Wednesday, February 01, 2006

SEASONAL FOOD - summer

VEGETABLES

BEST QUALITY: artichoke; beets; broad beans; carrots; corn; cress; cucumber; French beans; green beans; runner beans; lettuce; peas; peppers; radish; salad greens; tomatoes.

AVAILABLE: asparagus; avocado; broccoli; cabbage; cauliflower; celery; fennel; kohlrabi; mushroom; onions; turnip; zucchini.

FRUIT

BEST QUALITY: apricots and strawberries during the first half; all berries and soft fruits, bilberries, blackcurrants, blueberries, gooseberries, loganberries, raspberries, redcurrants, white currants; cherries; peaches; plums; melons; nectarines; watermelon; later, grapes, almonds and hazelnuts.

AVAILABLE: bananas; figs; grapefruit; mangoes; pineapple; there are also walnuts and Brazil nuts.

MEAT

Better to choose lamb or filet steaks. There is also mutton; veal, beef; pork.

POULTRY

AVAILABLE: chicken, duck, goose, guinea fowl, and turkey. BEST QUALITY: duck, which is at its best from the second half of the summer.

GAME

AVAILABLE: pigeon, quail, and rabbit. BEST QUALITY: venison.

FISH

BEST QUALITY: Freshwater bass, hake, sole, and turbot, as white fish; carp, herring, grey mullet, red mullet, perch, pike, salmon, sardine, brown trout, sea trout or salmon, albacore or yellowtail tune, and whitebait, as oily fish; mackerel from the second half.

AVAILABLE: cod, dogfish, flounder, haddock, mock halibut, plaice, whiting; mackerel, pilchard, rainbow trout.

SEAFOOD

BEST QUALITY: crab, lobster, scallops, whelks, winkles. AVAILABLE : clams, cockles, prawn, shrimp.

Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Asafoetida

Indian Greens

2 1/2 lb Swiss chard leaves, washed and coarsely chopped. The white stems are optional, if used wash and cut not too big.
1/2 tsp asafetida
1/3 cup olive oil
red chilli and salt to taste
  1. Heat the oil in a pan, just medium heat. Add the chilli and asafetida. Cook for a minute.
  2. If using the stems, add them now to the pan and cook for two or three minutes.
  3. Add the leaves and about 1/2 cup of water. Stir. Cover and let it cook for ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Cook for another five minutes without the lid to let the water evaporate.
  4. Add salt and serve warm.

NOTE - Use ghee or neutral oil for a more authentic Indian flavor. The hot peppers are optional. If using Indian chillies, use 2 or 3, or to taste. The Spanish chillies I keep in my pantry are so hot that a little strip does the trick.

If you are cannot find asafetida, substitute it for two cloves of garlic, peeled and slivered.

Monday, January 30, 2006

SEASONAL EATING- SPRING

Spring is a season of abundance. It is easy to stay focused on fresh options. There is great selection of fresh meat. Vegetables are at their most tender during this season. Many juicy fruits ripen towards the end of the spring.

VEGETABLES

BEST QUALITY: asparagus; artichokes; broad beans; beets; broccoli; cabbage; carrots; cauliflower; chard; kale; leeks; lettuce; mustard and cress; new potatoes; peas; radish; salad greens; spinach; rhubarb; tomato; turnip; watercress. AVAILABLE: avocado; eggplant; French beans; chicory; fennel; mushroom; okra; onions; salsify; zucchini.

FRUIT

BEST QUALITY: pineapple, gooseberries; strawberries, and raspberries. AVAILABLE: apples; bananas; pears; coconuts; lemons; lime; mangoes; medlar; oranges; pawpaw.

MEAT

BEST QUALITY: lamb, choose light cuts; mutton. AVAILABLE: veal and beef; pork.

POULTRY

Chicken and turkey are always available, try white meats such as chicken and turkey breasts; small birds such as Cornish hens, squab. Guinea fowl is still of best quality at the beginning of the season.

GAME

There are doves or pigeons; quail; some kinds of wild duck; rabbit.

FISH

BEST QUALITY: king salmon; northern halibut; sea bass; sole; sardines; brown trout, sea trout or salmon, whitebait. AVAILABLE: mock halibut; pilchard; rainbow trout; sea bream; whiting.

SEAFOOD

BEST QUALITY: scallops; crab; mussels and clams; soft-shelled crabs. AVAILABLE: clams; prawn; shrimp; whelks. At the beginning of the season, there are mussels and oysters

Sunday, January 29, 2006

SEASONAL EATING

Daily menus and recipes most suited to every season: light cooking, usually grilling, baking or steaming, in the warmer season; rich sauces, baking or stewing, when it is cold.

There is a list of seasonal food. Best quality indicates the products that are being harvested. Food marked as available is good quality food that can be found all year round, or those products probably not local, but in their harvest season. It is a rough guide, as harvest season may vary due to weather conditions, and the fact that different varieties have a different harvest time has been ignored.

Although most produce can be found all year round in the market, probably through storage or hot house porduction, choosing seasonal products means enjoying the ripest and freshest food at the height of its flavor and nutritional value.