Autumn invariably heralds more noticeable changes in the colour, texture and flavour of the food restaurants offer than any other season but this year these changes may be more profound and irreversible than ever before.
Notice that this may be the case was provided by Charles Clover’s recent book The End of the Line which I reviewed in early August when I pointed out his seemingly incontestable conclusions that more effective technology coupled with inaction by bureaucrats and politicians and rising demand for healthy fish dishes is causing a dangerously rapid decline in the stocks of our favourite fish species.
Clover devotes a chapter to denouncing many of the world’s most famous chefs whose menus may state that their fish were caught by line or on day boats (the former does not harm other species, the latter ensures that the fish do not spend too long on ice once it has been caught) but which crucially do not state their origin.
Even more pertinently, Clover lists, with acknowledgement to the Marine Conservation Society, the 12 fish we should all choose not to eat to allow stocks to recover – and this sadly includes such favourites as Atlantic cod and haddock, European sea bass and hake, North Atlantic halibut and bluefin tuna – and then goes on to a less glamorous list that chefs ought to be directing us towards: mackerel, blue whiting, flounder and tilapia (widely found in Indian restaurants).
Sadly, the chefs and restaurateurs I have spoken to over the past couple of months have either not read the book or simply do not want even to contemplate its consequences. Yet fundamental , environmental changes are also affecting another very special product they are currently handling – very few of the grouse currently being roasted in their kitchens were actually shot in Scotland.
Most have come from the moors of Derbyshire and Yorkshire and the news from Sandra Baxter of Yorkshire Game, which supplies many restaurants, is positive. "Prices are now lower than they have been for some years and there are plenty of birds left to see us through to the end of the season." Happily this is in sharp contrast to the moors of Scotland where heavy rain when the birds were hatching has led to many shoots being cancelled. But, more fundamentally, the spread of sheep farming and the speedy erosion of the heather, the Scottish grouse’s staple diet, due to global warming are dissociating this autumnal bird from its longstanding and highly romantic habitat north of the border.
A similar phenomenon brought Pierre-Jean Peybère from the wilds of Catus in south west France to London’s bustling Covent Garden a fortnight ago. The Peybère family have controlled the market in French black truffles for over than a hundred years (their centenary poster in 1997 merely showed 100 examples of the same black and red tin they have used since 1887). As a result the Peybères have over this period become suppliers to and friends with most of the world’s top chefs who have in turn combined their extensive skills with the flavour from these hard-earned truffles to add considerable value to their menus.
But while they were in London, Pierre-Jean and his ever smiling wife Bebe chose not to meet a single chef. Instead, they stood behind a counter along with numerous other producers of less expensive food and wine from the Lot Valley introducing their truffles, in 100 and 200gm tins, their truffle oil and their paté de foie gras with truffles to any passer by who would care to stop and taste. Over an espresso in a nearby Caffe Nero Peybère explained this conscious change of direction and why in his opinion other producers may have to follow his example.
"Last year was the worst harvest for black truffles in France ever thanks to the drought. It was just over eight tons in total and we could have easily got the whole lot into the front part of this café, " Peybère added with a somewhat resigned smile. " This year should be a little better although unfortunately we did not have the right amount of rain in the spring in France, but the new oak plantations in the hills above Teruel in eastern Spain are more productive. It does seem as though these young trees can withstand the heat and the drought somewhat better.
"But in the light of this we are being forced to restructure our company. Otherwise there will be nothing for my children to take over even if they want to. My grandfather and father ran the business by cleaning the fresh truffles or processing and canning them, adding a small profit margin and handing them over to the chefs who added a larger slice for themselves. We now have to hold on to that value. I cannot continue selling this increasingly rare product to chefs, many of whom demand the lowest price and then, because of their reputation, add a huge mark up. We will have to go directly to consumers throughout Europe at food fairs such as these and perhaps, in the not too distant future, even open our own shops."
Peybère is also directing his not inconsiderable energy into seeing whether production can be increased. "The main obstacle is that we still do not fully understand how truffles are made, their reproductive system," he explained using the more charming French term la sexualité. " When you plant apple trees or vines you get apples or grapes but when you plant 100 truffle trees there is no guarantee that they will yield any truffles at all. And I cannot interest research students in this work because it is so open ended that at the end of three year’s hard work, they may have nothing to show for it. But I have put together a team of older scientists in France and a wonderful woman in a location that I don’t want to disclose for the moment. They all see solving this problem as their life work. Only then can we halt the steep decline in production, although a return to my grandfather’s days when France produced more than 1,000 tons of black truffles a year does seem to be most unlikely, sadly."
Truffles there may be not be aplenty but pheasants, partridge and wild duck, pumpkins, chestnuts, wild mushrooms, medlars and quinces are shortly to be on many restaurant menus. Enjoy them.