September is the see-saw month between summer and autumn, equally capable of delivering a heat-wave or a sharp frost. If we experience the former it will be of benefit to our local crops of salad leaves and soft fruits giving us an extended season, while the latter would greatly benefit cabbages, spinach and kale resulting in darker and sweeter leaves. The harvest of our orchard fruits is now in full swing and the wild berries and fungi will also be at their peak for the next few weeks.
GOOD NOW...
The UK is currently producing first-class seafood, top quality game, finest farmed meat and dairy products and a host of delicious fruit and vegetables; if we could just stop eating bananas for a couple of months we’d hardly need any food imports at this time of year. Brassicas are improving as temperatures fall, so put cauliflower, broccoli, romanesco, cabbages and kale on the menu with confidence. Brussels sprouts have also just started, believe it or not (it seems to get earlier every year). The lily family is also well represented with onions, garlic, leeks and shallots, all in top form.
This is also the time when every chef should, quite literally, be thinking of getting back to his roots. Excellent carrots, beet, parsnips and swedes have now been joined by Jerusalem artichokes, celeriac, root chervil, root parsley and crosnes. The season for squashes is also approaching its height, with many varieties available including harlequin, onion, acorn, turban, gem, spaghetti and carnival. British orchard fruit is excellent now, with several world-class British apples competing for our attention including Worcester Pearmain, Blenheim Orange and Laxton’s Fortune. Our pear harvest has also begun, with Conference providing over 90% of the crop. Williams from France are also very good right now. The supply of local plums and damsons will cease in a couple of weeks time so enjoy them while you can! Overseas fruit worthy of special mention includes the black figs from Greece and Turkey which are quite superb, while rambutans from the far-east offer something more exotic. The tastiest tomatoes around at the moment are the baby San Marzano from Italy. There are also some wild fruits around, primarily crab apples, elderberries, rowanberries and blackberries.
Also on the wild front we are having a really good year for those varieties of wild mushroom that love lots of rain: girolles have been brilliant so far, chanterelles are already abundant with much more to come while pied de mouton (hedgehog) is fruiting in exceptional quantities and early signs are good that we will be getting a lot of trompettes (horn of plenty) from the Scottish borders this year. On the nut front cobnuts from Kent have been joined by some very large and quite magnificent sweet chestnuts from France.
GOING…GOING…
Although runner beans and French dwarf beans are still chugging along happily the fresh peas and broad beans are now at an end. European stone fruit is heading for a slightly premature conclusion (sometimes it struggles on into October) and current stocks of peaches and nectarines will be the last of the season while apricots, greengages and Mirabelle plums have already ground to a halt.
British strawberries, raspberries and blackcurrants will remain viable until the first frosts declare that the game is over, while marine veg is also winding down. Local marsh and rock samphire are finished, with Israeli produce replacing the former, while seaweeds and sea purslane have also been deemed as too substandard to continue. We’ll see them again in May.
One final product which will be missed is the summer truffle, which will be ending in the next fortnight. Although we will doubtless be offered “autumn truffle” by our Italian suppliers it is in no way better than the summer truffle yet at least four times more expensive. Not a good deal.
COMING SOON…
It won’t be long until the white “Alba” truffles start to arrive from Italy – this should solve the truffle problem! Obviously such an exquisite product is expensive, but by buying oddly-shaped and unusually-coloured specimens we hope to be able to offer this delicacy for under £20 per 10g chunk again this year – an offer which proved immensely popular with our clientele last year!
The coming weeks will see well over 20 different varieties of main crop potatoes becoming available to us, including many gourmet “heritage” varieties. More delicious English apples will come on stream, including the unbeatable Cox’s Orange Pippin and Ribston Pippin, while the variety of new season pears will increase with the arrival of Concord, Rocha and the superb Comice. French quinces have begun to appear already, although the British harvest is not expected until we are well into October. Beautiful, fragrant Moscatel white grapes are keenly anticipated to accompany the delightful, dark Muscat which has been around for some time, while wild fruits which are imminent include, haws and rosehips all of which make such wonderful sauces and jellies to accompany meat, game or cheese! Wild mushroom harvests will continue to be enhanced by the arrival of late autumn species such as Canary, Petit Gris and Angel Wings then later on Field Blewits, Wood Blewits and Velvet Shanks.
Why was Cinderella rubbish at football? – because she kept running away from the ball... Oh, that reminds me – pumpkins will be around soon too!