Autumn-Herbst-Automne...

..Autumn is comin' and the goose is getting fat....! Something wrong with that I think, and the goose we'll just leave for a couple of months more.
But.....Autumn most certainly IS coming,  and with it, all those deliciously flavoured, much awaited things, particlar to Autumn. We're all just starting to get fed up (literally) with salads and bbq's, Paella's and "light" meals - all the summer fayre.
Just in time, Autumn arrives and presents us with all those things only available in Autumn. The summer vegetables and fruits can generally almost all be obtained all year around in some form or other, be it frozen, fresh (from the other side of the world) in cans - tins - dried - preserved, but Autumn's offer can only be obtained - in Autumn!
At least, I've never seen pumpkin, or those other gourds (squash) in any other form than fresh. Maybe they do exist, but I don't know where! Of course there are certain items available in other forms all the year round, but true experts (if their still alive after eating them) will tell you that they are "not worth the candle" - the only true way to taste these things is in Autumn and in fresh form. I'm talking, of course, about these things....... ..."funghi" - or more palatable - mushrooms! I somehow always think of "funghi" as "fungus", and the Americans call that in turn "mold" - and it makes you ill!
Well that's true, but then - so do (or can do) "mushrooms" - paricularly this little thing.......seems that it can be mistaken for the "chanterelle" quite simply, and then you don't chant a lot anymore.....Of course, in France, in Germany and probably in other countries, there exist "information centres" or the local Pharmacy should be able to tell you what's edible and what eats you!
All the same, I think I prefer not to bother than to put my life in the hands of a Chemist....!
Even although a lot of "funghi" seem to be trying to tell us something,..amazingly every year there are deaths and serious conditions for live caused by eating something "we found on a walk"....Personally, I limit my purchases to those items I find on the baskets of vegetable shops and other places like that...after all, if I die from eating something they've sold me, I can at least have a gold lined coffin. I mean, would YOU seriously consider preparing something like this in your omelette......? Looks very rude to me, and quite disgusting, although there is of course a certain resemblance to truffle.........
Anyway, even if it spoils your healthy walks in the woods, which you can still do anyway, wsatch out for these little boys.......  ....they can be bad.....!
Again, my personal favourites in Autumn are all those things that can be cooked, even if it takes quite a long time, by vapour, in some butter, and in a sealable bag. Then....they get squashed (maybe that's why a lot of them are so named) and seasoned, and with all the different colours, orange - white - green - red even blue (I adore "blue cabbage") all arranged on a magnificent large platter, they are quite splendid, full of goodness, non-fattening, and they all have their own texture and taste. Simple green cabbage, cooked a la vapeur, is a quite magnificent, healthy and filling dish - cheap as well.Chopped into quarters, with the white hard stalk eliminated, it can be "hashed together with butter and is quite magnificent. Those nasty cabbage odours are avoidable too - if it's cooked in a heat proof plastic bag, well sealed. The same applies to the "red" or "blue" cabbage so much admired in Germany, and an ideal dish to accompany any game dish. Strangely, apart from the red/blue vatiety, is largely ignored in standard or quality restaurants, quite wrongly in my humble opinion.
Even cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts should be considered for inclusion in a beautifully arranged on a colourful platter!
Of course one type of cabbage preperation is NOT ignored in classic cuisine.... "Choucroute" or "Sauerkraut" (pickled cabbage)  which goes from the simple (shown above) pickled cabbage cooked with simple bacon or gammon or ham pieces, to the largely copious dish world renowned as the "Choucroute Royale" - pickled in champagne, served with an amazing arrangement of smoked and otherwise cured meats, hams, sausages and much more....
 of course, steamed potatoes are also included, and the best (again in my humble opinion) drink for this classic dish is:..preferably a German "weizenbier" ....but - at a pinch - the poorer people amongst us will have to content themselves with ..!
The only thing I would mention about Choucroute or Sauerkraut is that it is an "acquired" taste....and the bulk of people who prepare it at home always forget to do the most important thing...steep the pickled cabbage - for some hours - in cold water, changed frequently. Believe me it makes all the difference.....
So - there you are - Autumn is coming - the goose can stay alive until the coming celebrations, and they know it....!

..Bonne Appétit....!

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mrlemarquis (iwmpop)  -   Vauvert, France  -   Aug/Sept 2011