Kwekerij Sjerps

Who's behind it

Kwekerij Sjerps is in Wijdenes, in the West Friesland fruit area of North Holland. Richard Sjerps grows organically here. He focuses on small fruit, edible flowers and fresh peas. The range is narrow and follows the season. What's there is there briefly, and it comes fresh from the field.

What he grows

Unripe gooseberries, for example: hard, green and sharply acidic, picked before they turn sweet. Use them to bring acidity to a dish. Then there are edible flowers: white elderflower, cherry blossom and magnolia blossom, all with a short peak in spring. The elderflower and unripe gooseberries are grown to order, so you get them fresh on the day you need them. The rest of the summer is about blackberries, Japanese wineberries and crisp peas such as sugar snaps and mangetout in green, yellow and purple.

In your kitchen

A compote of unripe gooseberries cuts through smoked mackerel or goose liver. Steep elderflower in vinegar, cream or syrup, or deep-fry it as a beignet. Magnolia blossom has a peppery, lightly ginger-like note that works in a short pickle or as a finish. Japanese wineberries add a wine-red, soft acidity to game and duck. It's local and organic, so on the menu you can name grower, village and season. Put the blossoms and unripe gooseberries on your order list early, because the window is narrow.