EARLY AUTUMN: Seasonal Update

Seasonality isn’t a limitation, but the starting point of our creativity

Set menu formats give the kitchen more freedom to respond honestly and creatively to seasonal rhythms and embrace change (mostly every 6-8 weeks).

SEASONAL MENU

We showcases what’s at its peak, what’s best today, not what was printed months ago.

MORE ABOUT EARLY AUTUMN & KEY INGREDIENTS

As ExTract from the Pipit Recipe Book (2020), words by Ben Devlin

There is almost a feeling of peace around this time of year; the summer crowds have died down and the kids are in school.

The slightly cooling water makes it a good time of year for local bonito, Spanish mackerel, garfish and slimy mackerel. This makes it a happy time for me, as the oily, coastal pelagic fish are some of my favourite to work with. They can be served in a variety of ways, from raw or pickled or scorched, to grilled or poached, and some can make really great preserves. 

Coastal succulents and wildflowers are looking great, as the cooling temperatures give them a bit of respite and some room to grow. One of the really special things we find is wild passionfruit. They grow on the headland at Cabarita and are small, yellow and smell of passionfruit, banana and melon.

Squash varieties tend to come into their own around this time of year; the earlier summer varieties are a bit smaller and more tender, and now you get the larger tromboncino, ronde de nice, golden and lemon squashes. Stronger in flavour, nutty and creamy, they are good for roasting, or serving raw, grilling or pickling – you name it. 

The real star at this time of year in the region is the fruit. There are some late-season mango varieties, dragon fruit, pitaya, abiu, persimmon, guava, jujubes, carambola, rollinia, jackfruit, tamarillo, and the list goes on. I find myself fitting them in all sorts of spots on a menu: freshly sliced as a canapé, with pickled fish, in ketchups, pickles, sauces and desserts. The unique flavour of most of these fruits means the best thing you can do is to keep them as natural as possible and find a way to marry those flavours with some other piece of stunning produce.

It can feel like a glut of blessings at times; I find myself with a list of things I love and trying to find a way to shoehorn them into menus and still make sure that it all makes sense.