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Seasonality Resource

Lou_34544

Hey all,

In today's global world, nearly every ingredient is available year round. I want to cook more seasonally and honestly, and was wondering if anyone had a resource for a "Seasonality Bible."

Is there a book or resource that exists, separating by category, seasonality of ingredients?

For example, in spring, lettuces, vegetables, fruits, herbs, spices, nuts, and flowers all at their peak seasonality?

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Comments

Brandon_Byrd_40557

I can't say that I've read any of them, but if you search on Amazon for "seasonal cooking," there are a boatload of books out there on the topic.
I will add that if you're planning on making this sort of switch in your purchasing and cooking habits, you'll probably want to get into canning, pickling, and fermentation. Eating seasonally isn't just about cooking what's fresh right now, but also taking what's most ripe and abundant and preserving it for later use. There are few things more satisfying than opening a mason jar of your farmer's best August tomatoes in the middle of winter.

AngelArs_240456

Fermentation also has extensive health benefits.

tshewman

Lou, where are you located? Close by farmers and purveyors would be your best resource. That is if what you want is both seasonal and seasonal for your area(?). Another consideration is working with the purveyors to see what they have, then get out your ruler and follow the latitude across to other countries, then go to the stores that specialize in that area (asian, spanish etc) and it is likely they will have versions of that same "in season" produce for that country/area. Just food for thought.

artstype

I agree, freezing, canning, pickling, etc all excellent. I just got through making a bunch of ramp pesto, as these babies only are around for a few weeks in spring. Froze them in ice cube trays then popped them into freezer bags. I take one out to thaw, add some fine EVO and gently warm as a sauce. I do this with tomatoes in the summer, too. Many places now have the possibility of getting a box a week year round from local farmers. In winter, it forces you to be very resourceful with your skills!

Afonso_Tito_de_Morais_164825

I've been searching for something like that for a while too! Everything I find is really limited..

Shivam_Daryanani_92859

I like this book a lot, and it has things broken down by season.

https://www.amazon.com/Flavor-Bible-Essential-Creativity-Imaginative-ebook/dp/B001FA0P86?ie=UTF8&btkr=1&ref_=dp-kindle-redirect

Francois_346702

Hi Lou,

There is a very very classic French book that has some tables to cook seasonnaly, as well as tons of receipes.

http://www.amazon.com/Know-How-Cook-Ginette-Mathiot/dp/071485736X

Cheers,

Lou_34544

Thanks, all. I'm looking for a resource that has some lesser known ingredients that pop up seasonally as well. For example, I had the opportunity to use goose tongue in a dish recently. I don't know if that's in the flavor bible or any other book, but it's some new local and overlooked ingredients I want to start using in my cooking. For uncommon and lesser used ingredients with specific flavor profiles, I may need to get a book on foraging with those details, if it even exists. (if anyone has a book for seasonal foraging, please recommend.)

I'm in an interesting situation, as I live and own a restaurant in Brooklyn NY. So I'm always strapped for time and the concept is different than a number of dishes presented on this site and forum. I can only do so much experimentation given how busy I am. But in the future I would like to do a project with lesser known ingredients, foraged ingredients, locally grown herbs, and even flowers for floral arrangements and some that are possibly edible (IE, chamomille I could dehydrate for tea.) All seasonal and regional.

Beyond that, I don't know if there's a resource that has what I'm looking for. It may take some of my own free time to compile an encyclopedia for myself on seasonal and regional ingredients and mesh it with foraged ingredients from my region.