Hello Food Adventurers!
Just like that, we are moving on from summer and into autumn. It is March already?! Sometimes I feel like time just gets away from me. It’s safe to say that we are well into 2020 now (and under the official launch of The Culinary Letter, hooray!)
As with the changing seasons comes a change in local produce and I have to say that autumn may just be my favourite. After the highlights of summer, when all the berries begin to dwindle and it slowly begins to drop in temperature from blazing hot to mildly warm, we have autumn to look forward to. Plus all the fruits it brings (quite literally). We’re lucky enough to welcome in figs, feijoas and passionfruits*!
Buying local, seasonal produce such as these is better for the environment often tastes better and is more affordable (source). And who doesn’t love some money-saving?! Seasonal and local eating has all the best kinds of benefits!
Consequently, this made me wonder why I haven’t fully optimised the seasons to my advantage before.
Addressing the dilemma:
Short of remembering when particular fruits and vegetables are available, how does one keep track of it all? We already have countless things on our minds and other things to remember and this isn’t exactly one of them. It’s relatively easy enough to find seasonality charts if we decide to look for them, but surely there’s an easier way. Something that doesn’t require racking our brains or having to scroll through the internet.
So, to make better use of the season and indulge in fresh fruit and vegetables at their peak, I created an infographic. The best kind of visual representation. Because visuals reinforce words, and then I for one, am more likely to remember it all. Plus they look pretty and I’m not against that.
The following infographic of autumn seasonal produce highlights the main months and availabilities here in NZ, both fresh fruit and vegetable specific. It’s even in alphabetical order!
How to use this Infographic:
Save it, pin it, print it or even put it on your fridge to remind you of all the things you can enjoy this autumn. Keep it somewhere visible and safe and use it as a guide to doing your shopping, making conscious, informed decisions, smart purchases and making the most of the autumn months, as it only lasts so long.
Autumn Seasonal Produce: Fruit
As mentioned previously, an important highlight of autumn is welcoming in some new fruits as well as making the most of the NZ berries before they are non-existent. It’s also our last chance to make use of such abundance.
Without further ado, what you’ve all been waiting for is the infographic!
As you can see, there’s quite a range of fruits available during the next three months. Make the most of them!
3 Tips for making the most of fruit this autumn:
- Zest and squeeze the juice of fresh limes to store in airtight containers/ sealable bags in the freezer for later use. All you have to do then is defrost in the fridge overnight or in the microwave (Limes can get pretty expensive otherwise).
- Make a passionfruit syrup by combining fresh pulp with a simple sugar syrup (Recipe: A Side of Sweet). I prefer removing the seeds, but completely up to you. Then use your new passionfruit syrup for drizzling over ice cream, infusing it into cakes or even in salad dressings.
- Fresh figs don’t last long! Make sure to eat them on the day of purchase. Alternatively, if that’s not quite possible, cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days (Source: Te Mata Figs)
Recipe Ideas:
- Make one of these 3 passionfruit drink recipes celebrating Autumn (including a sparkling passionfruit green tea, passionfruit soda or a mango passionfruit fizz!)
- Make a feijoa cake like this one from Of Earth and Ink Photography
- Cheesecake! or even better yet honey and fig cheesecake bars from Honest Cooking
And that brings us to…
Autumn Seasonal Produce: Vegetables
We get a few new additions to the party this autumn season, including the Jerusalem artichoke, towards the end of the season. I have to say, I’m a big fan of Jerusalem artichokes. They were first introduced to me while I was at uni and have to say that they took me by surprise. Ever since then, I’ve been a fan. My only regret is that I haven’t had them sooner.
There are a few vegetables in there that are a little different this season such as the varieties of carrot, courgette flowers and celeriac. All the more reason to make the most of it!
3 Tips for making the most of vegetables this autumn:
- Make bottles of sweet chilli sauce with fresh chillis (Like this one from Dish)
- Cook up a batch of sweetcorn, cut off the kernels, cool and freeze in containers/ bags for your frozen veg!
Recipe Ideas:
- Put pumpkin in pasta such as this creamy orzo with roasted butternut
- Use purple carrots to make a fun-coloured carrot hummus
A note on reading this infographic:
*This information has complied with research gathered from several sources including:
If you would like to further your fruit and vegetable knowledge, check out their sites. There’s a lot of helpful content, other than just the seasons, such as how to best store produce, how to prepare it and even nutritional information. Bound to level up your fruit and vegetable game!
The information displayed on the above infographics includes fruits and vegetables at their peak point of seasonality in NZ, where resources are plentiful. Use this as a guide to doing your shopping and plan meals around this produce. There may be occasions where particular items may be purchased outside these ranges. However, the main purpose is to reflect the main months/ seasons fruit and vegetables have a plentiful supply, rather than imported or limited.
You may notice that items such as spinach and apples are not included as they are available year-round. And that will be summarised in another infographic coming your way!
Conclusion
Now that you’re all caught up on autumn seasonal produce, I hope you get to indulge in some fresh fruit and vegetables at their best!
Thank you for reading the very first post since the launch of The Culinary Letter. I hope you are inspired by these fun infographics. I’ll be releasing one with each of the seasons, so be on the lookout for the winter edition.
If you missed out on reading the All the Things Culinary series, start here.
In the meantime, I shall see you back here again next week, more exciting content awaits!
But, if you can’t wait that long, don’t forget to follow me for updates and behind-the-scenes content over on my Instagram page.
Like always, Stay Curious!
