Spring seemed a long time coming this year, and for me, summer cannot come soon enough. The first whiff of mild air, let alone warm air, will be enough to get me outside.

Whitsuntide holidays, as a child, signalled, not only new cotton frocks, but perhaps a day out at the seaside, or a drive to the Yorkshire Dales. And the food, whether it was picnic sandwiches, or little salty shrimp, always tasted wonderful to appetites sharpened by the fresh air.

Today’s recipes are designed to be enjoyed outside, even by an open window, or on a terrace, if you cannot get to a sheltered beach spot or corner of the garden.

And the food, can, of course, be enjoyed indoors, if, as sometimes happens, even in these islands, the weather foils plans for outdoor eating.

The dishes are easy to prepare and the recipes can be adapted to other ingredients, if you prefer. And, as it is food for celebration, I have also included a couple of desserts using soft summer fruits and two favourite salmon recipes.

Note, for example, that these recipes can be adapted to tuna or swordfish very readily. Instead of cherries in the clafoutis, you can use plums, apricots or sliced peaches.

However, adapting the summer pudding recipe is not without pitfalls. I once made the mistake of using tropical fruit. Summer pudding started life as a forerunner of spa cuisine. Originally called hydropathic pudding, it was offered as an alternative to the rich and creamy confections of Edwardian England.

The success of the summer pudding lies in the combination of fruit used, which must include redcurrants and blackcurrants, as well as raspberries, and little else. It is the pectin in the currants which makes the pudding hold together almost as if gelatine has been used.

French pâtissiers do not understand this quintessentially English dessert and often will use gelatine, with very poor results. Too many blueberries and commercial blackberries, for example, both low in pectin, will cause the pudding to collapse completely once breached with a spoon.

The red and black currants are also needed for their unique tart flavour. Another way to use summer fruit such as strawberries and raspberries is to roughly crush them until the juices run, and mix them with whipped cream and broken meringues to make Eton Mess, a lovely summery dessert.