In Season

Celebrate August's finest ingredients with delicious. Magazine

Celebrate... Grouse
12th August is a fateful day for British grouse because it spells the beginning of the shooting season – the lesser-known snipe and ptarmigan also come under fire. From then on until 10th December on mainland Britain (and 30th November in Northern Ireland). the grouse is up for grabs.

Once a strictly aristocratic sport, grouse shooting has been criticised in recent years by animal rights charities because of the way in which 'beaters' flush the birds out, pushing them in the direction of guns.

Ironically, the heather moorlands upon which  grouse so rely need to be landmanaged – as a result, some argue that without grouse shooting the justification to maintain these areas of outstanding natural beauty wouldn't be so relevant. Some believe that the grouse shooting season is a price worth paying to ensure the ongoing biodiversity of moorland as it's the only way to finance a grouse moor.

Throughout the year, gamekeepers protect grouse numbers and other moorland birds from predators such as foxes, and should you cook a grouse you'll know it was are wild and not artificially reared.

Grouse look a bit like partridges and are high in protein, low in fat and free from artificial additives. They're probably the most popular game bird of the season, in part because there's more meat on them, but the controversial obtainment of these creatures (and they're fast, too) mean that they're a costly choice for a roast. However, the price does drop as the season progresses. Most people see them as a treat in an upmarket restaurant, and they make a great late summer/early autumn dish because they naturally complement earthy root vegetables.

Celebrate... Blackberries
British summers are synonymous with hedgerows heavy with wild blackberries, and there's nothing more gratifying than picking – and cooking – your own. Their not-too-sweet, not-too-tart flavour is popular with children and adults alike. What's more they add texture to cocktails and can even be made into gin.

A bit about blackberries
Blackberry seasons runs from August-November in the UK and as the seasons change so do the culinary uses for this fruit. In summer, blackberries go well on their own, sprinkled lightly with sugar or added to cream, in berry compotes, summer puddings or muddled into cocktails; in autumn they bring comfort in the form of steaming hot pies and custard-friendly puds.

Blackberries can be found across the globe in countries with cooler, temperate climates, but no-one loves them more than the British and Northern Europeans – archelogical digs have confirmed that Europeans were eating them as long ago as 8,000 B.C.

This bramble grows quickly and adapts to its environment well, even growing in poor soil, and so is commonly found on wasteland as well as in hedgerows and woodland.

Nutritional content and health benefits
Blackberries are very high in antioxidants and vitamin C which may protect against cancer. Their seeds contain fibre and omega-3 and -6 fats.

Choosing and freezing blackberries
If you can, pick your own – even citydwellers will find them growing on canal paths, the wild areas of parks and on scrubland. Try not to pick any by the roadside, however, as these can absorb pollution, and go for berries above waist height, especially on paths, for the simple reason that an animal could have cocked their leg on what could soon be lunch. Expect the fruit from each blackberry bush to vary in sweetness.

Otherwise, try local farmers' markets or a Pick Your Own farm. The blackberries you pick should be plump, dark and somewhere between squishy and firm. If they stain your container, they're probably too soft.

Once picked, they need to be eaten or cooked within a day or two. Keep them cool and wash throughly before use. They can be frozen too; spread evenly on a tray, freeze, then pop into air-tight plastic bags and keep in the freezer.

Blackberry facts
*In WWI children in England were told to collect blackberries to make a vitamin-rich juice for soldiers.
*One superstition claims that blackberries shouldn't be picked after mid-October because this was when the devil was cast out from heaven and, in a fit of pique after falling into a prickly blackberry bush, urinated on them, leaving a stain on the leaves. A possible explanation is that as the weather grows wetter and colder the fruit can become infected by molds and frosts.
*The blackberry root is sometimes used as a treatment for dysentry and diarrhea in herbal medicine.

Celebrate... Courgettes
Versatile, easy to grow and low in calories, there's more to the courgette than being a staple in ratatouille or veggie lasagne. 

A bit about courgettes
The general belief is that they were first brought to Europe from the Americas and that they descend directly from squashes, which have bee cultivated in Central America for thousands of years.

Courgettes thrive in the UK; the season peaks in the August heat, giving way to thicker-skinded cousins such as squashes and pumpkins in October when the first frosts of autumn appear. For the gardening enthusiast they're a good choice to grow because they keep producing if you cut the courgettes before they grow to marrow size.

Nutritional content and health benefits
Courgettes are 90% water, low in calories and fat. They contain vitamins A and C, plus folate and potassium.

Choosing and cooking courgettes
Courgettes don't keep for long (up to five days in the fridghe), which is another good reason why you should grow your own (see our tips on growing a vegetable garden here).

If you're buying them, go for smaller, younger courgettes – they have more flavour  – and make sure they're firm to the touch with smooth skins. They need a good wash, and their ends trimming, and some people prefer the peel them too (though it's only the older, larger courgettes that really require it).

Courgettes can be baked, fried, griddled, roasted, steamed and stewed and are great in salads. You can even make chips from them.

Stuffed courgette flowers  – a typical Italian dish – are becoming more popular in in the UK. Female flowers bloom into the vegetable but the male flowers are there just to look pretty so utilise these buttercup-coloured flowers by stuffing them with soft cheese, then covering them in a light batter (such as a tempura) and deep-frying them – delicious, though not exactly figure-friendly.

Courgette facts