What’s in season this September and October?

September might still be hot and sticky, but between the back-to-school energy and the slightly darker evenings, we know the truth: autumn is coming.

Although that means the days of sweet summer tomatoes and corn-on-the-cob kernels stuck in our teeth are coming to an end, food-wise, there’s lots to look forward to, especially into October.

“September is weird. It is a change of seasons for sure, but it’s still summer,” says Jay Styler, head chef of new south London pub, The Kerfield Arms, where you can have a pint and a bowl of (excellent) chips, or order a plate of modern European cooking that’s likely touched a barbecue (“I love barbecuing!”). Then, “as soon as the weather starts turning, people start wanting heartier food”, he says.

So, what are the most exciting ingredients to start looking out for on menus and in markets, to cook at home?

Baby fennel

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A daintier version of the hulking great bulbs you normally see in supermarkets, “baby fennel looks great,” says Styler, former head chef at acclaimed north London pub, The Baring. He buys ones that come with “loads of the fennel tops, which we use to garnish a dish. Or maybe we’ll chop it up and put that through a grain”. Baby fennel can be eaten raw. “It can be quite tough though, so my favourite thing to do with it is to lightly pickle it, so it’s not too heavy on the sugar or the vinegar, so it’s still super-crunchy but not as stringent.”

He often pairs it with cod. “It’s a really nice way of bringing some acidity and crunch into a dish,” he says. “It’s such a little flavour bomb, an aniseedy, baby fennel crunch. For me, it’s almost like a little cheat code.”

Squid

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The Kerfield Arms might have only been open four months, but it’s already known for a particular dish: Cornish squid & lardo shish, pul biber chilli. Cornish squid is in its peak season right now going into September, and squid really can be exciting, beyond deep-frying it.

“I love squid, especially barbecued squid,” says Styler. “We have it on a skewer and get this really great lardo (thinly sliced pork fat) from Italy and we have bits of squid interlaced with lardo on the skewer. So as you cook it, the lardo is dripping fat, smoking up, crisping and caramelising, as is the squid. And then we douse it in a load of confit garlic oil – it’s absolutely delicious.”

Salsify

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Earthy salsify roots can look very gnarled and alien-like, but don’t write it off because of its looks. “Salsify is such a weird root but I’ve always really liked it,” says Styler, who peels it and then slowly poaches it until just cooked “in a load of nice white wine, loads of aromats like thyme, garlic, bay leaf, coriander seeds” then, you guessed it, barbecues it. At home though, if firing up the barbecue is really something you only bother to do in the height of summer, you can get a griddle pan out or whack the grill up high.

Serve salsify with roasted meats, alongside other roast root veg, or for something a “little bit different”, Styler recommends trying it with “a miso emulsion, some pickled apple, celeriac and some really nice roasted peanuts.”

Delica pumpkin 

Masses of Halloween paraphernalia will soon be inescapable, but don’t fall for eating the classic orange pumpkins that have been grown for carving, not taste – you want delica pumpkin for dinner instead. “It’s just so nice,” says Styler reverently. However, it can be slightly trickier to cook than you might think. “A lot of people will cut it into wedges, but it’s such a fine line when you’re roasting it. It can go mushy quickly and then, before you know it, you’ve got a floppy thing on the plate, rather than a nice wedge,” he explains. “I like baking it whole with a bit of oil, a bit of salt, then letting it steam, cutting it open, taking all the seeds out and taking the skin off as well.”

“The pure flesh, when all that moisture is gone – it’s delicious with a little bit of butter,” he continues, “but I quite often put it into a buttermilk sauce, so you get a really vibrant orange buttermilk sauce, which you can use for anything, or do the classic and put some ricotta in there and make some pasta.”

Crapaudine beetroot 

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Not all beetroot is created equal it turns out. “This is actually my favourite. It’s a really nice sweet variety of beetroot that looks like a massive purple carrot,” says Styler.

You can swap crapaudines in whenever you’d normally eat beetroot – whether grated into a salad, pickled and served with fish, or roasted whole. But Styler steams and peels this variety, before smoking it and, while it’s still hot, dropping it in a marinade “of cab sav vinegar, some water, some nice oil and a load of muscovado sugar, which I think works really well with it. The smoky flavour from the beetroot seeps out and goes into the marinade, which we use as a dressing for salads.”

The beetroot itself he then serves alongside game (pheasant season kicks off in October, and partridge and grouse are about too) or some decent cheese.