What November Puts on the Board: Five Local Ingredients Worth a Walk to the Black Horse
November has a reputation problem. It is seen as the grey gap between bonfire night and the Christmas rush, a month of damp leaves and early darkness. At The Black Horse, Nassington, we do not see it that way. The first frosts arrive, the leaves come down, and the kitchen gets more interesting rather than less. This month we are building much of the specials board around five ingredients that are at their best right now. Some come from within a few miles of the pub. Others come from just down the Nene Valley. None of them need a passport.
Game from the Nene Valley
Feathered game is one of the quiet glories of a British November. Pheasant and partridge are in season, and the colder weather gives us a good reason to cook them with a bit of patience. We work with a small game dealer in the valley who prepares the birds properly, and the kitchen treats them simply: roasted with bacon and thyme when we can, or roughly chopped into a pie with root vegetables and a dark ale gravy.
Game has a reputation for being fiddly or fancy. It need not be either. A good pheasant pie with a suet crust is field food, cooked with care. It sits happily next to a pint of bitter and a conversation about the weather. That is the point. November game is not a restaurant affectation; it is a sensible use of what the countryside gives us at this time of year.
Root vegetables with mud still on them
Parsnips, carrots, beetroot and celeriac are arriving from a grower near Warmington, and the difference between these and the washed, graded roots in a supermarket is obvious. They come in uneven sizes. They smell of earth. They need a good scrub rather than a plastic tray.
November roots have had time to sweeten. A parsnip lifted after a frost is a different vegetable from one dug in September. We roast them hard until the edges catch, make them into soup with a little apple, or pickle beetroot for the cheeseboard. The Nassington allotment crowd also keep us honest. When someone turns up with a glut of carrots and a knowing look, we find a use for them. That is how a village pub should work.
Orchard fruit from old trees
Apples and pears are still coming in from a small orchard over towards Oundle. We are not talking about perfect supermarket fruit. These are Bramleys and Conference pears with a bit of character, some of them too small to sell in a shop and all the better for it.
Orchard fruit in November is about preserving as much as eating. A crumble is obvious, and there is nothing wrong with obvious when it is done well. But we also use apples in chutney for the game pie, and pears poached in local cider with a lump of cheese. Fruit grown a few miles away and cooked the same week has a freshness that is hard to fake. It also gives the menu a useful thread of sweetness against all that dark meat and root vegetable.
Brassicas that benefit from a frost
Sprouts, kale and cabbage are often treated as Christmas vegetables, but November is when they start to earn their place. A frost improves sprouts. It takes the edge off them and brings out a nutty sweetness that makes you wonder why they get such a bad press. We are getting greens from a grower just outside the village, and the kitchen is using them in simple ways: charred hispi cabbage with a little butter, kale wilted down with garlic, sprouts shredded and fried with bacon.
There is a temptation to dress greens up too much. We prefer them with enough butter and salt to remind you why they are worth eating. A plate of roast game needs something green and slightly bitter beside it. November brassicas do that job better than most things.
Cheese and butter from a small dairy
The fifth ingredient is not a single vegetable or cut of meat. It is the dairy work that ties the rest together. We buy cheese from a small producer over towards Stamford, including a firm, nutty cheese that melts well and a softer one for the board. The cultured butter is used in the pie pastry and on the greens. It is the sort of ingredient that costs a little more and is worth it.
A good cheese sauce turns root vegetables into a proper supper. A slice of cheese on top of game pie is not necessary, but it is not unwelcome either. On a cold night, dairy is comforting in a way that no amount of fancy garnish can match.
Why November deserves more credit
November is not a gap between autumn and Christmas. It is its own season, with its own ingredients and its own rhythm. The game is in season. The roots are sweet. The apples are still coming in. The greens are better after a frost. The pubs are quieter than they will be in December, which means you can get a seat by the fire and hear yourself think.
There is also something honest about November food. It is not showy. It does not rely on imported berries or forced asparagus. It is the kind of cooking that grew up around village kitchens and farmhouse tables: pies, soups, roasts, chutneys and puddings. That is the food we like to serve at The Black Horse, Nassington. It suits the room and the season.
On the specials board now
This month you will find a rough-cut game pie with root vegetables and ale gravy, parsnip and apple soup, beetroot with local cheese, and a pear and cider pudding when the orchard fruit is good. The menu will move as deliveries change. That is not a flaw. It is how a seasonal kitchen should behave.
If you are walking down from the village, or driving over from Apethorpe or Yarwell, come in and see what November has brought in. The board is not a manifesto. It is just a good excuse to eat locally, drink a well-kept pint and settle in as the nights draw out.
