Ravinder Bhogal’s pork chop with fennel, tarragon and gooseberry salad. Photograph: Beca B Jones/The Guardian. Food styling: Hanna Miller. Prop styling: Aya Nishimura. Food styling assistant: Isobel Clarke. View image in fullscreen Ravinder Bhogal’s pork chop with fennel, tarragon and gooseberry salad. Photograph: Beca B Jones/The Guardian. Food styling: Hanna Miller. Prop styling: Aya Nishimura. Food styling assistant: Isobel Clarke. Food Tarte tatin, spicy pork chops and crumble: Ravinder Bhogal’s gooseberry recipes The gooseberry makes itself welcome in both sweet and savoury settings: in a tarte tatin, in a lively salad for spicy, herby pork chops and in a crumble custard cake
Ravinder Bhogal Wed 12 Aug 2026 07.00 CEST Share Prefer the Guardian on Google I n the summer glut of saccharine fruits such as strawberries and peaches, gooseberries may not be the ones you reach for first. But behind their strange burr of fine fuzz, these translucent, marble-like fruits offer a complex, defiant flavour. They are juicy, fragrant, a little sweet (especially the red ones that come along later in the season), but, overall, they are raspishly sour. Like rhubarb, they need sweetening if you’re using them in compotes or desserts, but their natural tartness offers a wonderful contrast and cuts through cheese, fatty meat such as pork or oily fish such as mackerel.
The addition of tart fruit in the salad helps to cut through the fattiness of the meat.
Prep 15 min Marinate 20 min Pickle 10 min Cook 30 min Serves 4
2 tsp sea salt 2 tsp fennel seeds 2 tbsp coriander seeds 1 tsp black peppercorns 1 tsp caster sugar ½ tsp paprika 1 tsp dried oregano 4 pork chops 2 tbsp olive oil 25g butter 4 garlic cloves , unpeeled and bashed flat
For the salad 3 tbsp white-wine vinegar 1 tbsp caster sugar , or honey Sea salt and black pepper 1 tsp coriander seeds , toasted and very lightly crushed 2 fennel bulbs , trimmed and very finely sliced from top to base (preferably with a mandoline) 1 cucumber , peeled and sliced into long ribbons with a vegetable peeler or mandoline 1 banana shallot , peeled and very finely sliced 200g gooseberries 25g tarragon , leaves picked 25g mint , leaves picked and finely chopped 3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Put the salt, fennel seeds, coriander seeds, pepper and sugar in a mortar and grind to a fine powder. Add the paprika and oregano, and grind again. Pat the chops dry with kitchen paper, then press the spice mix all over the meat. Leave to marinate at room temperature for 20 minutes.
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/350F/gas 6. Heat the oil and butter in an ovenproof frying pan and add the garlic. Using tongs, hold the chops skin-side down in the pan for five minutes to crisp up and render the fat. Once the fat is a lovely amber colour, fry the chops for three minutes on each side, basting as you go, then transfer to the oven for six minutes, or until cooked all the way through. Rest the meat for five minutes.
Meanwhile, make the salad. Mix the vinegar and caster sugar in a mixing bowl until the sugar has dissolved, then season well with salt and pepper. Add the coriander seeds, fennel, cucumber and shallot, and set aside to lightly pickle for 10 minutes. Finally, add the gooseberries and herbs and drizzle over the olive oil. Toss well and serve with the pork chops.
View image in fullscreen Ravinder Bhogal’s gooseberry tarte tatin. A savoury take on the classic apple tarte tatin. This version features a wonderful partnership…