Living calendar
April
Spring
April is the month of the leg of lamb. Easter falls in April most years, and with it the Easter ham in the US, the roast lamb across the UK, the chocolate eggs, the herb bunches coming back in the garden. Asparagus hits full power, the first local strawberries arrive, radishes become an apéro ritual. On the condiment side, you work freshness: Kampot black for the lamb, fleur de sel for the eggs, sumac for the salads, young Provence olive oil over the new vegetables. This is also when fresh Kampot finally lands — six to eight weeks after the Cambodian harvest. If you want pepper that's genuinely alive, now is the time. Chocolatiers clear their windows after Easter, and spring salmon comes back into season.
Bring out of the pantry
Signature dishes
- Roast leg of lamb (Easter) · with Kampot Black Pepper · see the pairing →
- Grilled lamb chops with ras el hanout · with Ras el Hanout · see the pairing →
- Grilled asparagus · with Cretan Extra Virgin Olive Oil PDO · see the pairing →
- Strawberries with balsamic · with Balsamic Vinegar of Modena 12-Year · see the pairing →
- Deviled eggs (Easter) · with Kala Namak (Black Salt) · see the pairing →
- Hot cross buns (Good Friday, UK) · with Saigon Cinnamon · see the pairing →
Culinary celebrations
- Variable · Easter (usually April — lamb, ham, eggs)
- Variable (Good Friday) · Hot cross buns and fish (UK)
- Variable · Passover (brisket, matzo, charoset)
- Variable · Eid al-Fitr (end of Ramadan — biryani, sweets)
Chef's note
The Easter roast is sacred, and the rule is simple: never pepper before it goes in the oven. Salt the meat the day before with coarse kosher (it works its way in), then crack Kampot black coarse over the surface thirty seconds before it hits the heat. Pepper added too early scorches into a bitter crust and you've wasted the good stuff. For the Easter deviled eggs, keep kala namak on hand — it's an Indian black salt that smells of sulfur and egg, so it makes the egg taste more of egg. Eggs to the power of ten. And stop apologizing in April: the weather's good, your roast has earned its place at the center of the table.