Globalisation, spread of glasshouses and use of chemicals such as fertilizers and pesticides make us forget that each fruit and each vegetable is harvested at a specific time of the year, which can last from a few weeks to several months. It is conceivable to find a few vegetables during most of the year, especially some bulb vegetables (garlic, onion, …), root vegetables (potato, carrot, turnip, …), leafy vegetables (leek, cabbage, …) or dry legumes (bean, broad bean, lentil, …), as it can be stored for quite a long time under the right conditions. On the other hand, fruits, wether eaten as vegetables (zucchini, eggplant, pepper, tomato, …) or as fruits (strawberry, peach, apple, grape, …), cannot be kept fresh for long periods and generally have to be cooked and eaten less than one week after being harvested.

Cooking myself and loving it, I try to be as careful as possible to the origin of my ingredients. That is why I choose to by most of my fruits, vegetables and herbs at the market. In addition to prices that are not that much higher to those of supermarkets, it allow you to get fresh product of often better quality, directly from the producer. It also allows to see the progression of the stands, and simply to be able to discuss about the products with passionate people, discover new varieties or new ways to cook some vegetables.

It is with this in mind that I today start a new series of monthly articles about seasonal fruits, vegetables and herbs. More than just listing them, I’ll also offer a few suggestions of dishes to cook with some of those ingredients, in order to kickstart your cooking. More than just linking my recipes to those articles, I’ll also give you some brand new ideas, which might end up in the future as a fully fledged recipe.

Also published on Medium.

This post is also available in: French