Most seasonal guides hand you the whole supermarket. So, as in October, this is only what has changed in November: what's just arrived, what's at its best, and what to ask for at the counter.
November is the month the frost does the cooking. A few of the best things this month are better for a cold night or two, the season for female deer opens in England and Wales, and the Christmas pudding gets made. I literally can't stand Christmas pudding. I wish I could. I just can't. I am going to have a go at making my own though this year as it will please the grandparents and will be a nice thing to do with the family to start getting the Christmas spirit going.
From the sea
Cornish sardines are still running. The Cornish fleet catches them from August to January, and the Marine Conservation Society rates sardines from the certified Cornish fleet as a Best Choice. Grilled whole, they make a cheap and really tasty supper. Oh how I wish I lived down in Cornwall...Ask for Cornish by name: the same fish caught elsewhere doesn't necessarily carry the same rating. Sardines in the Good Fish Guide
Orchard and field
Wait for the frost. Parsnips and Brussels sprouts are both in, but both are better once they've been frosted. The Royal Horticultural Society advises waiting until after the first heavy frost to lift parsnips, because it intensifies their sweetness, and says sprouts have the sweetest flavour when picked after a frost. They'll still need bacon and cream to make them palatable in my book! If your greengrocer's sprouts came in after a cold night, buy them. Parsnips from the RHS
Jerusalem artichokes are in. They're lifted from late autumn right through the winter, nutty and sweet, and make a soup worth knowing. They have nothing to do with globe artichokes, and they have a reputation. Start with a small portion.
This is the medlar month. Last month we said the medlar was the last orchard fruit of the year. They're picked in late October or November, once they've had a frost, and then left for two or three weeks until they turn soft, brown and slightly wrinkled. That's bletting, and it's the whole point. If a farm shop has them, buy them now and they'll be ready in time for a Christmas cheeseboard.
Wild and free
Crab apples are sweetest after the cold. The Woodland Trust points out that they rarely rot on the tree, so you can pick them right through the winter. Too sharp to eat raw, they make a very good jelly, and it goes with everything from game to cheese.
Look out for bullace. A small wild plum, sharp until it's fully ripe, peaking from October into November. Think of it as a sloe you can almost eat: it makes a good jam, a crumble or a damn good liqueur.
Sweet chestnuts are still falling. They drop from October into early winter. Score a cross in each one before you roast it, or it will burst. Make sure it's a sweet chestnut and not a conker: we covered how to tell them apart last month. Foraging in November and December
As ever, if you don't know exactly what you're picking, don't.
Game
The hinds and does join the stags on 1 November. Male red, sika and fallow deer have been in season in England and Wales since August. From the 1st, the females come into season too, along with roe does and Chinese water deer, through to the end of March, while the roe buck season closes at the end of October. In Scotland the females opened on 21 October. It means that from now until spring there's venison from every kind of deer we have, and from a good butcher or game dealer it's lean, local and wild. Deer open seasons from the British Deer Society
Pheasant and partridge carry on until 1 February, and grouse until 10 December, so a good game dealer's counter is well stocked this month.
Stir-up Sunday
Make the pudding on 22 November. Stir-up Sunday is the Sunday before Advent, named after the old church prayer for the day that begins "Stir up, we beseech thee". It became the day families made the Christmas pudding, with everyone taking a turn to stir and make a wish. A pudding made then has almost five weeks to mature. Buy your suet from the butcher and your dried fruit from somewhere that sells it loose. I'll have a syrup sponge pudding lined up on Christmas Day as an alternative too personally...
In the glass
November is the month for whisky, gin and rum festivals, and the Christmas markets open. Our November festival guide has 50 of them, including 20 Christmas markets.
Three questions to ask this month
Ask your greengrocer whether the sprouts have had a frost yet. A good greengrocer will know.
Ask your fishmonger for Cornish sardines. Then ask how they'd cook them.
Ask your butcher when they need your Christmas order. Small farms only rear so many birds, and the good ones go.
A shop that's proud of what it sells will be happy to answer all three, and you'll probably come away with a tip or two of your own. If you do, add it to myfoody so the next person benefits too.