What’s trending?

CREMANT

Sales of crémant sparkling wine have recently rocketed, with Waitrose reporting sales up by 28% this year. Could this be the new prosecco? Find a cocktail using it on page 93.

DAB

Less familiar than favourites like cod and salmon, this locally caught flat fish is in the Marine Conservation Society’s most recent ‘Best Choice Top 10’, meaning it’s a more sustainable choice. Also on the list are Cornish hake, UK rope-grown mussels and pollock from the Celtic sea, so why not try a more sustainable fish for dinner?

METALLIC WEDDING CAKES

Wedding season is almost here, so we looked at some of the top trends in wedding cakes for 2018, and a big one this year is metallic – think copper-coloured icing artfully dripping down the cake, gold leaf designs and sprays of rose gold shimmer.

PLASTIC BOTTLE DEPOSIT SCHEME

The war on plastic has been big news this year, and one way to reduce the number of plastic bottles ending up in landfill is a deposit scheme. Last month, Brighton’s branches of Pret a Manger trialled such a scheme, charging customers 10p more for bottled water by way of a deposit, which the user gets back if they return the bottle to the store. We hope more stores will follow suit.

MARROWFAT PEAS

At Bristol’s British Dal Festival in March, chefs celebrated some of our less-loved grains and pulses, including fava beans and marrowfat peas by cooking with them in different ways. Is it time for a marrowfat pea revival?