May

A perfect May banquet would start with English asparagus, at room temperature and only just cooked through, so that the delicate heads offer more resistance to the teeth than the silky stems. Next would come simply prepared wild river trout, sea trout or salmon with a small pile of sorrel leaves briefly wilted in butter.

The main course is new-season lamb – a mountain breed with sweet flesh, either pink and juicy or well roasted so that the crust is charred and the meat tender enough to be cut with a fork – served with Jersey Royal new potatoes, young broad beans and, perhaps, tiny new-season carrots and turnips. Pudding need not be anything more complicated than a bowl of that most elusive of fruits, the loquat.