When the heat didn’t last so long and summers were shorter, autumn was the season of the in-between, of the drop in temperatures and the rains that soaked the forests, revived the olive trees and made the mushrooms grow. Autumn represents the return to the spoon dishes: soups, stews, vegetable creams, stewed vegetables, potatoes in juice, stewed meats… Bringing back the desire for hot dishes.
Let’s remember which summer vegetables we can still find: onions, carrots, broad beans and courgettes, which end in mid-season, although they will still be in shops and markets much later. It is the time to harvest the sun-loving vegetables: aubergine, peppers, tomatoes and potatoes (which is when they are tastiest). Sweet potatoes and a thick-skinned variety of autumn pumpkin are characteristic of this season. But the most typical vegetables are those of the cruciferae family: cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, which contain anti-cancer compounds. Other vegetables that we can eat are spinach, green asparagus, Swiss chard, fennel, celery, turnips and leeks. At the end of autumn, the endives (cultivated, not greenhouse), chicory and lettuces appear, so we can enjoy a wide variety of green leafy vegetables that contain a lot of water, very few calories and a large amount of folic acid. And we can’t talk about this season without mentioning the wild mushrooms: red pine mushrooms, porcini, mushrooms, chanterelles, yellow foot, woodwaxes… A whole world of flavour that brings us fibre, vitamins and minerals. Mushrooms are a delicious first course, the ideal accompaniment to meats and the chance to enjoy different dishes such as mushroom omelette or mushroom cannelloni, or to add them to rice.
As for autumn fruits, we will take advantage of the end of the season for melon, watermelon, grapes, figs and varieties of peaches, as well as for wild fruits (raspberries, blackberries and blueberries). September is the season for the white pear variety and the golden apple. Later will come pomegranate, quince and persimmon. As the season goes on, we will be able to start enjoying the first citrus fruits.
The talk of the town is the olive, which is harvested during these first months to take it to the mill and make the oil, and also the typical image of autumn, dried fruit: chestnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts and pine nuts. This product will be used to make the so famous ‘panellets’ (Catalan traditional marzipan cakes) of this season. The L’Atlàntida dishes for this new season include many of these local products that you can already try in our establishments.
