It's time for clementines and pomegranates, writes Hugo Arnold
Our fruit bowl is full of oranges; from lip-puckering Sevilles through large, sweet specimens, to the seasonal treat of clementines, which have a bigger, bolder flavour that is more orangey and less sweet than satsumas. Clementines are the ideal orange to bottle in syrup, maybe with a good glug of alcohol. Packed into jars and dressed up, they they make a charming Christmas gift. But make a batch: sitting in your own cupboard they become a near-instant pudding, to be hauled down at the last minute and served with cream or ice-cream.
They can also be tossed through wilted spinach for a sunshine-speckled salad; combined with olives - the latter's saltiness does wonders in bringing out the flavour of the orange - or with fennel, as in the recipe below.
The other fruit-of-the-moment is the almost medieval-coloured pomegranate. This is no easy fruit to eat, but a bowl of just-picked seeds has no end of seasonal charm. The sweet-sourness makes it perfect to add to savoury dishes.
While we now have the added convenience of pomegranate juice - try it with gin for a colourful cocktail - it is the just-picked seeds which add charm and intrigue to faisinjan, a Persian sauce made with pomegranates and walnuts to dress duck, chicken or lamb. Pheasant, too, braised in pomegranate juice and served with rice or a bulgur wheat salad, looks far more festive when the seeds are dotted about the finished dish.