Autumn has officially rolled around. The nights are drawing in and the weather has taken a distinctly cooler turn. I don’t know about you, but that means I am looking forward to really hearty food that comes with the season.

Below are some ideas for ways to have a perfect autumn feast made with ingredients from Northern producers and suppliers! Which would you like to try?

Starter – Broccoli & Blue Cheese Soup – One of my autumn/winter favourites, broccoli & blue cheese soup is so hearty and warming on a cool day. And for those of you who wrinkled your nose at the thought of blue cheese, let me just say, I don’t eat blue cheese straight up either! I don’t particularly like the strong taste just “as is,” but when it’s in soup it’s mellowed out by other flavours, and I just find it straight up delicious. Paired with some crusty or tasty bread just sounds wonderful.

• Seasonal Veg acquired through local community food growing projects, or from local farms.
  • One near me is The Plot, which provides organic and seasonal veg to buy, as well as training people in growing and horticulture. You can order veg boxes or, if you want to get involved on the ground, can go along to help in the garden.
• Blue Cheese – Two that I would recommend from the North is Mrs Bell’s Blue, made by Shepherd’s Purse nr. Thirsk, Yorkshire; or Garstang Blue, made by Dewlay Cheeses nr. Garstang, Lancashire.
• Bread Side – There are so many local and artisanal bread makers and bakeries across the North, and I’m sure you could find one close to you relatively easily. I’ve just found a great bakery called Well Good Bread that specialise in delicious focaccia, but have other options as well.

Main – Slow Cooked Lamb & Autumn Veg

• Lancashire Salt Marsh Lamb from Cockerham Salt Marsh Lamb. You can read all about the lamb and the land it is raised on here, keeping it free from antibiotics and other products due to the high salt content of the land the lamb grazes upon.
• Local Community Food Garden – See the information about using local and community gardens, or local farms, under the “Starter” section.

Vegetarian Main – Butternut Squash Curry (Rafi’s Spice Box)

• Local Community Food Garden – See the information about using local and community gardens, or local farms, under the “Starter” section.
• Rafi’s Spice Box – Based in York, Rafi’s Spice Box have recently also appeared in selected Booths stores. They do curry mixes to order in a monthly subscription, but will also advise on different spice mixes depending on what your needs are for each specific meal.

Dessert – Apple & Blackberry Crumble

• Wild picked blackberries (my freezer currently has three boxes of blackberries that I picked and then cooked down). I honestly would’ve picked a lot more if I had the freezer space to store them! I was blackberrying in and around the Silverdale and Arnside AONB and the bushes were just dripping with them this year. It’s been a real bumper crop for fruit this year in the UK (apparently the spring conditions we had led to amazing blossom, which then led to great fruit outputs).
• Foraged cooking apples: This is a bit of a “luck of the draw” type thing and depends on where you live/where you go on a regular basis. But, near me, there is a lady who has two apple trees that grow ‘Bramley’ apples, and she has tonnes come this time of year. Sometimes she’s giving them away for free, other times she asks for a very small donation to help out a bit. Either way, still cheaper than buying apples. This lady also had bags full of plums at like £4/kg, so I got a couple of bags of those as well!
• Longley Farm Dairies in West Yorkshire for cream or Luxury Lakes Ice Cream for it’s eponymous product.

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Snacks/Munchies

• Lancashire Crisps – My favourite is the sea salt flavour (and it’s nearly always sold out in the shop!), I know that’s not the most exciting but sometimes… simple is best.
• Farmhouse Biscuits – made in Lancashire since 1962, farmhouse biscuits are not only delicious, they also come in really cute tins and boxes that are reusable time and again for small storage, lessening our environmental impact.
• The Honest Bean Co – on a mission to champion the (not so) humble Fava Bean, it’s nutritional value, and also it’s position in regenerative farming practices.

Drinks

• Northern Beers – with Lancaster Brewery, Old School Brewery, and Accidental Brewery there are plenty of local brewers to choose from – and these are just a fraction of the breweries available in the area and across the north. Find your favourite near you.
• Gin/Vodka – Lytham Gin, Brindle Distillery, and Bay Distilleries are a few of the local distilleries that produce spirits in my local area, but again, there are many across the north. Head to your local specialist retailer and you will find any number of inspirational local bevvies to try.
• Soft Drinks – Fentimans is a large soft drinks company based out of Hexham, Northumberland and do a number of soft drinks options including Rose Lemonade, Gently Sparkling Elderflower, Mandarin & Seville Orange Jigger, as well as a Cola, amongst other.
• Hot Drinks – Farrer’s of Kendal or Atkinsons’ in Lancaster are good options for tea and coffee, and other hot drinks.

There are so many incredible suppliers and producers in the North of really tasty food, and this honestly just a snapshot of what is available. There are loads of great food places out there, so go hunting!

I’d like to just end this article by saying that there is a lot of food listed here. It’s all delicious, and I would love to try it, but I would honestly struggle to eat all of this unless I was doing it over a long period of time, with plenty of breaks to digest in between. There is a reason I titled it “feast” – I don’t want anyone to think I’m encouraging food waste, or overconsumption… these are just ideas for what you could do to have a sumptuous foodie experience using local produce and producers in Autumn.