Late summer is definitely the best time for eating outdoors
The heat is less intense but the days and evenings are still warm enough to sit and dine comfortably for hours. This menu is inspired by the fresh produce around at this time of year. Fruit, basking day after day in the sun, is now super-sweet – and yet there’s also that slight shift in the air which makes us hanker for something a little earthier in taste.
The dishes here celebrate these transitional flavours as nature readies itself for a change: two savoury tarts, a subtly nutty fruit pie, and peaches in red wine, among them. Serve with fruit, honey and good cheese, and take time to enjoy the special tastes of this season.
Recipes and styling by: Fiona Hugues. Photography by: Jani Shepherd.
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Recipe: Pêches au vin
This is a wonderfully simple and slightly wicked way to finish a late-summer meal, especially when you don’t feel like anything too heavy. Try to use the freshest, ripest peaches or nectarines you can find. Any drinkable red wine works well – just allow time for good conversation while the sugar dissolves.
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Recipe: Tarte flambée
Also known as flammekueche, this is kind of a pizza and sort of a tart and originates from the Alsace region of France. I add a little autumnal twist with thyme, onions and extra cheese, and sometimes even sliced mushrooms. Serve it in slices like a pizza or enjoy it as a light meal with a green leafy salad on the side.
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Recipe: Provençal tomato tart
I’ve baked this tart a squillion times before, and the proud little anchovies make all the difference.
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Recipe: Plum & cherry gâteau basque
Nutty, creamy and full of tart
stone fruit, this sweet creation is
from the Basque region.
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Recipe: Niçoise Tartine
My second favourite tinned-tuna recipe (after a super-quick tuna, mayo and tomato sandwich) is this one. These tartines or toasts, piled high with gorgeous Niçoise salad ingredients, make a delicious lunch – fresh, tangy and salty, mouthful after mouthful. For wonderful little party appetisers, simply create smaller versions – crostini – by using a sliced-up baguette.
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Recipe: Lemon verbena tea
If you adore anything lemony, like I do, and have a spare corner in your garden, you should grow a lemon verbena bush. This herb, with its distinctive citrus flavour and heady scent, is extraordinary – just a few leaves add fragrance to drinks, dishes, pot-pourri and even flower bouquets. Add edible flowers and a few berries if you want to pretty things up a little.
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