Cooking with the seasons: November

With the end of October the warm daytime weather came to an abrupt end and with it the need for more hearty dishes, soups to warm us on chilly days, piping hot stews and tagines to ward off the cold evenings. The produce on the market stalls is changing too. The choice of apple and pear varieties has increased as autumn harvests find their way to market, citrus fruits start to reappear, now from Spain rather than further afield and I spotted the first bergamots last weekend. Marmalade making time is not far off, which is lucky as we are almost out of last year’s supply. Nuts in all varieties have also been harvested and are piled high on stalls in their various hues of brown. Vegetables shift to more root vegetables – Jerusalem artichokes, turnips, parsnips all make a comeback, lovely fresh spinach leaves are in abundance and on my favourite stall the return of salades composées – a mixture of salad leaves, to see us through the winter months (in spite of the cold). As you would expect there are also many types of squash in all shapes and sizes, great for soups, risottos and dare I say it chutneys!

I mentioned in the last couple of posts that we had been given crates of Physalis or cape gooseberry (les coquerets du Pérou) – a late harvest from a neighbour and a few from our garden at the end of October. This isn’t strictly in season now, although lots of potager produce is stored in cellars for the winter months here, including these at the moment as they last in their paper capes for a while. I thought I would share some of the uses I have found for this unusual fruit as it’s a first for me cooking with them this year (and preparing them which is quite time consuming!)

Over the last couple of weeks we have tried jam, chutney, compôte, vegan clafoutis with this fruit, as I mentioned in my last blog post. A trial is also underway to make cape gooseberry gin. The compôte was a mixture of figs, cape gooseberries and apple with cinnamon and was delicious. The chutney is also fast becoming a favourite. I will report back on the gin when it is ready – a total experiment.

This month I thought you might like the jam recipe I found: Cape Gooseberry and Green Tea jam. Actually it is more of a conserve as cape gooseberries have little or no pectin and in spite of using jam sugar and some lemon juice it is a loose set jam but on a warm croissant is a real treat, delicately flavoured with hints of green tea. This recipe comes from a lovely blog: https://homesweetsweden.com/. (I have made a couple of slight changes).

Cape Gooseberry (Physalis) and Green Tea Jam

Ingredients (makes 2 small jars)

400g Cape gooseberries

220ml strong green tea

240g jam sugar

Juice of half a small lemon

Method

1: Remove the outer papery leaves from the cape gooseberries and wash the fruit, before cutting each in half

2: Make the green tea – I used a tea bag and left it to brew while preparing the fruit

3: Place the fruit and green tea into a heavy bottomed saucepan. Cover and simmer for about 5 minutes until the fruit has started to soften a little

4: While the fruit is simmering wash the empty jam jars and lids. Place the jars in a low oven (150°C/Gas 2) to sterilise while you complete the jam making

4: Add the sugar and lemon juice and bring the jam to the boil. Boil for about 10-15 minutes until a soft set is reached.

5: Pour into hot sterilised jars and seal immediately.

Delicious on hot buttered toast, but this jam also goes well with cheese!

A little extra this month:

If you feel like making some fruit gin, flavoured with cape gooseberries or another fruit (maybe sloes at this time of the year) here is a little bonus recipe:

I used 400g cape gooseberries, 150-250g caster sugar depending on the sweetness of the fruit, 700ml gin. Wash and dry the prepared fruit leaving it whole. Put the fruit and sugar in a sterilised preserving jar and pour the gin over this. Close the preserving jar and shake gently until the sugar has dissolved. Store in a cool dark place and shake the jar every 1-2 days for 3 weeks. Taste a little to see if you are happy with the taste. You can leave the fruit for up to 3 months for a stronger flavour, shaking the jar every couple of days. Strain the liquid through a muslin cloth or fine sieve and pour the liquid into a sterilised bottle. Enjoy as a liqueur, over ice cream or add tonic for a new take on gin and tonic. I usually use up the fruit from liqueur making in jam, on its own or mixed with other fruit, for a jam with a little ooh la la!!