Splitting the Autumn!

A Irish Summer Truffle

Time managements crucial, come Autumn the black hole of Winter looms and concern

goes to the store cupboard that needs to be filled, so finding moody mushrooms, gathering a mass of berries and the small matter of time for fishing has to be exacted.

Last year we managed to maintain a 'Wild Food Menu' for a week,this time round

we'd like to repeat that, for a month, it'll be our 'October Festival'.

The format is simple each dish on the menu has a wild food component foraged by us.Nature will provide as long as conditions are favourable, days off need to coincide with the right weather conditions, weather vagaries count, thankfully in work the guys don't mind a day or two in the woods gathering up commands, so somebody will be off when the time is right- we hope.

We haven't set the menu in stone at the moment but preparations are under-way. Derek the sous-chef apart from his Blackberry and Elderberry picking detail will come up with pretty presentations and recipe ideas of our harvest.

A few of Spring and Summers goodies have already been carefully prepared and stored to be paired up with local Irish produce for our Menu.

Some of the things we have.Honeysuckle syrup waiting to be married up with Crab apples for a 'Double Amber' jelly. The Elder-flowers are now cordial and ready to infuse a parfait perhaps with a hot sauce of Elderberries. Last years Sloes aged in pale sherry to make sauce for Mallard are on the bill.We have started collecting Wild Fennel pollen to dust a sustainable Irish Fish, Common Poppy and Rose petals to colour and flavour Lisa's Turkish Delights.

What else will we have?

Fraughans, after much combing of the Dublin/Wicklow hills

Emily, Evan and Tom will hope to make a Bavarois, or Fruit Leather with their Juices.Naturally Mushrooms will feature fresh,dried and pickled, all able to stand on their own or with a starch to back them up. Seaweed gathered by our friends from Connemara on the west coast for butter, a salad or added to our home-made bread. Wild Greens will be complemented by herbs from our urban garden.

Shaggy inkcap, Wood Sorrel, Picked and peeled by Lisa and Joanna.