Photo by Lisa Baker on Unsplash
Autumn is just around the corner. Get ready for the first cold morning, the rustle of leaves underfoot and the sudden urge to swap salads for something steaming, buttery and best eaten from a deep bowl.
Apples are among the first signs that the season has changed. Crisp, slightly tart and at their best straight from the tree, they find their way into pies, crumbles and sponge puddings. Few kitchen smells are more comforting than apples baking with brown sugar and cinnamon, especially when the finished dish is served with lashings of piping hot custard.
Blackberries bring their own kind of Autumn nostalgia. Picking them from the hedgerows with the family is a cheap and easy way to entertain the little ones. Once gathered, the little ones can get hands-on in the kitchen and create a delicious blackberry and apple crumble – the perfect pudding to follow a Sunday roast.
Speaking of the Sunday roast… Summer may encourage us to eat outside, but autumn draws everyone back to the table. Roast potatoes regain their rightful importance; gravy becomes essential and vegetables taste better once they have spent time caramelising around the edges of a roasting tin. It is less a meal than a weekly ritual, especially when followed by a pudding nobody really had room for! Try this Jamie Oliver recipe for the perfect roast beef, cooked on top of seasonal veggies.
Pies return to the menu too, their flaky pastry hiding everything from slow-cooked steak in ale to a hearty chicken, leek and mushroom pie. Even the simplest pie feels generous, particularly when it comes with buttery mashed potato and enough gravy to require a spoon.
Perhaps the clearest sign of autumn, however, is the first proper bowl of soup. Not a chilled summer starter or a dainty cup, but a hearty soup that counts as dinner. Tomato, leek and potato, roasted squash or a vegan vegetable broth all feel right once the evenings start drawing in. Add thickly buttered bread and there is little else required.
These foods may be familiar, and nostalgic, but that is part of their appeal. Autumn cooking is rarely about showing off. It is about warmth, memory and returning to the dishes that make darker evenings feel welcome.
