Blossom means fruit
Driving down to Essex this morning, I was enjoying the May (Hawthorn) blossom, the blue skies and sunshine, when I suddenly realised we are just on the brink of all blossom bursting out in the hedgerows. Most of this blossom will turn into fruit which in its turn can be picked for fruit gin, wine, jelly, chutney and jam. Blossom is much easier to spot in the hedgerows than fruit. As I purred along at the wheel of a companionable Jalopy, I suddenly realised that if I can identify the blossom of the fruit I particularly like, I can easily find...
read morePatum Peperium. Gentleman’s Relish
This exquisite concoction is so quintessentially English that Danny had never heard of it until the fateful day when he stepped over the Cottage Smallholder threshold. And then I didn’t rush at him shrieking, “Patum Peperium,” or even, “Gentleman’s Relish.” In retrospect, this might have got the relationship off to a cracking start. Several years passed before he was introduced to this delicacy. My nephew, Hamish, sent Danny this special Fortnum’s pot of relish one Christmas. Whilst I marvelled over...
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