Kitchen Confidential
What I’m cooking with...
This is a very strong time of year for chefs. Late August/early September is a lovely turning point in the seasons. We’re heading into autumn with the emergence of winter fruit and vegetables but still have wonderful salads and summer fruits at our disposal. Mediterranean vegetables arrive in the garden during August – courgettes, peppers and aubergines. Pink Fir Apple and Ratte potatoes are also here and, as they’re quite firm varieties, they work sensationally well in salads. We have a good crop of salad leaves too, so make the most of these great ingredients in your cooking. Sweetcorn arrives in September and tomatoes are available in abundance already. We also start to see root vegetables appear later in the season (parsnips, celariac, carrots) and, of course, wild mushrooms are back again – Scotland in particular has some fabulous varieties. With fruit, we’re spoilt for choice. Plums, cherries, apricots, peaches and most of the red fruits (loganberries, cherries, redcurrants, strawberries) are in season. September brings with it sloe and elderberries, blackberries, figs and early apples. On the fish front we have soles (don’t just think of Dover, there is lemon sole and plaice too), haddock, herring, pilchards in Cornwall, red and grey mullet. These fish should be in abundance in August as the seas tend to be warmer. Avoid shellfish until September, when plump and delicious clams, oysters, scallops, razor clams and cockles are back on the menu. A very important date in August is the Glorious Twelfth, signifying the start of the grouse shooting season on the north moorlands. The game season really gets going from September with venison, grouse, pheasant, wood pigeon, duck and partridge all available. Game is still a bit fatty but it will start to lean out throughout winter. These are two of our prime months, so tuck in.
For the full feature, including a list of seasonal ingredients, see the August/September issue of Food and Travel magazine
