Cooking with the Seasons

The Truth About Cooking with the Seasons

I’ve been reading Nigel Slater’s fabulous book The Kitchen Diaries and in the introduction, he talks a lot about seasonality.

There’s his own kitchen garden, his organic CSA veggie box AND the local farmers markets.

The man isn’t a supermarket fan by any stretch of the imagination.

He talks about seasonality not just in terms of Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring. To Mr Slater, what we should be eating not only varies by the month, it varies with in months as well.

Wow. That really made me think.

And then the man went and used fresh tomatoes in the middle of Winter. Not once, but multiple times.

What the?

Then it dawned on me…

He doesn’t have ‘my rules’ when it comes to seasonality…

Like my ‘rule’ that fresh tomatoes are a Summer-time only treat.

He has his own. And who knows, maybe he has access to fabulous tomatoes in Winter grown who knows where.

So rather than preach at you about the seasons, I thought I’d share my personal rules about seasonality. Just to give you a starting place for developing your own.

After-all, it makes sense that these things will vary depending on where you live AND where you shop. [/tab] [tab]

3 Thoughts about Seasonality

1. Some vegetables should really only be eaten at certain times of the year.

And others aren’t so sensitive.

For example I can buy pretty decent broccoli any time of the year, but asparagus are something I think are only worth bothering with in the Spring.

To help you with this concept I’ve created a list of seasonal and not-so-season-sensitive veg. Or what I call my ‘year-round’ veg. I’ll take you through these in a moment.

2. Just because something is on ‘special’ doesn’t mean it’s in season where you live.

One of the things that makes it difficult to keep track of seasonality is the global nature of food commerce these days.

I’ve noticed that there are two times of the year when cherries are on special. Once during the Australian Summer, when it’s actually cherry season here. And secondly when it’s Winter here and cherry season in the Northern Hemisphere.

No wonder it can be confusing.

Even shopping at the farmers market you can get plenty of out of season vegetables.

Like the eggplant I was tempted to buy the other day in the middle of Winter when it was -4C (25F) at the markets.

3. Even if you can buy something out of season, it’s nice to impose your own limits.

I love the concept of seasonality.

Limiting availability of different foods to certain times of the year makes life (and meal planning) a bit more interesting.

Even though I can sometimes buy relatively decent fresh tomatoes outside of Summer, I tend to choose canned tomatoes or tomato paste. And save lovely fragrant fresh tomatoes for tomato salads only in the height of Summer.

It’s a personal choice.

However to make choices like this you need to know what’s in season when. [/tab][tab]

My Not-So-Seasonal Produce

These are the things I’m happy to buy year round. Where each of these ingredients has an ‘official’ season, I’ve included it in brackets just so you know.

Year-Round Veggies

avocado
broccoli [autumn / winter]
broccolini / baby broccoli / sprouting broccoli [autumn / winter]
bok choy & other asian greens
belgian endive / witlof [winter]
beets [autumn / winter]
cauliflower [autumn / winter]
carrot [autumn / winter]
collard greens [autumn / winter]
cucumber [spring/summer]
celery
garlic [summer]
fennel [autumn / winter]
leeks [spring/summer]
lettuce [spring/summer]
mushrooms [autumn]
onion [autumn / winter]
peas [frozen]
potato [autumn / winter]
radish [summer]
salad greens
swiss chard or silverbeet [autumn / winter]
sweet potato [autumn / winter]
spinach [autumn / winter]
zucchini or courgettes [summer]

Year-Round Fruit

rhubarb
pineapple
lemon [winter]

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Winter

Frosty mornings, crisp blue skies, reading books by the fire, hearty food, red wine, hot chocolate!

Rugging up with coats and scarves.

That feeling of pure warmth when you come into a warm house from a bracing walk.

The older I get, the more I appreciate Winter as a season.

In fact this year I’ve even caught myself thinking ‘Winter might be my new favourite season’.

And I especially love Winter food…

Winter Veggies

brussels sprouts
cabbage [although I do buy it more frequently than just winter]
parsnip
turnip
sweeds [rutabagas]
radicchio
celeriac [celery root]
horseradish
jerusalem artichoke
kohlrabi

Winter Fruit

cumquat
lemon
orange

Recipes I’m Loving this Winter

[/tab][tab] Spring

If truth be told Spring is my least favourite season.

Firstly because it tends to be very changeable and windy here. But more importantly it’s because Spring is when all the local reptiles come out of hibernation and are at their most active. So it’s the time of year I’ve seen the most snakes. Eeek!

But there is a lot to love about Spring. The blossoms. Those first few days of warmth when the sun finally feels super warm on the skin.

The garden coming to life and things starting to grow again.

And as much as I adore the heavy comfort of slow cooked Winter food, I always appreciate the creative possiblities in the kitchen that open up with the longer days and the warmer weather.

Spring Veggies

artichoke
asparagus
cabbage
greens like spinach, silverbeet, chard
asian greens like bok choy, gai larn, choy sum, wombok
broad beans
spring onion

Spring Fruit

Strawberries
Blueberries (late Spring)
Rhubarb
Mango (late Spring)
Cherries

Recipes I’m loving this Spring

[/tab] [tab] Summer

Summers here are very hot. And usually very dry. It can be tough in the veggie garden.

But Summer is a magical time for fruit and veggies. It’s all about abundance. Bright flavours. And beautiful colours.

Summer Veggies

tomato
bell peppers [capsicum]
peas [fresh] including snow peas & sugar snap peas
green beans
summer squash
eggplant [aubergine]
zucchini & zucchini flowers
sweetcorn
basil

Summer Fruit

Peaches
Plums
Nectarines
Apricots
All Berries
Cherries
Grapes
Melons
Mangos

Recipes I’m Loving this Summer

[/tab][tab] Autumn

My favourite favourite season. The days are still bright but the nights are lovely and cool.

When I was a winemaker one of my favourite things was getting to experience 2 Autumns a year. I’d do the vintage here in Australia and then head off to Europe or North America for their fall. So fun.

Autumn / Fall Veggies

pumpkin [squash]
wild mushrooms

Autumn / Fall Fruit

Figs
Quince
Apples
Pears
Persimmons
Grapes
Kiwifruit

Recipes I’m Loving this Autumn / Fall