Living calendar
October
Fall
October is the high mass of mushrooms and squash. Porcini, chanterelles, hen-of-the-woods after the rains; squash arrives in force (butternut, kabocha, sugar pumpkin); apples decline into infinity (Honeycrisp, Cox, Bramley in the UK); game birds enter; chestnuts peak. The saffron harvest comes in late October — the freshest crop of the year, worth buying direct. Halloween on the 31st puts pumpkin in the spotlight, and the pies and spice-everything season begins in earnest. On the condiment side, you commit to deep fall: tonka on the squash, star anise coming back, Tahitian vanilla on the pears, cubeb on the game. It's also the month to get ahead of the holidays — saffron, tonka and premium vanilla are best ordered now, well before the Thanksgiving and Christmas crush hits the shelves.
Bring out of the pantry
Signature dishes
- Pumpkin pie · with Saigon Cinnamon · see the pairing →
- Roasted pumpkin soup with ras el hanout · with Ras el Hanout · see the pairing →
- Risotto milanese with saffron · with Iranian Saffron (Sargol) · see the pairing →
- Venison stew · with Tasmanian Pepperberry · see the pairing →
- Apple pie · with Saigon Cinnamon · see the pairing →
- Mulled cider (Halloween) · with Star Anise · see the pairing →
Culinary celebrations
- All month · Saffron harvest and pumpkin season
- October 31 · Halloween (pumpkin, spice, cider)
- Second Monday (US) · Columbus Day / Indigenous Peoples' Day weekend
- Variable · Diwali (heavily spiced Indian feasts)
Chef's note
October decides whether you get a good holiday season or a stressed one. Order your saffron now, not on December 22nd. A single gram of Sargol is thirty bouillabaisses, twenty risottos, ten holiday sauces. Same with tonka: make your pumpkin soup as a test run in October — half a grated bean per two liters, no more, or it stings your eyes — and you'll plate it on Thanksgiving with your eyes closed. The rule: holiday cooking is cooking you've already done once. Calibrate now, perform in November and December.