The Dutch summer arrived late which meant that it finished late too – which is fine by me! August ended and September started with a string of gorgeous sunny days and balmy nights. And this weekend, the autumn may have finally arrived. The cooler weather means that our palates will probably crave more heartier foods. Luckily mother nature already took this into consideration as the autumn produce is ready on the shelves.
Don’t miss out: use the remaining late summer produce in combination with new autumn ingredients to create a beautiful seasonal fusion. What about tomato with pumpkin, beetroot with raspberry or blueberry and potato?
Just arrived: pumpkins of all shapes and sizes have made their appearance. Some pumpkins are purely grown for decoration so don’t get these confused in your kitchen! (they’re not poisonous, just bland) The first autumn baby spinach has also been spotted and baby carrots are good to just ready too.
Plentiful: keep the sunshine going with late summer tomatoes and zucchini. With coming of the cooler weather it’s time to embrace the earthiness of cabbage and beetroot – look out for yellow and chioggia (striped) beets too which are super tasty. Stock up on silverbeet, broccoli, cauliflower and green beans. Different sorts of plums will be coming and going in the next few weeks and enjoy the autumn blackberries while they last. And I’m still enjoying the new harvest potatoes. So good.
Maybe to come: Wild mushrooms! There is a lot of rain forecast for this week. Despite complaining often about the rain in the Netherlands, I try to see the bright side of it when I can: lots of autumn rain+ sunshine = wild mushrooms! Hope to share a wild harvest with you soon……
The Seasonal Eater 