Eating Seasonally

It’s no secret that I believe in eating as locally and seasonally as possible. But during a recent conversation with a good friend (Dr. Bob) I realized that while both can be difficult, eating seasonally is much more difficult for most.  To eat locally all you have to do is read the package to know how far away the food was made, grown, or raised. But to eat seasonally you have to know when food is in season, knowledge that many of us have never had. Luckily if you eat locally you are bound to eat seasonally.  But for those among us who buy their produce at a typical American grocery store, a place where strange enough everything always seems to be in season but nothing ever tastes very good this can be quite difficult. Be honest, when was the last time you bought a delicious, sweet, juicy tomato at a grocery store?

For those of us who do our shopping at farmers’ markets and co-ops it’s a little easier, many of these places get their produce from local farms, which essentially guarantees the produce is in season. If however, your co-op is anything like mine, tomatoes can be found from all over the globe year round and oddly enough in the fall when apples are in season here in Minnesota the shelves are stocked with apples from California. I don’t get it. It’s not good for farmers, local economies, or consumers.

It seems to me that as a society we have not only lost touch with when food is in season but where our food comes from more generally. For example, many people go to the grocery store and buy chicken wrapped in plastic with no signs of the animal it once was, no skin, no bones, no fat, no flavor. This is quite different than the way chicken is often sold in other parts of the world. In Europe chicken is sold whole, with the neck and feet and sometimes feathers attached, that’s how you know how old the animal was when it died and how long ago it died. You can also find at least six types of chicken in most European markets; did you know there was more than one type of chicken? If you live in the U.S., I can’t imagine why you would. But I digress, back to eating seasonally.

There are many reasons to eat seasonally but the most important reason is that food tastes best when it is in season! If there is anything we can learn from the Italians about food it is that all you need to make a delicious meal is seasonal ingredients prepared simply. If you have eaten in Italy you understand. I once ate a meal in Sardinia at a small farm where everything, I mean everything, including the spirits was made on the farm. It was the very essence of eating locally and seasonally, and the best meal I’ve ever had. But most of us don’t have the pleasure of living in Italy, so what are we to do? Well it may take some work but you have to learn what foods are in season when. I’m here to help. I should note that if you don’t live in the northern part of the U.S. these guidelines may not apply. I also want to say that there are some foods that are never in season here, as they can’t be grown here. So I make exceptions to my seasonal rule for fair-trade coffee, vanilla, olives and olive oil, rice, citrus fruits, chocolate and since I live in the Midwest seafood (although I now eat a lot more fresh water fish than I ever did before). Here is a guide to eating food when it is at its flavor peak.

Foods at their flavor peak…

…in the spring: Asparagus, cherries, fava beans, King salmon, lamb, maple syrup, new potatoes, peas, radishes, rhubarb, soft shell crab, spinach and young lettuces. The spring is also a good time to forage for dandelion greens and fiddleheads.

…in the summer: Beans, blueberries, corn, eggplant, leeks, peaches, plums, romaine and head lettuce, sockeye salmon, strawberries, sweet and hot peppers, tomatoes, watermelons and zucchini.

…in the fall: Apples, beets, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, cranberries, duck, fennel, garlic, grapes, leeks, mushrooms, pears, potatoes, pumpkin, squash, and sweet potatoes.

…in the winter: Bacon and cured meats, beets, carrots, cheese, citrus, dried beans, endive, parsnips, shellfish, and venison.

As you can tell, eating seasonally and consequently locally is the hardest in the winter months. The reality is that there is no local produce being grown in the winter, so how is one to eat fruit for example in the winter? I do three things. I eat apples and pears from California, local fruit that has been frozen, preserved, or dried and citrus fruits. Counter intuitively winter is the best time of the year to eat citrus fruits. I figure if you want to eat something that can’t be grown locally you should still eat it when it is at its flavor peak.

We have to get out of the habit of eating anything we want at anytime of the year. Nature simply doesn’t work that way. It’s not good for our health and it’s not good for the environment.  If not for anything else, it’s worth the work simply because food tastes best in season. You’ll be a better chef and have to work half as hard.

   

Bon appetit!