect combination of contemporary style and seaside nostalgia
COOK LIKE A LOCAL South Korea
Su Scott introduces the deep, complex flavours of this East Asian country
READY? SET MENU? GO!
Delegate decision making to the experts - say feed me, thrill me. Rather than poring over menus, opting for a great-value set menu or a blow-out tasting experience allows you to kick back and relax, confident that incredible food will follow
Speedboat Bar SIGNATURE DISH
Whip up a spicy chillispiked dish and zingy ginger cocktail from Thai canteen Speedboat Bar in London's Chinatown
Coronation chicken cups
Give this gorgeously creamy filling the canapé treatment - perfect for easy entertaining
3 WAYS WITH Pickles
Whether it's cornichons, onions, beetroots or dill pickles, you can do so much more than you might think with these vinegary beauties
Keep it sweet
Show-off desserts to end your meal with a flourish, from food writer Claire Saffitz
Cook with the season
That sweet spot between spring and summer brings with it some of the very best produce