These days we enjoy an enormous variety of fruit and vegetables all year round, but when it comes to enjoying truly great tasting food, seasonality is the key.

Like the summer strawberry and the autumn Orange Pippin, the appearance of British asparagus in late April is a celebrated moment in the culinary calendar. As welcome as the promise of warmer weather, the first sweet and tender spears mark the beginning of a brief but bountiful season in which to indulge in one of the nation’s most celebrated crops.

The British climate ensures optimum conditions for the cultivation of asparagus in late spring and early summer, and the natural cycle of slow growth ensures an unparalleled flavour and texture. And because it’s grown on our doorsteps, we can buy it at its best.

Chris Kitchen, spokesperson for the British Asparagus Season, says: “When a domestically-grown vegetable is in season it’s being picked, packed and delivered in double-quick time, and asparagus is no exception. Each spear makes a short journey from field to plate so you can enjoy it at its tastiest and most nutritious.”

Good ingredients are as important to good food as good cooking. Using ingredients at their freshest, ripest and most abundant ensures a masterpiece in any kitchen so Britain’s top chefs are unanimous in their praise of home-grown asparagus.As Antony Worrall Thompson says: “Of course I'm all for buying British and buying in season – everything tastes better when it’s been harvested here in the UK. This is particularly true of asparagus. The beginning of the asparagus season is a highlight of the culinary year. I can't wait for May and the first bundles of fresh green domestic spears.”