I have written about current day coffee culture before, so I won't bore you with that again. Hallowe'en is in my sights today.
Autumn throws up enough images to keep an advertising agency occupied til the first snowdrops appear; spectacular sunsets, golden leaves, misty landscapes, squirrels and nuts, harvest festivals and, of course, the pumpkin.
And what have they done with these seasonal representations of cooling days and bountiful produce to increase the sum of human happiness - they "invented", or rather re-imagined Hallowe'en.
All Hallow's Eve, may the saints preserve us from this over-commercialisation.
I have written and re-written this piece as, quite honestly, I didn't know where to start. Bear with me, the rant is quickly dealt with and a delicious recipe follow.
But first a little history. You may think that the Hallowe'en craze came here from America, but it seems we may have been to blame for sending it there in the first place.
Long ago and far away, well my childhood in Yorkshire, to be more prosaic, it was the 4th of November, Mischief Night, not Hallowe'en which was the pretext for pranks. We made Jack o'lanterns from turnips (cue jokes about Baldrick and ey up, it were 'ard in those days). However, as this article by Xanthe Clay infers, pumpkins did not become "big business" until the early 1990s. We didn't knock on people's doors (with the odd exception, when we would immediately run away and hide behind gate posts to see the look of annoyance on the face of the grumpiest of neighbours) and the worst offence ever committed was to smear the door handle of the local telephone box with treacle.
It was also the night before Bonfire night and this prompted the deliberately ambiguous title referring, on the one hand, to the small, loud, but boring fireworks of that name remembered from years ago and also to sausages that we would devour around the back garden bonfire.
The idea was exported, expanded and re-imported, bigger and uglier than ever.
I am now in full Grinch mood, so please feel free to skip to the bottom!
RANT ALERT
Costumes.
Stop to consider, if you will, the production
of cheap witch’s hats, lurid orange pumpkin suits and set of devil's
horns? How come they are all so cheap?
Where were they produced, by whom, and how will they be disposed
of? The Netherton offspring have long outgrown the notion of
dressing up for Hallowe’en, but we do still worry about the combination of
polyester and pumpkin lanterns – the story of Claudia Winkelman’s daughter
still haunts us.
Plastic
pumpkins.
And what of
the plastic buckets used for collecting all the
treats? Everyone on the planet must, by now, have watched Blue Planet. We don't
need any more single use plastic and let's face it, there aren't many uses for
a plastic pumpkin bucket with a broken handle. (Answers on a postcard,
there may be a prize). These will be discarded, end up in
landfill, slowly degrade, leak into our water systems and out into the ocean.Pumpkin.
Yes, pumpkin carving is fun. Yes, we admire the fantasmagorical creations all over social media. Yes, we will be making our own.
But what about the carved out pumpkin flesh - eat it, folks. What's the point of wasting it? Pumpkin soup is delicious, spike it with chilli, savour it with sage or bring a little warmth with cumin and coriander.
RANT OVER
You can all come back now, I have calmed down.
The point I really want to make goes back to those childhood memories of baked potatoes and sausages around the fire on Bonfire Night. By November, the nights are longer, colder and often damper, but somehow this make eating outdoors more appealing than a stiflingly hot day replete with wasps and wilting salads.
Eating outdoors can be as simple or as fancy as you want, but it shouldn't be limited to a summer barbecue.
It can be as simple as throwing a couple of potatoes into the embers of the bonfire, but if you want to be more adventurous, we have a range of kit and some tasty recipe ideas for you! Nothing beats the sheer pleasure of combating the cold air with hot food, eaten around a fire and perhaps accompanied with some mulled wine.
Our outdoor cooking range is getting ever more extensive, so check out all the options and pick something to suit you. Here are a few examples.
Chapa
This is an indoor griddle and oven bake plate, but add the legs and you have an Argentinian chapa - all you have to do is light a fire beneath it. You can make it even more useful by adding the iron cloche, used indoors for baking your sourdough bread, and you can cook bigger pieces, imbued with a delicious smoky flavour.
It's as simple as 1-2-3 screw on the legs, light a fire, cook.
Cooking can be as simple as burgers, as delicious as pancakes or as impressive as a roast chicken with smoky veg and pigs in blankets.
Outdoor hob and slow cooker
Both a barbecue and an outdoor slow cooker, our favourite dish for this time of year is a big dish of home made baked beans. And of course, if you are having beans, there must be bangers. Cook them directly on the outdoor hob grid or as I did here, in a frying pan so that I can glaze them in home made marmalade.
Barbecue basket
This is a handy accessory for your barbecue for all those little bits and bobs that normally fall through on to the coals.
You can also buy this with a tray and oak chips to use as a hot smoker.
Here are a few pictures to whet your appetite for year round outdoor cooking.
Our outdoor cooking range is getting ever more extensive, so check out all the options and pick something to suit you. Here are a few examples.
Chapa
This is an indoor griddle and oven bake plate, but add the legs and you have an Argentinian chapa - all you have to do is light a fire beneath it. You can make it even more useful by adding the iron cloche, used indoors for baking your sourdough bread, and you can cook bigger pieces, imbued with a delicious smoky flavour.
It's as simple as 1-2-3 screw on the legs, light a fire, cook.
Cooking can be as simple as burgers, as delicious as pancakes or as impressive as a roast chicken with smoky veg and pigs in blankets.
Black treacle and raisin pancakes
2 dessertspoons of black treacle
50g butter
2 eggs
200g self raising flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
200ml milk
50g raisins
Put the treacle and butter into a milk pan and heat gently until the butter has melted.
Tip the flour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl and add the eggs and milk. Whisk together then pour in the treacle and butter. Whisk thoroughly then stir in the raisins.
Drop spoonfuls on to the greased surface of your hot chapa and flip over when bubbles start to rise to the surface. Slather with butter, maple syrup is an optional extra and scoff.
Of course, these can also be made indoors using either the griddle plate or a large frying pan
Both a barbecue and an outdoor slow cooker, our favourite dish for this time of year is a big dish of home made baked beans. And of course, if you are having beans, there must be bangers. Cook them directly on the outdoor hob grid or as I did here, in a frying pan so that I can glaze them in home made marmalade.
Barbecue basket
This is a handy accessory for your barbecue for all those little bits and bobs that normally fall through on to the coals.
You can also buy this with a tray and oak chips to use as a hot smoker.
Here are a few pictures to whet your appetite for year round outdoor cooking.
If you are lucky enough to have a wood fired oven in your garden, then we would urge you to buy Genevieve Taylor's book which "tells you everything you need to know about your oven, from initial setting up to choice of woods, plus tips and tricks for perfecting cooking times, and of course, over 70 amazing recipes."
Or turn to DJ BBQ's book for further inspiration
Netherton Foundry Shropshire 2018 ©
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