An early Easter is a tricky proposition for the cook. No doubt the butchers will be selling expensive gigots of so-called "spring" lamb; new season's beasts that are born around Christmas and reared in barns especially to meet the early market: they will undoubtedly be tender but possessed of little taste and, to my mind, inappropriate in weather that is still primarily wintry. A mature hogget born last summer might be more in keeping but since Easter and the feast of Saint Patrick almost coincide this year, I am minded to take a cue from the Irish and avoid the ovine altogether.

The Irish are supposed to eat corned beef and cabbage at Easter but rarely ever do, unless they have migrated across the Atlantic. Irish gastronomy is instead obsessed with pig, from crubeens (slow-cooked trotters fried in breadcrumbs), ears and snout, to black and white puddings, kidneys in mustard and hams and chops. The Easter treat was to dig out the last joint from the crock of brine and to celebrate the end of the winter. Such a treat would be inconceivable without cabbage and potatoes.