OCTOBER

Pumpkins and squash

Beyond Hallowe’en, we are still only slowly beginning to show some of the relish much of the rest of the world shows for pumpkins and squash.

What is the difference between pumpkins and squash? Both belong to the cucurbita family, which also includes cucumbers, courgettes and marrows. Pumpkins usually have the round jack-o’-lantern shape associated with Hallowe’en and tend to have a thick skin and quite watery flesh. Winter squash come in all shapes and usually have denser, sweeter flesh.

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Do the varieties really taste that different? Within the family there is a wide variation between soft, custardy-fleshed examples, stringy ones, hollow and seedy or pappy ones, and solid, high-density ones, with a taste range that runs from quite bland to sweet and nutty.

What might you find in the supermarket? Though there are myriad varieties, we see relatively few. Aside from Hallowe’en pumpkins, by far the biggest seller is still the pale, light bulb-shaped butternut squash, which is one of the tastiest and most distinctive: sweet and nutty, with orange flesh. Other varieties include onion, the green-ribbed acorn, gem (round and dark green), the red and stripy green kabocha, with its chestnutty flavour, and spaghetti squash, whose flesh comes away in pasta-like strands during cooking. Look out for smoky blue Crown Prince and sweet Lightning, sometimes called Munchkin, which has a nutty flavour and can be simply washed and roasted whole.

Are most squash grown in Britain? In season, yes, supplemented by imports from Europe, South Africa and South America for the rest of the year. Butternut squash, which are relatively slow growing, are often imported from countries with warmer, less rainy weather, in which the sugars and colours can develop and the skin mature more easily.

Where to buy: Ralph Upton, “The Pumpkin Man”, Slindon, West Sussex (01243 814219). Famous for his displays of pumpkin and squash in all shapes and colours with names such as Sweet Dumpling, Pink Banana and Crookneck. You can also buy the Uptons’ recipe book. Open from 10am until dusk, seven days a week during the season.

Oysters

There is a mystique about these creatures, with their sculpted shells, unique flavour of the sea and sexy image, which trades on the Aphrodite legend (she supposedly rose from the waves on an oyster shell and gave birth to Eros) and the notion of Casanova guzzling them in the bath. In Dickens’s time, oysters were cheap and eaten pickled or cooked with steak in pies, but pollution and disease took their toll on the beds and, though revitalised, these days oysters are still considered a luxury.

What is the difference between native and rock oysters? Native oysters have grown in British waters since Roman times. They take around five years to mature and are only available when there is an R in the month (an ancient act of Parliament protects them from being fished during spawning, from May to August), but are at their best from October onwards. However, the market is dominated by the faster-growing, larger and less expensive Pacific or rock oyster, which is cultivated all year round. Once unable to spawn in our colder waters, in some areas they are now beginning to naturalise themselves. Connoisseurs, however, tend to prefer the more intense, mineral flavour of the true natives.

Should the shells be closed when you buy oysters? Yes, or else they should close if you tap them – closed shells are a live oyster’s defensive position, so if the shells won’t close, the oyster is dead or weak.

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