The forecast is frightful but the taste of spring is delightful

Forget daffodils in bloom, birdsong and bumblebees buzzing, this last week has seen howling winds, freezing rain and even snow. It is well into spring by any official definition but this year’s weather feels more like a protracted April Fool’s joke.

In truth, though, the temperature in this part of the world has always been changeable at best and, more than anything else, it is the taste of spring that lets us know the seasons are changing and summer is on the way.

Nothing says spring like the taste of fresh peas, radishes and wild garlic. Shelling spring peas brings me instantly back to a place in time – sitting in my parents’ garden as my dad collects the vegetables he has sown at the end of winter, passing me the occasional pea, to taste the freshest of fresh food.

It is the same throughout the year – summer strawberries after dinner in the garden, autumn apple pies at Halloween (with a 20p piece wrapped in cling film hiding as either a treat or, for the unsuspecting, to take out one of your teeth).this week, we meet someone who knows this more than most. Clare Coghill, who owns Café Cùil on Skye, chats to our food writer Alice Hinds about the importance of choosing seasonal local ingredients.

She tells P.S. (on pages 12&13): “We pick the wild garlic ourselves on our days off. Just tasting those flavours and knowing that you picked it yourself, and it couldn’t be any fresher, is such a rewarding experience. It makes you feel proud to be able to serve it to customers.”

Coghill has given us a helping hand too with her amazing langoustine and Talisker whisky bisque recipe so we can revel in spring – whatever the weather throws at us.