If this cold snap continues, and April proves to be the cruellest month, then mention of salad vegetables, even hot fiery ones such as radishes, will prove out of order. So as I write, I have my fingers crossed that the weather will turn and a salad article becomes appropriate by the time this is published. However, If these icy winds continue to blow, may I suggest that you fold this page up and read it in a month’s time when the weather is kinder and you are preparing for those al fresco meals in the garden.

Traditionally, radishes are served with a small dish of salt and eaten to stimulate the appetite and prepare the palate for food. Most radish fans say this is quite the best way to enjoy them, providing you are serving them while they are firm and fresh.

It was the late Jane Grigson who declared that it’s nothing less than an insult to a good radish to do anything with it except devour it whole, and her talented daughter Sophie, who now lives in Oxford, wrote: “Crisp, peppery little summer radishes are indeed the perfect way to kick-start a meal and bold enough to set the gastric juices flowing, yet barely denting the appetite.” Celebrity chef Nigel Slater admits that if he ever leaves a bowl of fresh radishes on his kitchen table, it is usually empty before it is time to serve them with the salad at lunch time.

The whole joy of devouring a radish is its crunch. If it has been hanging about in the kitchen for several days it will undoubtedly have acquired a flabby tasteless flesh that brings no gastronomic joy at all. Best therefore to eat within a couple of days of bringing them home — or conversely you can grow your own. They are indeed the easiest salad vegetable of all to grow, and during normal weather conditions the seeds will begin sprouting within three days of scattering them on moist soil, maturing into very edible vegetables in under a month. The seeds are best planted now, and can be planted throughout the summer at fortnightly intervals so you are never without one.

By growing your own you need only harvest the amount needed for the meal, leaving the rest for the next day and the day after that. Don’t let them grow too large though, the smaller they are the more refreshing the crunch. The larger they are the woodier the texture.

A super-fresh just-pulled radish is a great taste. Nothing can beat it. Then there are the leaves. If you grow your own, these can be chopped off and added to the salad, or to a stir-fry or soup, as soon as you have harvested the radish. If you are purchasing your radishes from a supermarket or vegetable store, it’s the leaves that indicate its freshness. The leaves wilt quickly, so they will soon indicate the health of the radish. If they are firm, green and still looking perky, then the radish is freshly harvested. When the leaves begin to grow larger they will become a little coarse and hairy, but worry not, they are still edible, particularly if you cut them into thin ribbons.

Cook the leaves as you would do spinach, they are delicious. They also work as an extra flavour if chopped and added to a stuffing or a potato salad.

Fresh radishes contain significant antioxidants so they are good for your health. Radish extract has been shown to be particularly effective in reducing the spread of stomach and breast cancer cells. Raw radishes are rich in a particular digestive enzyme called Diostate, so they can also help improve digestive health. I rather like the fact that their peppery flavour seems to cleanse the mouth. Although radishes are eaten raw mostly, you can toss them into a stir fry, use them to flavour or garnish a soup or simmer in butter and water for about 15 minutes until tender, then remove from the pan, reduce the liquid and on returning radishes to pan coat with this glaze, season and serve warm alongside a roast.