Food - In Season - October
| Published: 6th October 2008 23:02 |
October is the season for foraging sweet chestnuts, elderberries, quinces, apples and walnuts, and mushrooms are in abundance in the woodlands waiting to be gathered. October is also when mussels become available again - a reason for celebration in itself. Other shellfish are also good at this time of year - oysters, scallops and clams are all available. The very last of the tomatoes are on the vine but not necessarily ripening; you can use up green tomatoes in tasty chutneys or have American-style Green Fried Tomatoes. More root vegetables are also arriving such as swede, parsnips, turnips and maincrop potatoes. As Halloween approaches pumpkins become available ready for carving, but don't forget to make use of their tasty flesh.
See the AboutMyArea What's On When calendar for details of Hitchin's general market days and the monthly farmers' market.
Mussels
Mussels are at their biggest and fleshiest in October. People are intimidated by mussels but cleaning and sorting them is easy: throw away any with broken shells, scrape off any barnacles with a blunt knife and pull off the ‘beard' (the little green stringy thing at the side of the shell). If any remain open after tapping them on the work surfacea before cooking then throw them away. Once cooked, throw any that remain closed away (don't worry, any mussels that remain closed after cooking will not have contaminated your dish).
Tasty, nutritious and low in sodium and saturated fat, mussels are a good source of B & C vitamins, amino acids, Omega 3 fatty acids, and vital minerals including iron, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, selenium and zinc.
Mussels in a Thai-style Broth
Moules Marnier
Figs
Fresh figs are fragrant and sweet. Often referred to as an aphrodisiac, figs somehow seem ancient and mystical. In southern Europe, figs are often thrown at newly married couples as a token of well-being and fertility; in Ancient Greece, athletes would eat figs when in training for the Olympics. Great hot or cold with sweet or savoury dishes, figs are one of nature's gifts.
A Salad of Figs, Mozzarella & Parma Ham
Middle Eastern-inspired Baked Figs
Tomatoes
It's hard to imagine modern cuisine without tomatoes as they are now as much of a staple as potatoes, forming the base for so many of our favourite dishes. Tomatoes are rich in vitamins A, B and C but low in calories. Supermarket tomatoes tend to be insipid and watery - there is no substitute for traditional varieties grown on a small scale. If your tomatoes seem to rot before they ripen in October, pick them green and use them in cooking - they don't have the pronounced tomato flavour but they are still good.
Green Tomato Chutney
Spicy Tomato Ketchup
Walnuts
If you can get hold of walnuts early enough when they are still in their green outer husk you can pickle them, and by Christmas you'll have classic deep black pickled walnuts to serve with cheese or cold cuts. Walnuts are used in a variety of dishes, both sweet and savoury. A scattering of walnut pieces and a drizzle of walnut oil is a simple way to give a salad a texture and flavour. Walnuts are classed as ‘a superfood' - studies have shown that including walnuts in your diet regularly can help lower cholesterol. They also contain valuable amounts of B vitamins, iron, zinc, copper, phosphorus, calcium, vitamin E and vitamin A.
Quince
Not a very familiar fruit nowadays but this ancient fruit is worth seeking out. Some people can feel intimidated if they've never cooked with a quince before but almost anything you can do with apples can be done with quinces. They need a similar length of cooking time and are delicious stewed, baked, and made into fruit butter. When quinces are ripe they are deep yellow and give off a beautiful perfume, but they also bruise easily so take care when buying to look for damage. Quinces are a good source of vitamin C which unfortunately is destroyed by heat, so if you want to eat them raw look out for the modern variety called the apple quince.
Pumpkin
Pumpkins are often overlooked in this country as merely a Halloween decoration, but they are in fact very tasty. Pumpkins are 90% water and so naturally low in calories, but high in the antioxidant beta carotene which has been linked with reduction in heart disease and cancer. Pumpkin is great simply roasted, or you can try adding it to curries or risotto. The small, beige skinned ‘Crown Prince' comes recommended for eating as the larger varieties available in supermarkets have been bred for their size and tend to be a little watery. Pumpkin seeds are very good for you second only to peanuts in protein content and are also a great source of zinc and Omega 3 fatty acids. It couldn't be easier to roast the seeds, simply clean and dry them then roast them in a hot oven (190ºC) for 45 minutes for a tasty snack.
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