Autumnwith

GaryRhodes
Gary shares his cooking secrets and tips for the best Autumn recipies,
explaining why he feels Autumn is the best season for delicious food.
Achieving his first Michelin Star at 26 and making his way on to TV at
27, gave his career a huge success from shows such as; Local Food Hero,
Rhodes across China, Rhoads across Italy and Rhodes across the Carra-
bin. These are just a few of the shows where Gary has graced the screen.
With Gary’s background and his view on food, in this case ‘autumn
foods’ can seem somewhat vital and interesting to see.
With Gary sharing his secrets for a delicious autumn, you can make the
most of this cold season.
Gary believes the foods seasonal to autumn can provide the basis for
many great recipes. A good way to bring joy to autumn is to introduce
warmth via food.
The various selection of foods prominent to autumn range from, fruits,
vegetables and many meats. Fruits such as apples and blackberries, even
though they are seen as rather simple, can be used in pies and other in-
teresting desserts.
Gary knows just how to use these foods to achieve their full potential,
apples are a favourite for Gary he explains;
“Toffee apples were always my favourite as a child, so thinking
about the concept of those flavours, I like to introduce ‘toffied’ ap-
ples to a pecan pie. It’s absolutely delicious with pouring cream or
homemade custard.”

Vegetables come into their own during this season, turnips, carrots and
late potatoes are excellent for stews and soups, adding warmth to the
During the end of September Autumn begins and the weather fades, season.
often this season is seen as the worst for many, due the cold and dull at- Parsnips and sprouts form the trimmings for great British, traditional
mosphere. However Gary feels that autumn can have its benefits and is roast. With Gary’s prestigious recognition for British recipes, he adores
a beautiful season for delectable foods. autumn as many autumn ingredients are incorporated into his cooking.
“Autumn has provided some warm suprises” Understanding Gary’s love for autumn, I asked him what he suggests to
brighten up a cold autumn.
Gary’s passion for food and cooking is obvious to see, his attitude to The recipe that stood out for Gary was;
cooking inspires many to cook and enjoy working with food. Therefore
I thought it would be interesting to find out what inspired Gary to be- “Towards the end of November, as it’s getting colder and wetter,
come a chef. pop a beef stew into the oven in the morning at a very low temper-
Gary explains; ature, with all the veg included in the pot. Come home 8-10 hours
“Cooking with my mother form the age of thirteen, I soon became later and the meat will have softened so it just falls apart and the
the household ‘chef’. I was totally obsessed and knew it was what sauce will have become rich, resembling melted butter as you eat.
I wanted to do when I was older.” All you did was pop a few ingredients into a pot, put the lid on,
This introduces the idea that the passion for cooking comes from the in- and you’re now in Heaven.”
fluence upon you childhood, seeing other family members cooking from
a young age, can give you the background and knowledge for the interest “Ideas for me are borne a lot of the time from
in cooking. Therefore cooking can be understood as a heritage.
British classics”
Gary’s general experiences are extremely vast from a Chef, restaurateur,
Celebrity and author, Gary’s history and Knowledge is extensive.
Being well known for his expertise and inventiveness with ‘Great British
Food’, it has won him a number of Michelin stars, giving him a distinc-
tion of mastery. However, Gary is forever leaning, travelling from coun-
try to country, and investing in many alternative cultures.
Gary is proud of all of the achievements and experiences in his life Gary
mentions a few in which stand out;
“I still feel I have a long way to go but there are many moments I
treasure such as, cooking for Princess Diana, and along with that
having the opportunity to dine with her; cooking for Sir Alex Fer-
guson and Manchester United – my heroes; having the opportu-
nity to meet the Roux Brothers and cooking with them many times
over; and probably achieving my very first Michelin star in
1986/87.”
This supports the importance to take seasonal food into consideration
when cooking, using the foods at the correct time is beneficial, in
order to receive the best quality from them.
Other than that, eating the foods associated with their key season is a
way of embracing all four seasons. This can help you to enjoy all of
them even the cold a miserable ones.
Focusing upon the different meal themes and how you can incorporate
autumn ingredients in to various meals. Inventiveness with foods can
help you to understand what foods work for you, as well as recovering
new techniques.
A few examples of meals you can incorporate autumn foods to could
be soups, by using different ingredients in various ways, you can cre-
ate many vibrant flavours.
By using mashed potatoes in the form of corned beef hash however,
with a selection of winter vegetables, can spark imagination to such a
simple dish.
There are so many meals to
choose from, once you know your
direction anything is possible.
Mushrooms are a fantastic veg-
etable to add to many recipes or
even to use as a side dish, glazed
in a punchy garlic sauce.
Gary feels wild mushrooms are a
perfect autumn dish and sees them
as a typical food for the season.
I asked Gary what foods he thought were true to autumn, he replied;
“Autumn is a magical season as it brings us stunning wild
mushrooms. I adore a simple wild mushroom risotto.”
There are many events during autumn and winter where food can be
introduced. The first to come along is Halloween, by the end of Oc-
tober you are in the heart of autumn.
The huge theme around Halloween is obviously pumpkins, why not
use this to your advantage and prepare a yummy pumpkin soup or
even a pumpkin pie. If you are holding events either the soup or pie
will serve as a lovely treat for your guests, and sets the scene for Hal-
loween.
Not long after,
Bonfire Night is
in full bloom,
here Gary’s ideas
would be perfect,
using ‘toffied’
apples and incor-
porating them
into a Pecan Pie.
The mixture of
them both provides a nutty texture to the indulgent flavours between
the toffee and the sweetness of the apple. This may not seem appealing
to children so just sticking to ‘toffied’ apples on a stick is still inter-
esting for children to gobble up whilst watching the fireworks.
This recipe shows how ingredients often seen to be boring and plain,
can be transformed in to a rich and fancy desert.
“ It’s more exciting than Fireworks!”
For a more substantial meal, using the recipe of the ‘Beef Stew’ men-
tioned by Gary, is a hearty and warm meal to keep you, your family
and your friends warm whilst watching the fireworks.
“October and November are some of my favourite months as we
gear up for a cold winter.”
Having the family round during the Christmas season is wonderful.
There are so many ideas for nibbles and snacks to introduce to buffets
and parties.
Even though it may seem simple turkey, stuffing and cranberry sand-
wiches are a favourite. You can make your own stuffing and cranberry
preserve, the method of making this can be very therapeutic and re-
warding. The scent of the sweet cranberry combined with the savoury
stuffing is an interesting compliment to the turkey sandwiches. Again
this will get you in the mood for the festivities to come.
For Gary it’s is the reaction to his food he treasures the most, he loves
to help other and use his expertise to provide inspiration.
I asked Gary how he feels about being able to provide people with
help, information, knowledge and entertainment, he describes;
“At the age of 13, when I started cooking for my family, the
biggest thing for me was not even the food but sitting and
watching my family’s faces – smiles would appear and they
would continue munching until every last crumb had disap-
peared. That was what excited me and still excites me today. It’s
a privilege to be able to help and inspire other cooks.”
Gary reminds us that game is also a treat in which autumn brings. The
idea of wild animals gives a natural sense. The process of catching
and eating your own food, goes back to our roots of ‘hunter, gather-
ers’.
This again is another activity where you can use autumn to your ad-
vantage and bring a certain meaning and history behind your food.
Pheasants, partridge, various fish, deer and boar are just a few of the
rich foods autumn provides.
“Game is a key meat to add to your recipes, it adds a rich
flavour and washed down with a glass of red wine will bring
warmth and richness to your autumn.”
If you look closely at the foods and scenery of autumn, the colours
are breathtaking. The orange and brown tones in the natural light, give
off a warm sense.
Therefore even though the weather is dull and cold, looking at the
colours and opening up to the surrounding atmosphere, you can allow
the warmth and magical scenes to invest in your mood.
Instead of hiding away inside, embrace autumn and get outside, where
the beautiful colours and tones can be admired. It is easy to misun-
derstand autumn and what it has to offer, don’t be put off easily, au-
tumn is a fabulous season waiting to be explored.
Gary has a number of restaurants, even on a few P&O cruise ships,
he is forever expanding and sharing his food with the public. I feel
this is what makes Gary so successful and popular. Just before I got
in contact with Gary, he had just returned from filming abroad he
never stops and always make time to help others.
By Rebecca Ireland