English asparagus always puts a smile on my face and prompts a whole new lease of kitchen activity. Imports available throughout the year can be good, but I only want the best, and the best is definitely English, so now’s the time to get down to your local farmers’ market or asparagus farm and dig in. Look for spears that stand proud and feel firm, with tightly closed buds. Snap off woody ends before cooking – if the asparagus is really fresh, you won’t need to do this.

If I’m honest, once the asparagus season gets into full swing, I have probably eaten just one too many plates of buttered spears and I start looking for other ways to deal with this short-lived delicacy. We have recently started to confit egg yolks in duck fat to serve alongside asparagus at Claridge’s. Together with meltingly delicious pata negra ham and haricot beans mixed with extra virgin olive oil and white balsamic vinegar here, you have a combination of flavours and textures that mingle wonderfully on the palate.

As the outdoors beckons invitingly, I start making food that is ideal for eating in the garden. Since we’re talking such a quintessentially English ingredient, incorp-orating blanched and finely sliced asparagus stems into our much-loved cheese scone makes perfect sense. Halved and spread with goat’s cheese, then sandwiched together with the asparagus tips, you have a moreish snack that will grab everyone’s attention.

But perhaps, like me, you have to see the season in with a spring-vegetable risotto? Asparagus, peas and broad beans are ideal for this. There’s no need to do anything too complicated to them, simply cook them in boiling salted water until just tender, then drain and cool in iced water (in chef’s terms, to blanch and refresh) to keep their vibrant shade of green. Stir them into your risotto base towards the end to warm through, keeping the asparagus tips for crowning the risotto at the end.

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