The thrifty foodie: How to eat better but pay less

Shop smart

My wife and I thought ourselves pretty adventurous when we started shopping in a nearby Turkish supermarket with the ringing title Penge Food Centre, but it seems that most people – at least if they live in a big city – have a favourite ethnic shop: Chinese, Polish, Lebanese, Iranian... We shop at PFC partly because it combines rock-bottom prices with extended opening hours, but mainly because of the quality. Endowed with one of the world's great cuisines, Turkish people demand sparkling fresh herbs, vegetables and fruit. You can buy huge bunches (comparable in quantity to five or six supermarket packs) of parsley, mint and coriander for 69p a time.

Excellent for daily use, Kalamata olive oil costs £4.79 per litre. I was lured by a huge tin (1.9kg) of stuffed vine leaves at the irresistible price of £2.99, though its appeal would possibly have palled at the halfway stage. A Turkish yogurt called Yayla, with a creaminess similar to the better-known Greek version, is a stupendous bargain at £1.99 per kilo, or, if you've the appetite, £3.99 for 3kg. It's not flavoured with sweeteners and mushy fruit like British mass-market yogurts, but if you add honey, a single mouthful whisks you to the Aegean.

Related articles

• Giorgio Locatelli's panzanella
• Rose Prince's pistachio and lamb rice
• Antonio Carluccio's Sardinian gnocchi with broccoli
• John Burton Race's blackened fillet of mackerel with root vegetables and horseradish cream
• Fergus Henderson's boiled pork belly and lentils
• Charles Campion's rosemary chicken livers
• Thrifty foodie's seasonal calendar
• Search the news archive for more stories

The one item we always go for at PFC is ripe vine tomatoes. Last week, they were selling for an irresistible £1.38 per kilo, or you can get a 6kg box for £5.99. Later, I discovered equally fine tomatoes at another unusual supermarket. Halving its vegetable prices in a special offer, Lidl was selling ripe vine and beef tomatoes for 99p a kilo. A cucumber was 29p. Even the non-reduced prices – a 120g pack of Italian rocket for 99p, £1.99 for 2kg of orange, chunks of parmesan at £2.78 per 280g – are astonishing. Made feasible by high turnover, and an ambiance of austerity that is scarcely conveyed by the term "no frills", Lidl's remarkable bargains stem from an innate carefulness over domestic expenditure in its home country. Germans simply do not see why they should pay a lot for food. The drawbacks of Lidl are not to do with quality, but appalling queues and unpredictable provisioning. It's like a Moscow supermarket in the Brezhnev era. You cannot rely on celery or leeks being present.

You can also get bargains in the supermarket chain that is synonymous with the well-heeled. Round about 7pm, Waitrose often has impressive reductions. I recently acquired three of their stone-baked loaves (some of the best bread sold in UK supermarkets) reduced from £2.38 to 30p. In the past month, we have dined on free-range pork fillet at a quarter its original price, romanesco green cauliflowers down from £1.69 to 40p, and Scottish oysters down from 55p to 40p. One Sunday, I bought a dozen oysters at 9p apiece. They were fine.

In the countryside, farm shops are at their best when selling seasonal gluts. You should seek out asparagus right now and look forward to new potatoes, sweetcorn, apples, pumpkins... Perhaps the greatest culinary benefit of rural life is the availability of freshly laid free-range eggs. From a nearby farm in Yorkshire, we can buy pullet eggs at £1 per dozen or large eggs at £1.60. When you crack them open, their "stepped" whites are a sure indication of freshness, which is unsurprising when you can see their producers clucking in a nearby field. The flavour of the eggs is better than anything you'll buy in a supermarket.

Pick your own

Giorgio Locatelli once told me why he makes nettle risotto: "Italians love getting something for free." Of course, we should do the same in this country. Whether in risotto, soup or puréed with butter and topped with a poached egg, nettles are tasty and interesting. You should only pick the smallest, topmost leaves. Sadly, it's getting a bit late this year. According to Richard Mabey's best-selling Food for Free, "Nettles should not be picked after the beginning of June. In high summer, the leaves become coarse, unpleasantly bitter and decidedly laxative".

But there's plenty more for the modern hunter-gatherer to aim for. Elderflowers, currently in gorgeous blossom, can be used for fritters, cordial and ice cream. In due course, they will produce elderberries, good in jelly, chutney, and summer puddings. This year, I plan to make a legendary elderberry condiment called Pontack sauce (see recipe in Food for Free). Wild-rose petals can be crystallised, baked in a soufflé, utilised in ice cream or syllabub and, according to Pamela Michael's book Edible Wild Plants & Herbs, made into a "marvellous" sandwich filling with cream cheese, caster sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

September brings blackberries. This most generous of wild fruits is excellent in crumble, mousse and junket, but never better than when infusing apples in a pie. From July, depending on the weather, a mushroom feast is available for those with keen eyes. A book on what to pick is pretty much essential, though you won't go far wrong if you stick to a few easily identifiable species: shaggy inkcap, parasol (good for stuffing), puffballs and, if you're very lucky, ceps or penny buns. All are good sautéed with butter, but cep risotto is the food of the gods. Last year, a Yorkshire restaurateur friend produced a tray of freshly picked ceps that must have been worth a small fortune. He picked them a mile outside Scarborough, but was strangely reluctant to identify the exact spot.

Wine bargains

Of course, cheap wine is always available, but this is not necessarily the same as wine that is good value for money. I often find myself lured by supermarket offers, but the results are variable. A Fitou called Mont Tauch that Waitrose has reduced from £6.99 to £4.99 looks great for the wallet, but my palate said, "Ugh!". Harsh and tannic, it was no bargain. Boschendal, a stylish South African shiraz from Sainsbury's, was miles better at £7.99, reduced from £9.99. But the best deal in the same supermarket was a Chilean red called Palo Alto, reduced from £7.99 to three for £10. Wine for £3.33 a bottle? I was initially suspicious but it proved to be highly acceptable. No one would mistake it for Château Mouton Rothschild, but it is an enjoyable, full-bodied wine.

It is worth braving the queue at Lidl for the wine bargains. Lidl's brut champagne, grandly called Comte de Brismand, is acceptable fizz for £9.99, but you would be better off paying the extra for Bisinger premier cru at £13.99. If you ignore the gaudy label, it is the equal of posh bubbly costing twice as much. But the best buy at Lidl is Marca Trevigiana prosecco, perfect picnic wine at £3.69 a bottle.

Spain is generally regarded as the best source of bargain vintages, though I have a soft spot for Portuguese and Argentinian wines. Often overlooked – you have to rummage round for them in Oddbins – they offer excellent value.

Waste not, want not

Researching for a profile of the top US chef Mario Batali, the journalist Bill Buford took a job in the maestro's New York kitchen. Things went reasonably well for the tyro until he was given the job of dicing celery. "What the hell is this?" asked the chef after rummaging in Buford's rubbish bin. He pulled out "hundreds of celery leaves" and said, "What have you done? You're throwing away the best part of the celery!". Later, Buford observed Batali delving into the bins of others for discarded lamb kidneys, the green stems of fresh garlic, and "the rough dirty tops from wild leeks". Putting fastidiousness to one side, we should all be rummaging in our bins – or, better still, not putting good, edible foodstuff in there in the first place.

It is not just uneconomic, it is positively immoral to waste food. Often, the best things we can eat are what might be thrown away by the improvident. Celery leaves and ropey bits of leek make marvellous soups. The leaves of radishes make a fine, peppery salad. Leftover potatoes and peas can go into the Spanish dish of beaten then fried eggs called frittata. Stale bread can be used in panzanella, an excellent Tuscan bread salad. "Because of panzanella," says Giorgio Locatelli, "I don't think I have ever thrown a single piece of stale bread into the bin."

No chicken carcass should ever go into the bin before it has been used to make chicken stock. (I mean free-range chicken. No amount of economising can justify a battery fowl. Besides which, they taste of Kleenex.) The same goes for beef bones and fish detritus (but don't simmer fish bones for more than 15 minutes or your stock will turn gluey). Simmer prawn shells for 45 minutes and you'll have shellfish stock, excellent as the basis for seafood risotto or a frutti di mare pasta sauce.

Meaty deals

As with fish, the British tend to be excessively restricted in the meat they buy. The economical cook will break away from the steak/joint/chop/ mince mindset and head for cheaper, tastier, more adventurous meat. We may need to steel ourselves before adopting Fergus Henderson's recommendation of pig's head ("flavoursome and tender") or Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's advocacy of ox-tongue ("for my money, the most interesting and enjoyable of any cooked meat"), but we can take some steps in that direction.

Some of the most memorable mouthfuls I've ever eaten have been pork belly. After a long, slow roast, the strata of meat and fat transform into an unctuous, inconceivably tasty joint. Accompanied by a crunch of crackling, the result is carnivore heaven. Similarly, a protracted braise will transform cheap, recalcitrant beef cuts like oxtail, skirt and flank into dishes that will elicit sighs of pleasure. Rosemary chicken livers from Charles Campion's barbecue book, Food from Fire, is a dish as enjoyable as it is economical. For £1 or so, you can have a sensational supper.

If you live alone or want smaller portions, the mail-order butcher Donald Russell (01467 62966) has introduced a variety of "Singlies" baskets. A box of four different small steaks, four lamb steaks and a pork chop costs £27, plus £5 postage.

Catch of the day

For the best, freshest fishy bargains, Londoners should head for Billingsgate Market, which welcomes retail customers. The only drawbacks are time, quantity and guts. You have to be there around 6am, you have to buy in quantity, often a minimum of two or three kilos, and you have to clean the fish yourself. Most of the species, from Indian Ocean anchovies to Icelandic cod, sell for £5/£6 a kilo. Here and there, you can spot astonishing bargains. A couple of farmed salmon for £12. A box of Atlantic prawns for £3. Oysters at 30p apiece.

The best bargains to be found on the high street concern unfashionable varieties of fish. Mackerel and sardines are marvellous eating. Though it looks grey on the slab, coley cooks white and is fine in fish pies. If you're at the seaside, go for our great British crabs. By dressing your own, you can have the perfect summer supper for about a fiver. My own favourite coastal bargain is cuttlefish. You can get a big one for about £3. The Spanish adore it in a stew with chorizo and chickpeas. And the British mainly use this tasty cephalopod as bait. Madness.

The dinner parties

A bit of imagination will make the lavish dinner party, with the two-ton bill from Waitrose, a thing of the past. A large joint of belly pork, or its ovine equivalent, breast of lamb, makes an impressive centrepiece at a modest price. In summer, you can make a little meat go a long way. Recently, I've been making a variant of carpaccio. You grill a large piece of sirloin steak until it is browned on the sides but still fairly rare on the inside. Allow to cool for half an hour or even overnight, then carve into the most slender possible slices. Add a good sprinkle of olive oil and dot with balsamic vinegar and chopped spring onions. Serve a dozen or so slices to each guest with salad and potatoes.

The Piedmontese starter bagna caoda, an olive oil and anchovy dip for raw vegetables, is equally successful. Last Sunday, we produced a hefty starter for nine people with one fennel, one chicory bulb, two courgettes, three long red peppers and a cucumber, all from the Turkish shop. Total cost: £4.

Summer is OK, but some of us are ticking off the days until the game season. For autumn dinner parties, the fruits of the shoot combine impressive eating with incredible value. In shooting country, you can buy pheasants and partridges (Clarissa Dickson-Wright says: "I think I could eat partridge every day") for £2.50 apiece. Don't forget to simmer the carcasses for stock. Cook little pasta shapes in the stock and you have pastina per brodo, a starter for your next dinner party.

Peasant pleasures

It is an intriguing irony that many of the most successful restaurants in the most prosperous areas of London are serving dishes that sustained subsistence farmers in times of hardship. We enjoy the peasant fare of Spain, Italy, Mexico and North Africa because it is tasty and satisfying. Most of the ingredients – rice, beans, chillies, couscous – also happen to be extremely cheap. We should follow the peasant example when our own economy takes a dive.

A particularly delicious and simple option is ribollita from Italy. Made with cannellini beans, celery, carrot, leek, potato and the dark cabbage called cavolo nero (you can substitute spring greens), it is one of the world's most satisfying soups. To develop the flavours, it should be cooked one day, then reheated the next, hence its name (ribollita means reboiled). The addition of a spoonful of olive oil to each bowlful brings about a magical transformation.

From France, there is collier de mouton aux lentilles (scrag end with lentils). From Mexico, sopa de bolitas de tortilla (tortilla ball soup) made with stale tortillas, Parmesan, onion, egg and meat stock. From Spain, sopa de lentejas con morcilla (lentil soup with black pudding). From Morocco, couscous with lamb neck and pumpkin is described as "superb" by the Moroccan-food expert Paula Wolfert. All these dishes have me salivating as I type. Poor cuisine can be the tastiest.

Giorgio Locatelli's panzanella

Because of panzanella, I don't think I have ever thrown a single piece of stale bread in the bin! The great thing about this Tuscan salad is that it goes well with just about anything – grilled fish, chicken, prawns, you name it – or you can just hog a whole bowl of it to yourself.

Serves 4

1 small loaf of country-style bread (about 2-3 days old), cut into large cubes
1 small cucumber, roughly chopped
1 large red onion, roughly chopped
3 very ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed and drained
1-2 teaspoons sugar (to taste)
12 basil leaves, roughly crushed

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the cucumber, red onion and tomatoes in a large bowl and add the bread. Mix well with your hands and season with salt and pepper.

Whisk the olive oil, red wine vinegar, capers, sugar and some salt and pepper together and add to the bowl with the basil. Give it a good stir, then cover and leave in the fridge overnight for the flavours to mellow. The bread should feel moist but not soggy. Serve as a starter or salad, or with grilled or roasted meat.

From Tony and Giorgio, by Tony Allan and Giorgio Locatelli (Fourth Estate)

Rose Prince's pistachio and lamb rice

This is my standard recipe for leftover lamb. Cooking the onions for a good long time is vital to it.

Serves 4

200g basmati rice
A pinch of sea salt
2 tablespoons lamb dripping from the roast (or butter)
2 onions, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
2 tablespoons shelled unsalted pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons sultanas, preferably golden sultanas
About 450g leftover roast lamb, sliced

Put the rice in a saucepan, cover with cold water and leave to soak for 10 minutes. Pour off the water, then cover with fresh water to about 1/2 inch above the level of the rice. Add the salt and bring to the boil. Boil, uncovered, for five minutes, then cover with a lid, turn down the heat and cook for a further five minutes. Take the pan off the heat, leave the lid on for a further five minutes and it should be perfectly cooked.

Heat the dripping in a large frying pan and add the onions. Cook over a low-medium heat for 10-15 minutes, until the onions begin to take on a little golden colour. Add the allspice, pistachios and sultanas, followed by the lamb, and cook until thoroughly heated through. Stir in the rice, giving it a thorough coating of the cooking juices and mixing it well. Serve with whole-milk yoghurt.

From The New English Table by Rose Prince (Fourth Estate)

Antonio Carluccio's Sardinian gnocchi with broccoli

Another recipe that I have created is based upon the combination of Sardinian gnocchetti, made by the firm Dc Cecco, and greens. It has the advantage of being absurdly easy to prepare. If for any reason you cannot obtain calabrese or broccoli, you can substitute cauliflower, though the former is preferable for the distinct taste and colouring it gives to the sauce.

Serves 4

500g broccoli tips (cooked weight)
60g smoked bacon, finely chopped
4 tbs olive oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced
200ml milk
400g Sardinian gnocchetti
A little hot water from cooking the pasta
60g (2oz or 1/2 US cup) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Clean the broccoli tips, then boil them in some lightly salted water until they are soft (about 12-15 minutes). Drain them, chop finely and then put them to one side. Take quite a large pan and start to fry the chopped bacon in the olive oil. Once it begins to brown, add the slices of garlic, which should not be allowed to colour. Next add the chopped broccoli and the milk and cook for 10-15 minutes over a high flame, stirring every now and again. At the end of this time the broccoli should be reduced to a creamy texture.

Cook the gnocchetti for 12-15 minutes until they are al dente, drain (reserving a little of the water), then pour into the pan with the broccoli mixture, adding the Parmesan, salt and pepper. Add a spoonful or two of cooking water so that the mixture is creamy rather than stiff. Stir well over a moderate flame for a few minutes or so, and serve in warm dishes.

From An Invitation to Italian Cooking by Antonio Carluccio (Pavilion)

John Burton Race's blackened fillet of mackerel with root vegetables and horseradish cream

Serves 4

1 tsp black peppercorns, crushed
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1 tsp cumin seeds, toasted and crushed
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, crushed
1 tsp coriander seeds, crushed
4 large fillets of mackerel, all tiny bones removed
50ml olive oil
Salt and pepper

For the root vegetables

100g diced cooked celeriac
60g diced cooked beetroot
10g coriander leaves, chopped
50ml tarragon vinaigrette
2 tsp lime juice
5g caster sugar

For the horseradish cream

200ml whipping cream
55g freshly grated horseradish
1/2 bunch of chives, chopped

To finish

25ml balsamic vinegar
Salad leaves tossed in a little vinaigrette
Juice of 1 lemon

Mix together the peppercorns and spices on a plate. Place the mackerel fillets, skin side down, in the spice mixture. Set aside.

Combine the celeriac and beetroot in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients for the root vegetables, with 1/3 tsp salt and pepper to taste.

Make the horseradish cream by combining the cream with the horseradish, chives and seasoning to taste, passing through a sieve and then whipping until thick.

On four plates, make lines of horseradish cream alternating with lines of balsamic vinegar. Dress each plate with a bouquet of salad leaves tossed in vinaigrette.

Heat the oil in a heavy-bottomed frying pan until it is smoking. Carefully place the mackerel fillets in the pan, skin side down. Reduce the heat slightly and cook for 2 minutes on each side.

Spoon the root vegetables on the warm plates in a mound.

Flip the mackerel fillets and cook for a further 1 minute. Sprinkle with lemon juice, then carefully place the fillets over the vegetable dice. Serve at once.

From Great British Food (published 2 June, £22, DK; www.dk.com)

Fergus Henderson's boiled pork belly and lentils

This celebrates the not quite meat, not quite fat, quality of pork belly.

Serves 4

For the boiled belly

2kg piece of pork belly, with skin and bones on, which has been in brine for 10 days, rinsed
2 whole carrots, peeled
2 onions, peeled and stuck with 8 cloves
2 leeks, whole and cleaned
2 sticks of celery
2 whole heads of garlic
A bunch of fresh herbs and whole black peppercorns

For the lentils

Extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped into thin slices
1 leek, cleaned and chopped into thin slices
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped finely
2 carrots, peeled and chopped in half, then into 5mm-thick slices
500g Puy lentils
Bundle of thyme and parsley; a big handful of chopped curly parsley
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the pork belly into a pan with all the other ingredients, and cover with water. Bring to the boil, skim, and reduce to a very gentle simmer, with the water barely moving, for 3.5hrs, until the flesh is soft and giving, but not collapsing. Remove from the water, slice, and serve with lentils and mustard.

For the lentils, cover the bottom of a largish pan with olive oil, and sweat your chopped vegetables. At the moment they are only just starting to soften, not colouring, add the lentils. Stir these for a couple of minutes in the oil and vegetables, then cover with water and nestle in the thyme and parsley bundle. Simmer and stir occasionally – you want the lentils soft but not squidgy. This should take 40min. You can add more water.

Now season. It is amazing what simple salt and pepper do to the flavour of lentils. Just before serving, stir in chopped parsley and a healthy splash of extra-virgin olive oil.

From Nose to Tail Eating: A Kind of British Cooking by Fergus Henderson (Macmillan)

Charles Campion's rosemary chicken livers

Simple but delicious, this quick and easy barbecue dish makes a grand starter or nibble. Skewering the livers on the rosemary twigs is difficult, but it's made easier if you choose large, perky livers.

Serves 6

150ml port
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Sea salt and ground black pepper
2 x 250g tubs of chicken livers
12 long, woody rosemary twigs
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Mix the port and garlic in a bowl, and add a couple of twists of black pepper. Pick over the livers and select the largest and firmest. Add them to the port, cover, and put in the refrigerator to marinate for anything between 12 and 18 hours.

Strip the leaves from your rosemary twigs, leaving a tuft at the end. Scatter them over the coals to add scented smoke.

When ready to cook, skewer the livers and rest them on a piece of kitchen foil. Place the entire foil sheet over gentle coals and cook for six to seven minutes, turning often – put a doubled sheet of foil under the bushy ends so they don't burn. When cooked, the livers should be pink in the middle. Brush with melted butter, season with salt, and serve.

From Food from Fire: The Real Barbecue Book by Charles Campion (Mitchell Beazley)

Thrifty foodie's seasonal calendar

January

Fruit: pippin apples, pears, forced rhubarb

Vegetables: aubergines, beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celeriac, celery, garlic, kale, leeks, mushrooms, onions, parsnips, potatoes, shallots, spinach (winter), squash, turnips

Fish: haddock, mussels, plaice, herrings, shrimps

Meat: beef, mutton, pork, chicken, turkey

February

Fruit: golden pippin apples, golden russet apples, pears, forced rhubarb

Vegetables: beet, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chicory, kale, leeks, mushrooms, onions, parsnips, potatoes, shallots, spinach, squash, swede, turnips

Fish: cockles, haddock, herrings, mussels, shrimps

Meat: beef, mutton, pork, chicken, turkey

March

Fruit: golden pippin apples, golden russet apples, pears, pomegranates, rhubarb

Vegetables: beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, garlic, leeks, mint, onions, parsley, parsnips, potatoes, radishes, spinach, turnips

Fish: cockles, herring, mackerel, mussels, pilchards, prawns, sardines, shrimps

Meat: beef, mutton, pork, chicken, turkey

April

Fruit: apples, pears, rhubarb

Vegetables: asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, cucumber, fennel, kale, lettuce, onions, parsley, parsnips, peas, potatoes, radishes, spinach, watercress

Meat: beef, mutton, pork, spring lamb, chicken, turkey

Fish: haddock, herring, mackerel, mussels, pilchards, prawns, sardines, shrimps

May

Fruit: apples, cherries, gooseberries, pears, rhubarb

Vegetables: asparagus, beetroot, broccoli, broad beans, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, fennel, garlic, leeks, lettuce, mint, mushrooms, onions, parsley, peas, new potatoes, radishes, rocket, spinach, spring onions, turnip, watercress

Meat: beef, lamb, mutton, pork, chicken, turkey

Fish: herring, mackerel, mullet, pilchards, prawns, sardines, shrimps

June

Fruit: apples, cherries, gooseberries, pears, raspberries, redcurrants, rhubarb, strawberries, tomatoes.

Vegetables: asparagus, aubergines, beetroot, broad beans, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, courgettes, cucumber, leeks, lettuce, onions, peas, peppers, potatoes, spinach, turnips, marrow

Meat: beef, Welsh lamb, mutton, pork, chicken, turkey

Fish: herring, mackerel, mullet, pilchards, prawns, sardines, shrimps

July

Fruit: apples, blueberries, cherries, greengages, gooseberries, pears, plums, raspberries, redcurrants, rhubarb, strawberries, tomatoes

Vegetables: asparagus, aubergines, beetroot, broad beans, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, celery, courgettes, cucumber, lettuce, mushrooms, peas, peppers, potatoes, radishes, runner beans, spinach, turnips

Meat: beef, lamb, mutton

Fish: crab, herring, mackerel, pilchards, prawns, shrimp, trout

August

Fruit: apples, blackberries, cherries, figs, gooseberries, greengages, loganberries, mulberries, pears, plums, raspberries, redcurrants, strawberries, tomatoes

Vegetables: aubergines, basil, carrots, cauliflower, celery, courgettes, cucumber, fennel, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, onions, peas, peppers, potatoes, radishes, runner beans, spinach, sweetcorn

Meat: beef, lamb, mutton

Fish: herring, mackerel, mullet, prawns, shrimps, trout

September

Fruit: apples, blackberries, cherries, damsons, elderberries, figs, grapes, hazelnuts, mulberries, peaches, pears, plums, raspberries, rhubarb, strawberries, tomatoes

Vegetables: aubergines, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, runner beans, kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, onions, parsnips, peppers, peas, potatoes, pumpkin, radishes, spinach, sweetcorn

Meat: beef, mutton, pork, chicken, turkey

Fish: herrings, mackerel, mussels, shrimps, whiting

October

Fruit: apples, blackberries, cranberries, elderberries, figs, hazelnuts, mulberries, pears, tomatoes

Vegetables: aubergines, beetroot, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, courgettes, kale, leek, lettuce, marrow, mushrooms, onions, parsnips, peas, potatoes, pumpkin, radishes, runner beans, spinach, squash, turnips, watercress

Fish: cockles, hake, herring, mackerel, mussels, shrimps

Meat: beef, mutton, pork, chicken, turkey

November

Fruit: apples, chestnuts, cranberries, hazelnuts, pears

Vegetables: Beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, leeks, onions, parsnips, potatoes, pumpkin, spinach, swede, turnips

Fish: cockles, hake, herrings, mackerel, mussels, shrimps

Meat: beef, mutton, pork, chicken, turkey

December

Fruit: apples, chestnuts, hazelnuts, pears, pomegranates, rhubarb

Vegetables: beetroot, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, onions, parsnips, potatoes, pumpkin, red cabbage, spinach, swede, turnips

Meat: beef, house lamb, mutton, pork, chicken, turkey, goose

Fish: hake, herrings, mussels, shrimps, sprats