As September comes to a close and we get one last burst of summer sun, Madalene Bonvini-Hamel, owner of the British Larder pub and restaurant in Bromeswell, Suffolk, looks ahead at October's fabulous larder
The game season is in full swing, with a wide array to choose from. Partridges, pheasants and wild ducks are plentiful, and this makes autumn cooking exciting.
Sloes are supposedly picked after the first frost, but you can pick them now and freeze them, to make juice extraction easier.
Chestnuts are ready to be collected, and the warm spring this year means that everything is about two weeks early. With the bountiful hedgerows comes the prediction of a very cold winter - prepare, store and preserve while the food is still available. Crab apples are plentiful and make perfect jelly to go with roast pork.
English apples
In Britain there are over 1,200 native apples. Brogdale in Kent is home to the National Fruit Collection and has over 2,300 different varieties. Look out at your local farmers' markets for unusual, locally grown varieties.
Quinces
The quince is related to the pear and apple, and is the largest of the three. The bright yellow fruit is hard and very acidic, and should be left for a period after harvest to mature. It has a grainy texture regardless of how long it has been cooked for; if cooked for a long time, it turns pink. Quince oxidises immediately once the skin is peeled away - to prevent discoloration, dunk it into water enriched with lemon juice or vitamin C powder.
Tufted duck
The tufted duck is a diving duck. It grazes on marshes and near the seashore, and therefore its meat has a dark red colour and a stronger gamier taste than the rest of the wild duck species. It isn't very big, but the breast meat is perfect to be bulked out with items such as chicken livers, which will mellow the flavour and make it more palatable.
Pickled walnuts
A delicacy dating back to the 19th century, pickled walnuts are made from green walnuts and are harvested in June. The pickling is a lengthy process; and the brine eventually turns the walnuts black. Good quality ready pickled walnuts are available to buy and are often served during the Christmas season with blue cheese.
flavours of OCTOBER
Apples, beetroot, borlotti beans, brill, butternut squash, cabbages, celeriac, chard, chestnuts, clams, cockles, cod, crabs, curly kale, Dover sole, duck, eel, fennel, figs, grey mullet, haddock, hake, halibut, hare, John Dory, kohlrabi, leeks, lemon sole, lobster, mackerel, monkfish, mussels, onions, oysters, parsnips, pears, plaice, plums, squash, quinces, red kale, salsify, scallops, sea bass, sea bream, skate, spinach, squid, swede, sweetcorn, Swiss chard, thyme, turbot, turnips, watercress, winkles
October's wild food
Apples, bullace, chickweed, crab, grouse, hare, horseradish, mallard, nettles, partridge, pheasant, rosehips, sea beet, sloes, teal, tufted duck, venison, wet walnuts, wigeon, wild mushrooms, woodcock, wood pigeon
Tufted duck and chicken liver parfait, red wine poached quinces, pickled walnuts >>
Apple snow with warm honey Madeleine >>
Flavours of September >>