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Issue 8 - The Sighs of September |
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September is a month for taking stock. Not long slow cooking of bones and vegetables but long slow ruminating on the months past and the summer to come. You have persevered through the winter and September is the month of mellowness. It sits on the cusp of Winter and Spring and if you are lucky the rain has softened and the winds have dropped.
The Sighs of September
September is a month for taking stock. Not long slow cooking of bones and vegetables but long slow ruminating on the months past and the summer to come. You have persevered through the winter and September is the month of mellowness. It sits on the cusp of Winter and Spring and if you are lucky the rain has softened and the winds have dropped.
At the moment in Sydney where I am based, it is wonderfully balmy and sunny and indeed we would love some of the rain that is being experienced in the West. In fact our State, along with Queensland, is in the depths of a terrible drought and when I look at world maps we are not alone.
Parts of the US is experiencing one of the worst droughts for many years and the less said about the African continent the better.
All this when our screens are full of pictures of parts of Europe and China that are literally drowning under unprecedented floods.
If this doesnt alert our world leaders to the problems associated with global warming and the need to decrease their greenhouse gases I dont know what will.
What however does all this mean for our food supplies? When farmers in NSW and Queensland are selling, or worse still, shooting their stock because they cant feed them it must give us cause for alarm. Being a vegetarian isnt much help either. This incredibly dry spell affects everyone that produces food for the market.
In the meantime we can still enjoy the wonderful foods that are around at this time of year. Having written about blood oranges and their abundance in Italy, especially Sicily (which is also in the depths of a devastating drought) I have seen the first blood oranges in the markets. Try them whilst they are available - they have a wonderful tart orange taste which is extremely refreshing and they can be used in cooking as well as in salads or as a fruit on their own. A glass of blood orange juice is pure heaven.
Other fresh fruits and vegetables coming into a market near you include a wider variety of berries and melons, broad beans, artichokes, asparagus and I recently had my first sighting of a fresh peach. Not looking very appetising I must say but a sign of the good times to come.
Recently at the Growers Market at Fox Studio I saw fresh nettles and salsify - just amazing to think that someone has had the foresight to grow these greens for gourmets like ourselves. It made me realise, yet again, that all the joys of my trip to Italy (see the July column) are so easily replicated here. We are truly lucky.
In my last column I also mentioned that we are putting together a list of growers and organic markets which will sit on the Gourmet Shopper site as a reference for you all. Gathering information for the list has taken longer than expected, but I am hoping by the time we get it posted, it will be one of the most comprehensive available. We are also hoping that you will give us your input so if you have a market near you we would be happy to hear about it. Remember however, that we are not interested in craft markets with a little food but rather markets where growers and producers sell direct to the public.
Enjoy the first stirrings of spring and the move away from casseroles to barbecues - from rice puddings to fruit salad. Time to recharge the batteries after lying low and enjoying the warmth of home and to look out at the soft sun, the sky and the fresh green of the trees. Spring is a-coming and Summer is not far behind
The Happy Gourmet
Quote of the month:
In cooking, as in all arts, simplicity is the sign of perfection
Curnonsky
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