- Cantaloupe Melon - Cantaloupe melons, with their sweet, orange flesh, are one of the tastiest of the melon family.
- Apple - Nature's perfect ready meal, apples are ready to eat any time.
- Jersey Potatoes, the best spuds of the year - The finest potatoes in the world? Possibly?
- English Apples - Our Lost Heritage - There are thousands of varieties of apples known, but less than 20 commonly sold in supermarkets, and typically less than 5 are common English apple varieties.
- British Strawberries - where has all the taste gone? - Once one of the finest tastes in the fruit world, eagerly awaited every summer, the appeal of British Strawberries is not quite what it used to be...
- Potato - An old classic and a staple food in many potatoes, how much do you know about potatoes?
- Banana - A fruit as popular as it is versatile, how much do you really know about Bananas? You might think they're just yellow, but you can get blue and red ones too.

Store At: 5-10°C
Comes From: Temperate Regions
Seasonality: September - March

Sprouts are available earlier or later, but these foreign imports don't taste as good, and are contributing to the madness that is permanent global summer time. Many people believe sprouts taste better once they've had some frost on them in the winter months.

One of the most welcome sights in the vegetable section of the supermarket around late Autumn and winter is the appearance of sprout stalks; that is, sprouts sold on the stalks they grow on, ranging from 18 inches to 3 feet in length. The sprouts store better on the stalk, since they can take moisture from the stalk itself, and they're more fun to prepare than a simple bag. Sprouts can be fiddly to prepare, especially the tastier small ones. If you can stop the kids stalk-fighting for a moment or two, they can even be persuaded to help prepare them.

History

The first "sprout" ever found was initially thought to be a mutant offshoot from a cabbage plant, but since then more reports of "a many headed brassica" have been found. They first reached England and France aroudn 1800, from their origins in Brussels in Belgium.

Uses

Sprouts are very versatile for cooking; boiling or steaming is the traditional and typical way, but they can also be stir-fried, or pureed in a blender with cream. Our advice is to check out a few recipes, play around a bit and find out the tastiest way you can to eat them!

Some people experience stomach discomfort from sprouts only slightly cooked or blanched; if so, cook them longer; they smell more, because they break part, but are easier to digest.