Some vegetables mark the passing seasons more emphatically than others. None more so than the marrow, which has always had something of a back to school ring about it. The sight of a wooden crate of them at the vegetable shop this week heralded summer’s slow, delicious slide into autumn.
We need our wits about us if we are not to miss the short-season fruit and vegetables. From the first asparagus in spring to the last of the marrows and damsons in autumn, locally grown produce comes at us in an unstoppable flow. If we fail to make the most of the peaches or the blackcurrants, the peas or the runner beans when they are in season we will go without. November to May can seem like a very long time.
This has been a rather good summer. I gorged myself on cherries yet nearly missed out on the gooseberries; the tomatoes got started early, but I think I blinked and missed the best (ie stringless) runner beans. Right now I am eating as much marrow as I can, simply because in a few weeks time it will be gone until next harvest festival. The blandness of the traditional cottage-garden stalwart of marrow in cheese sauce is something of which I am inexplicably fond, but I suggest there are better things to do with them.
This week I cut a flawless, cream and green striped marrow into thin slices, tossed it in seasoned flour then fried the pieces until lightly crisp on both sides. To go with it, a ketchup-textured sauce of late tomatoes, spiced with mustard, fennel and coriander seeds. Frying marrow works because, like courgette fritters, you have a very fine and crisp exterior then refreshingly juicy green flesh inside. Fresh from the crackling oil, sprinkled with (too much) salt and a squeeze of lemon, slices of fried marrow are as good as anything you will get from the vegetable patch, whatever time of year.
Carrots with miso
The timid and frankly watery carrots of spring are becoming more interesting. Less sweet, deeper flavour, a good earthy crunch. Their flavour intensifies with roasting, something I do more often than steaming them. (I doubt I am alone in finding a steamed carrot worth eating only once it is rolled in copious amounts of melted butter and parsley). Roasted, they take on a delicious caramelised note that makes them worth eating.
Serves 4 as a side dish
carrots 500g, assorted
garlic 4 cloves
groundnut oil 3 tbsp
ginger 25g, fresh
sake 200ml
light soy sauce 1 tbsp
white (shiro) miso 3 tbsp
caster sugar 2 tbsp
cabbage 150g
black sesame seeds 2 tsp
Heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Trim the carrots, leaving a short tuft of stems at the top. Halve the carrots lengthways then put them in a roasting tin. Peel the garlic, tuck it among the carrots then pour over the oil. Season with black pepper then toss the carrots in the oil. Roast for 35 minutes, until they are appetisingly golden.
Grate the ginger into a small saucepan, then add the sake, soy sauce, white miso and caster sugar and place over a moderate heat. Bring almost to the boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Lower the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes, until it has reduced by half.
Finely shred the cabbage. When the carrots are ready, remove them to a serving dish. Place the roasting tin over a moderate heat and add the shredded cabbage. Toss the cabbage in the oil in the pan then tip the miso dressing in. Spoon the cabbage and dressing over the roasted carrots then scatter the sesame seeds over.
Marrow with spiced tomato sauce
The key to a crisp exterior and a juicy inside is to cut the marrow no thicker than 2cm, otherwise the heat will take too long to penetrate and the outside will overcook. The sauce adds substance, making this a light supper dish, but I also like the marrow with nothing but a squeeze of lemon juice and lots of salt, something that should be done immediately it leaves the hot oil, draining the slices briefly on kitchen paper.
Serves 4
onions 2, medium
olive oil 5 tbsp
celery 2 sticks
garlic cloves 3
plum tomatoes 500g
fennel seeds 2 tsp
brown mustard seeds 2 tsp
coriander seeds 2 tsp
parsley a handful
marrow 600g
plain flour 6 tbsp
Peel and roughly chop the onions. Warm 2 tbsp of the oil in a deep pan, then add the onions and cook until soft and pale gold, stirring regularly. Slice the celery and add to the onions, then flatten the garlic cloves with a heavy knife and add them.
Chop the tomatoes and stir them in to the onions. Add the fennel, mustard and coriander seeds and a generous seasoning of salt and black pepper. Let the tomatoes cook down to a soft, stew-like consistency. This should take a good 20 minutes. Remove half of the mixture and process it in a blender to a rough, soupy texture, then return to the pan. Chop the parsley and stir into the sauce.
Slice the marrow in half and remove the seeds and fibres. Cut into 1cm thick pieces. Tip the flour on to a plate and season with salt and black pepper. Warm the remaining oil in a shallow pan. Dip the slices of marrow into the flour then fry for 5-6 minutes on each side, until the outside is lightly golden. Drain for a couple of seconds on kitchen paper and serve with the sauce.
Email Nigel at nigel.slater@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @NigelSlater
