Red Little Gem

Sweet like butter and crunchy like romaine. Harvested whole, then gently separated by hand, little gems will have your true heart.

You can shred and use to make a salad in the usual way. But you can also fry it and treat it as a vegetable. Little gem has a slightly nutty taste which is brought out by using a mix of butter and a nut oil (walnut or hazelnut) for the frying. The nutty flavour is further enhanced by sprinkling with munchy seeds, pine nuts, sesame seeds, or dry-fried chopped nuts, by sherry vinegar, and by the slightly musty smell and flavour of Indonesian long pepper.

You can bring out its zingy, fresh flavour by sprinkling with chopped spring onions, or alternatively quickly fried and softened gooseberries – drizzle over a little honey.