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| the last of this year's ruby chard |
Listen . . .
With faint dry sound,
Like steps of passing ghosts,
The leaves, frost-crisp'd, break from the trees
And fall.
Adelaide Crapsey, 1878 - 1914
Now is the time to start searching out game, the seaon of which is now in full swing. Actually sourcing game should actually be easier for us city dwellers, since supermarkets such as Budgens and Marks & Spencers have started selling it; (as a result of a change in the law. Hurrah!) Although while I may be looking for partridge, pheasant and pigeon, I think I may have to draw a line at squirrel!
Sadly, my favourite tender vegetable crops are disappearing as the first frosts appear in November, but it is not all doom and gloom. This is a good month for hardier vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, leeks, parsnips, potatoes and sprouts as well as traditional British fruits such as apples and pears. And keep an eye out for my favourite quinces. Not only do they taste good (in cakes and crumbles or as an accompaniment to game, lamb and pork), but uncooked, their fragrance will actually imbue your house with enticing fruit aromas.
vegetables, herbs and wild greens:
artichokes (globe), artichokes (Jerusalem), beetroot, borlotti beans (for podding), broccoli (calabrese), Brussels sprouts, Brussels tops, cabbages (various green varieties, red and white), cardoons, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, chard, chicory, endive, greens (spring and winter), leeks, lettuce, nettles, onions, oyster mushrooms, parsnips, potatoes, pumpkins (and squashes), salsify, swede, turnips, watercress, wood blewits
fruit and nuts:
apples, chestnuts, cranberries, hazelnuts, medlars, pears, quinces, raspberries, rosehips, sloes, walnuts
meat and game:
beef, chicken, goose (wild), grouse, hare, mallard, mutton, partridge, pheasant, pork, rabbit, turkey, wood pigeon
fish and shellfish:
cockles, cod, crab (brown and hen), hake, herring, lobster, mackerel, mussels, oysters (native and rock), prawns, scallops, sea bass, shrimp, sprats, squid, whiting
3 comments:
yes yes yes, venison venison venison, with apples...yum!
Dom - do you think venison would work with quince? But definitely with blackberries too . . . I like the idea that the meat is cooked with the sort of things it might have eaten when alive! Or what about a sort of medieval stuffing of mushrooms and apricots . . . I am now feeling faint with hunger!
My chard is galloping away still but my artichokes long gone sadly. And oh for some quinces.... I would love to find some, I had a tree which got sick and had to go. We haven't had a ground frost yet at all but I am sure there will be one soon. I love lists of food, gives me ideas :)
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