Five London chefs share their tips for making the most of in-season ingredients .

In the second instalment of our series exploring the favourite ingredients of top chefs, we ask the chief pan-rattlers from some of London’s finest restaurants to talk about the in-season items in their cupboards, and how we can cook them at home. From mulberries to sweetcorn, here are the things to put in your shopping trolley this August, and how to enjoy them.

Mulberries are grown in the UK, but also in the western region of China. I get mine from a supplier in China. They have an intense, raisiny sweetness with a hint of sharpness. They’re a big hitter in the berry world. Besides the concentration and depth of flavour that you get from them, I love the idea that there are such beautiful berries being widely grown in China, as most people would never even think mulberries would be used in Chinese cuisine.

I use mulberries in a dessert by macerating them in red wine, sugar syrup and star anise. At home, you could eat them by themselves as a snack, or with some cream as an alternative to strawberries.

I get my sweetcorn from Watt’s Farm down in Kent. It’s a humble, hardy vegetable that is so representative of a summer barbecue. It’s crunchy, nutty, sweet and deliciously more-ish. And it goes well with so many different garnishes.

I roast the corn husk-on in the coals, then peel the husk back and char on the grill, glazing with a liberal amount of butter. Then I serve it back in the husk while steaming hot with a few blobs of butter, a drizzle of honey, crumbled feta and some crushed cashews. It’s buttery and sweet with a big crunch. Alternatively, you can par-boil then finish your sweetcorn on the grill, brushing with loads of butter and adding a generous sprinkle of Maldon sea salt. Cover it with a garnish of your choosing.

In August there are blackberries to be had in hedgerows up and down the country. They are amazing if you get a spell of rain followed by sunshine, which produces beautifully sweet berries, unlike the sour, plastic-looking rubbish available in the supermarkets all year round.

At home you can eat them raw or in apple and blackberry crumble, which is probably my favourite pudding. Blackberries are also in abundance on 12 August, which is the start of the grouse season. Just drop a couple in a grouse sauce at the end – amazing sweet acidity to combat the gamey nature of grouse.

These usually come from Liguria, a region in Italy, very close to the south of France. Here in London, however, they are available through Natoora. They are a little different from normal courgettes – much longer, lighter in colour and with a much firmer texture. They have a low water content, so the texture is very crunchy and the flavour is really fresh and vibrant. They are perfect eaten raw with a little olive oil and lemon, but they also provide a great fresh contrast when added to bigger dishes.

At Rigo’, we will be serving the trombetta courgette with octopus and a verbena pesto. The courgette will be sliced very thinly and served raw with lemon and olive oil. The crunch contrasts perfectly with the meaty octopus. At home, the trombetta courgette works perfectly in a quiche. Just cut the courgette very thin, cook up with some onions and add to your quiche mixture.

You can find these vibrantly coloured berries hanging from elderflower trees all over cities and in the countryside. They begin to appear from late August to early September and I visit my favourite spots to collect them. They’re sweet, fruity, acidic and floral, very seasonal and particularly British, as well as very time-consuming to remove from their branches.

At Magpie we’ll serve the berries fresh through a sauce with something gamey such as grouse or venison. We’ll also make a batch of pontack, an old English sauce made with elderberries, vinegar and medieval spices such as nutmeg, cloves and peppercorns. It was first served in London’s Lombard Street in the 17th century and is named after Monsieur Pontack, proprietor of the eponymous Pontack’s Head tavern, which is regarded as London’s first fashionable eating house. The sauce mellows out and changes throughout the year and goes well in desserts.

At home, eat them raw with other berries in a pavlova or cook them down with some sugar and spices to make a delicious coulis. Alternatively, shove them in a bottle of gin with some sugar to make a twist on sloe gin.

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