Forget about avocado on toast, move over sweet potato fries, there’s a new vegetable you’re about to start seeing all over your Insta feed. Thanks to social media savvy people at Marks & Spencer, radishes are set to be the most Instagrammable ingredient of the summer.
Following in the footsteps of watermelon, beetroot, and of course, rosé, it’s hardly surprising the humble radish is now in the spotlight when you consider our obsession with all things pink.
However, in the words of M&S, this is not just any radish but an aesthetically-pleasing, bright magenta radish. The high street favourite has spent six years (yes, six years), creating the vibrant vegetable with the hope that shoppers will buy it specifically to boost their social media content.
Reportedly the first crop to be bred specifically for this purpose, this new type of radish is grown in Sussex and dubbed the ‘watermelon radish’. Milder in flavour than the original red radish, its skin has a hint of green, and the flesh is white at the edge with bright pink markings on the inside.
David White, M&S salad buyer, said: “The watermelon radish is set to be the hit of the summer. We’re seeing an increase in popularity of our red radishes, so can’t wait for customers to try this alternative.”
Available now at M&S, the striking vegetable can be added to salads or stir frys to add a peppery flavour and that photogenic hit of pink. And while you do that, we're quietly sitting here considering how our penchant for Instagraming everything photogenic thing we eat or drink has led to this madness.