Seasonal menu autumn: Kick start your autumn menu

CHIPS MAY go with everything, but as chefs and consumers start to get back in touch with the rhythms of the seasons, the joys of eating the right food at the right time are also being rediscovered. For pubs it's a relatively simple way of bringing a feel of freshness and authenticity to the menu.

Autumn is a fantastic time for orchard fruit and root vegetables - the perfect ingredients for the types of warm and comforting dishes consumers love to eat at this time of the year.

Nigel Harris, managing director of fruit and veg specialist Fresh Direct, says: "It's always a good idea to use seasonal produce and to flag this up on the menus. Consumers are more aware than ever now of local sourcing and the origins of what they eat."

Using seasonal autumn foods differentiates the new menu from the summer offer.

Nigel says: "A great way to increase profit margins is to offer daily 'specials'. This will allow pubs to differentiate these dishes from the other menu items, which in turn will make them appear more aspirational. Publicans can charge higher prices for such dishes as they will be perceived to be of a finer quality."

Game is particularly good in the autumn months, and can be accompanied with chestnuts and wild mushrooms. The peppery flavour of watercress leaves also goes well with game bird dishes.

Early root vegetables such as cabbage, sprouts and late crops of potatoes also come into season.

For menu ideas, try spring onions and cabbage champ with a poached duck egg; or creamed wild mushrooms on brioche; autumn cabbage with pancetta and chestnuts; and wild mushroom frittatas with goat's cheese.Versatile pumpkin

Autumn is also the season for pumpkins, squashes, and marrows. Pumpkin is particularly versatile, from spicy pumpkin and apple soup as a starter, to butternut squash and pumpkin pie with custard for afters.

While traditional hot, comforting dishes will dominate the market at this time of year, customers looking for lighter and healthier options should try warm sliced duck salad, served on watercress with orange segments and dressed with olive oil and orange juice.

Autumn fruits such as apples, pears, quince and plums allow pubs to offer customers traditional English puddings such as poached pears or hot apple crumble with thick custard. And the bushes will be heaving with elderberries and sloes in the autumn months. Make them into home-made jams to accompany game dishes or use in jellies, compots, sorbets and wines.

Elderberry is great when used to complement duck or pork, or can be added into apple pie to sweeten the taste slightly.

An effective way to vary vegetables can be to cream or purée them. Cream broad beans and accompany with sage and bacon, or purée watercress and peas and serve as an accompaniment to ribeye steak and chunky chips.

Nigel says: "Despite the fact that we can now import produce from all over the world and eat strawberries in winter and turnips in April, consumers still prefer seasonal produce.

Flagging this up on the menu will highlight quality produce and can be used as a tool to allow for wider profit margins."