This year the weather in spring and early summer was the kindest for many years, with plentiful sunshine and fairly regular rainfall to keep everything green. In August harvesting begins. An aerial view of the countryside shows a patchwork of gold where cornfields have been scythed, while others may have a green hue of vegetables, and some are brown, ready ploughed for the planting of winter crops. Market gardeners and amateur horticulturalists have a bounty of produce, a fine array of which is proudly displayed at the many country and garden shows held in every county and village.

The horticulture marquees are full of fine, fresh produce, as gardeners compete to win the coveted prizes for every type of fruit and vegetable grown. In the most colourful displays sit verdant green and white leeks, orange carrots, green runner beans as straight as an arrow, blood-red beetroot, scarlet tomatoes, mallard green courgettes, potatoes from pale cream to deep purple in every size, smooth and knobbly shapes, celery, cabbage, lettuce, cucumbers, striped-green marrows, sweet corn in its husk, and many onions as big as a football. There are baskets of fruit, punnets of raspberries and strawberries, chips of plums and damsons, trugs of orchard fruits such as cherries, apples and pears.

Bass and other prime fish from Welsh coast

Many families will take to the seaside on fine days, and Wales has numerous unspoilt beaches, as over 90% of the coastline is totally un-developed. All around the coast are dramatic craggy headlands and sheltered beaches where families can enjoy the sands, rock pools and swimming. Many areas, particularly the South Wales coast have huge tidal ranges. The Bristol Channel has the second highest tides in the World, after the Bay of Fundi in Canada.

The headlands cause tidal races, patches of rough water where the currents collide. Though these areas are very dangerous, they are also the best fishing grounds for the highly prized fish, bass. Flotillas of small boats surround these races line fishing for this excellent sporting and eating fish. Two decades ago bass was not fished commercially, and rarely appeared on restaurant menus. But to anglers bass has always been a special fish, pound for pound fighting as lustily than a salmon.

Boats fishing the races will use sandeel as bait, floating the lure into the shoals with great effect. Bass are voracious feeders, loving rough water. They can be caught in rocky gulleys on the flood tide, when the pounding sea washes small crustaceans and fish from the rock crevices. Around high tide many are caught from headlands using artificial lures and spinners. The great thing with catching a bass is the thrill of the fight, and the ensuing meal.

Large quantities of bass are caught all around the Welsh coast, particularly the Lleyn Peninsula, Pembroke and the Gower. Commercially most are destined for the London and Continental markets. But many local amateur fishermen will eagerly sell their catch, so a good feast can be enjoyed. Always ask them to scale and de-gut the fish. The fresher this is done the better. Refrigerate the fish as soon as possible, covered with cling film to prevent it drying out. Bass can also be bought from fishmongers, even supermarkets. But note the following points:

Buying bass

The most distinguishing feature of a bass is its spiny dorsal fin. It has a rakish, streamlined appearance, slate grey back and sides with yellow and purple 'lights' when very fresh, with a silver-white belly.

The small, even-sized bass, weighing around 1lb (450g), are farmed bass imported from Greece and Portugal, where the warmer waters induce quick growth. In Wales wild bass has to be 40 cms in length to be taken, weighing at least 1.5 lbs (650g). Hence the larger fish, uneven in size will be the wild fish.

A bass has a large head and gut cavity; it will yield maximum 55% edible meat. A 1.5 to 2lb (700 - 900g) bass makes a good meal for two, cooked whole or filleted into two good sides.

Always select a bass that is dark, slate-grey on the back with a firm, silver belly. The eyes should be bright and clear, not dull and sunken. The gills should be vibrant red; if grey or pale, the fish has probably been frozen, or is getting stale.

Bass that have a lot of red marks around the base of all fins, due to haemorrhage, have probably been net caught and stressed in the process. The meat is far inferior to that of the natural, line-caught bass. (other fish such as flatfish, cod, hake etc., are not vigorous fighters as bass, and do not suffer the same stress when net caught)

To estimate how many a large bass will feed allow 350 - 400g of gross weight of fish per person. This will give 170 - 200g portions once prepared.

Cooking bass

Whole fish - de-scale and gut fish, washing cavity well. Fill cavity with herbs of your choice, e.g. parsley and thyme; coriander; dill or fennel; marjoram; lemon balm, or a mixture of several. A sage and onion stuffing for chicken was very popular in areas as Gower and Pembrokeshire.

Place the whole fish on a square of oiled foil. Season with a little sea salt - Halen Mon - and pepper, top with some extra herbs and a few slices of lemon, fold up the sides, add a small glass of dry white wine, crimp the top like a Cornish pasty, leaving some air inside the parcel. Place on a baking dish and put in a preheated oven to Gas Mark 6, 200C, 400F for 15 - 20 minutes per kilo, then remove from oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before opening foil. Transfer to a serving platter, and present with new potatoes and a salad dressed with extra virgin olive oil.

(Tip: to test if the fish is cooked through, ease the foil just open and push a metal skewer through the fish at the centre. The skewer should be very warm, and the fish is cooked through)

Fillets - a larger bass yields wonderful meaty fillets that can be cut into 'dalles' as salmon. (dalles, or tiles, are cuts from a large fillet that are chunky, resembling Mediterranean style roofing tiles). These can be grilled, char-grilled, baked, fried or poached. Always cook fish lightly, as the meat cooks through at 72C, and hence it's easy to overcook, whereon it becomes dry. A true, Loire-style 'beurre blanc' sauce is perfect for bass if made in the true, pure, style.

Recipe

4 fillets or dalles of bass approx 150 g each - skin on, scales removed.
15 ml olive oil
Halen Mon sea salt, and freshly milled white pepper

Beurre blanc sauce:
500ml Muscadet or other very dry white wine
50g shallots very finely chopped
6 white peppercorns crushed
10ml white wine vinegar
250g good quality unsalted Welsh butter - at room temperature
juice half a medium lemon
dash cayenne pepper

Put shallots, Muscadet, peppercorns and wine vinegar into a stainless or enamel pan, bring to a simmer and cook very slowly until almost all the juice has evaporated. Sieve off the shallots, pressing down very well to yield about 30 - 40 ml of juice. Set pan on a low to medium heat, and using a small balloon whisk add the butter in small pieces, one at a time, whisking well as each is absorbed before adding the next. Do not allow to boil. The sauce will have the consistency of light cream. Add lemon and cayenne and keep just warm, whisking occasionally.

Heat a large pan or griddle until just smoking. Add the oil and put fish skin side down and cook for about one minute until skin is very crisp. Turn over and cook just for 30 seconds that side, seasoning the crisp skin with sea salt and freshly milled pepper.

Put each fish fillet in the centre of four plates, crisp skin uppermost. Spoon some buerre blanc around and perhaps a little over the fish, put the rest in a shallow sauce boat, and serve immediately.

New potatoes and fresh summer greens as courgettes, peas, French beans, spinach or Chinese cabbage accompany this dish well.

Where to purchase bass:

Retail

Ashton's Fishmongers, Cardiff Market
Tel: 02920 229201

Coakley Greene, Swansea Market
Tel: 01792 653416

Raymond Rees, Carmarthen Market
Tel: 01267 234144

The Fish Shop, Builder Street, Llandudno
Tel: 01492 870430

Fish on the Quay, Aberaeron
Tel: 01545 570599

Wholesale Llwyn Fishermen's Co., Pwlhelli
Tel: 01758 720656

Walter Davies, Milford Haven
Tel: 01646 692331

Vin Sullivan, Blaenavon
Tel: 01495 792792

Note: Bass is always called sea bass on menus. Bass comes from the sea. In North America they have fresh water bass and sea bass, which is where the confused name probably came from. Bass is a relative of the fresh water perch; it is in fact a sea perch. In Gower and Pembroke it was frequently called Salmon Bass. It's Latin name is Dicentrarchus labrax

Other fish in prime condition at this time of the year are: Grey mullet (treat exactly as bass. Gut as soon as possible after catching.); sea bream; red mullet; mackerel; John Dory; gurnard; and all flatfish.

Cheese of the Month

Pantysgawn Organic Goat's Cheese from Abergavenny Fine Foods

Tony Craske started Abergavenny Fine Foods over a quarter of a decade ago when he first produced fresh cheese from his own herd of goats that grazed his organic farm. It was a classic 'value added' production, yielding more than purely selling the goat's milk.

Pantysgawn is the name of the organic goat's cheese. It's a fresh cheese, in a comparable style to Ricotta or French chevre, not aged to form a natural skin or rind.

It has a pure, fresh flavour, with no 'farmyard' stink familiar with many French mature goat's cheeses. Hence it's an ideal cheese to serve in light salads, with tomatoes in place of mozzarella, or as a spread on toast or biscuits.

It is also ideal to blend with other ingredients, such as smoked mackerel to form a pate or mousse, or fruits and sweet ingredients to make a cheesecake. It is very receptive to other flavours, and combines particularly well with modish ingredients such as black olives, sun dried tomatoes, anchovy paste, aubergine caviar, or real caviar, or the Welsh caviar, laverbread.

Pantysgawn is unsweetened and natural so it can be used in many savoury cooked dishes. It adds flavour and depth to flans and quiches; texture and creaminess to soups; acts as a 'cutting' flavour to herby or aromatic stuffings for meat, poultry and seafood.

Pantysgawn comes in 150g mini logs or in large kilo logs that are ideal for caterers. It's also available with outer flavourings: black peppercorns; mixed herbs and garlic, and red pepper.

Recipe

Pantysgawn leek and laverbread quiche

These are now produced by Patchwork Traditional Foods of Ruthin.
www.patchwork-pate.co.uk

(a vegetarian dish that won the Golden Focaccia Award from Prospect Books)

filling:
3 large organic eggs
500ml organic milk
100g Pantysgawn organic goat's cheese
100g laverbread
100g lightly cooked chopped leeks (or spring onion)
1 - 2 sprigs parsley chopped, or coriander, tarragon etc
Seasoning - scant teaspoon Halen Mon sea salt and a good twist of black pepper

Heat oven to gas mark 4, 150oC, 350oF, with a baking tray in the oven.

Roll out pastry and line 1 large flan case (or make 2 smaller, or individual, or cocktail size). Mix eggs, cheese, milk and laverbread in a bowl or liquidiser, until well blended. Add leeks and herbs and mix well. Season mixture and fill flan cases three quarters full, place in oven on hot tray and cook for 15 - 20 minutes, depending on their thickness, until the mixture is well set, slightly risen and golden on top. Serve hot, warm or cold.

This recipe can be varied and adapted to make a whole range of flans or cocktail canapés. Other vegetables can be used in addition or in place of leeks, diced and lightly cooked: artichokes, courgettes, spinach, celery, peppers, sun dried tomatoes etc.

Make a non-vegetarian flan by adding diced cooked bacon, diced Carmarthen ham, diced cooked ham and other cold meats.

Make a seafood flan by adding flaked cooked salmon or tuna, smoked salmon, smoked oysters or mussels, cockles, crabmeat, prawns, or any other fish or shellfish.

Events

A day at a show provides interest and entertainment for all the family. During August there are many major events, plus numerous smaller village shows. Among the main events are the United Counties Show in Carmarthen, and the Flint and Denbigh Show in Denbigh. This year for the first time Blas (True Taste Café) will feature at the National Eisteddfod serving many Welsh food specialities, from Welsh cakes and bara brith with tea, to a full Welsh breakfast to start the day.

National Eisteddfod of Wales at Meifod, Powys. August 2 - 9
Blas the True Taste Awards showcase of winners and True Taste café, will be serving a range of quality Welsh food specialities including: a full Welsh breakfast; Welsh cakes, bara brith and cakes with coffee and tea; brunch from 10am includes platters of Welsh cheeses, Welsh meats, and seafood, with child and vegetarian meals available.
www.walesthetruetaste.com/events

Laugharne Festival at Cors Field, Laugharne, August 4 - 10
Local Welsh food stalls for tasting and purchase.
www.laugharne.co.uk

Cardigan River and Food Festival at the Heritage Centre Car Park, Cardigan. August 6
Local Welsh food and drink stalls and cooking displays.
www.visitcardigan.com

United Counties Show at The Showground, Carmarthen. August 14 - 15
The Welsh Food Hall will enclose local food and drink companies and cookery demonstrations.
www.unitedcounties.co.uk

Llandeilo Show and Food Festival at Fairfach, Llandeilo. August 16
Local food and drink producers, competitions and demonstrations.
Tel: Meurig Davies 01558 668788

Gwyl y Bont Festival at Porthrhydfendigaid, Ceredigion. August 16
Local food show, demonstrations and competitions
www.ybont.com

Cardigan Bay Celtic Regatta at Pwlhelli Sailing Club. August 18 - 22
Welsh food including an organic showcase.
www.pwlhellisailingclub.co.uk

Pembrokeshire Agricultural Show at The Showground, Withybush, Haverfordwest. August 18 - 22
A showcase for the Welsh Agri-Food Industry. Exhibition hall, cookery demonstrations, celebrity chefs. Welsh Culinary Team.
www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk

Denbigh and Flint Agricultural Show. August 21
Food and drink producers, cooking demonstrations and advice
E-mail: Catrin.jones@cadwynclwyd.co.uk

Talgarth Festival of the Black Mountains at Talgarth. August 23 - 24
Food and farming stalls, cooking demonstrations.
www.talgarthfestival.org.uk

Brecon Beacons Summer Fare at the National Park Visitor Centre,
Libanus, Brecon. August 23 - 25
Food and drink stall and cookery demonstrations.
www.breconbeacons.org

Crymych Market Hall and Fairground. August 26
Food, drink and craft market.
www.crymych.org.uk

Merioneth County Show at Dolgellau. August 27
Food festival of local Welsh food and drink. Celebrity chef demonstrations.
Tel: Douglas Powell 01341 422837 or e-mail: sioesir@aol.com