This week, it’s yet another recipe inspired by a quick leaf through the timeline on my Twitter feed.

And for those of you, of whom there will be many, who have absolutely no idea what that last sentence meant, I shall explain.

Twitter is a social media tool that allows online users to ‘follow’ each other and share ideas, thoughts and jokes.

Anyone and everyone can use it, and I’ve enjoyed conversations with people from all over the world ranging from the weakness of England’s opening batting line-up to how one might make the perfect Manhattan cocktail.

I follow musicians, artists, actors and a lot of chefs, one of whom is Alain Passard, a Breton chef who has spent much of his career running the award-winning restaurant L’Arpège on the fashionable left bank in Paris.

The restaurant has held the very top honour of three stars in the Michelin Guide since 1996, quite a feat in itself, but all the more impressive given what happened in 2001.

Passard suddenly decided to go vegetarian. If you know France, you’ll know just how huge a bombshell this was for the world of haute cuisine.

Out went the Bresse chickens, the rich meat reductions, the roast game, the côtes de boeuf. Instead, Passard concentrated the ferocious talents of his kitchen upon the finest vegetables and fruits from local artisan growers. By all accounts it was magnificent, a total revelation.

In recent years, he’s reintroduced meat, poultry and fish, but the menu is still driven by Passard’s love for great produce; violet artichokes from Provence, apples from the Loire, sand-grown carrots from Normandy, and the sweetest potatoes from the island of Noirmoutier.

And every day, almost without fail, he posts pictures of his works-in-progress up on Twitter. Sometimes they’re almost finished dishes, other times it’s just an artful arrangement of harmonious ingredients.

One such picture caught my eye as I scrolled through, and I instantly knew I wanted to try my own version. So here it is, a tribute to chef Passard, La Salade De Pommes Pourpres Au Chorizo et Cassis. Essentially it’s a potato salad, although the first thing one notices is the incredibly vibrant palette.

The dish just glows with freshness and colour. We’re using purple potatoes here, which were first domesticated in Peru, and which can now be found in many supermarkets, grown locally.

The variety Passard prefers is the French native Vitelotte, which produces a beautiful violet-hwwued potato when cooked, but there are many varieties around.

To these spuds we add the deep crimson tones and incredible rich flavour of the chorizo, Spain’s famous cured pork sausage, which fries to a delicious crispness, and fills the mouth with flavour.

No potato salad would be complete without onions, and we’re using the white and green of the spring onion for the milder flavour and colour contrasts. Passard’s genius touch with fruit and veg can be seen in his use of blackcurrants in the dressing. I must say it’s an incredible discovery.

I’ve used raspberries and redcurrants before, but the tart flavour and intense colour of the blackcurrant elevates the dish so well, bonding instantly with the starchy potato and fatty umami flavour of the chorizo.

A few added leaves and we’re all set. Don’t worry if you can’t find purple potatoes. It won’t be as colourful, but any good waxy salad potato such as Ratte or Charlotte will be just as tasty.

FOR THE SALAD:

300g cooking chorizo

1 kg purple potatoes

1 bunch spring onions

1 frisée lettuce, outer leaves removed

1 x100g bag washed baby spinach

A little olive oil

FOR THE BLACKCURRANT VINAIGRETTE:

Fresh blackcurrants

A couple of tablespoons Extra-Virgin olive oil

A splash of cider vinegar

Maldon salt

METHOD:

Shred the frisée lettuce and wash well. Trim the spring onions and finely shred them on the angle. Refrigerate until needed.

Remove the waxy paper covering from around the chorizo, if it has one, and cut the sausage into slices about the thickness of a pound coin.

Peel the potatoes, and cook in plenty of well-salted boiling water until just tender. Drain and allow to cool until you can handle them. Slice thinly and keep warm.

Heat a little olive oil in a frying pan and gently fry the chorizo slices until they crisp a little at the edges. Keep warm.

To make the vinaigrette, gently warm the blackcurrants with a small splash of the vinegar. They should just be starting to burst.

Remove from the heat and add a splash of extra-virgin olive oil.

Season with salt; it should be nicely tart, so as to counteract the rich chorizo and creamy potato.

To serve, place a mound of spinach in the centre of each plate, and pop the warm potatoes and chorizo on top in a pleasing arrangement.

Top this with the shredded frisée lettuce, and drizzle with the cassis vinaigrette, a few of the blackcurrants, and a little splash of neat virgin olive oil.

Finish with the shreds of spring onion and serve straight away.