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A year in a French market: What’s in season?
By Ann | April 6, 2009
At a recent dinner party, somewhere between the cheese course and dessert, that age old question arose again.
Are there no seasons for fruits and vegetables anymore?
“When I was young, we didn’t have any green salad during the winter,” said the woman across from me, poking her fork disapprovingly at a leaf of mâche. “Only endive. For the whole winter.”
Granted, she was d’un certain âge, but even so, her youth was probably only 40 years ago. (Side note: if I’ve misjudged her age, I really hope she isn’t reading this right now.)
The rest of the table erupted into a diatribe against raspberries in January and artichokes in November. I kept quiet for fear of revealing my dirty secret: I really have no idea when different fruits and vegetables should appear.
Happily, it appears others share my cluelessness. Why else would Le Parisien print an article dedicated to fresh produce and its seasons? Thanks to their informative article, here’s a breakdown of what to look for:
April
New in season: rhubarb, blackberries, asparagus, chard, spinach, radishes, lettuces
Still in season: oranges, beets, carrots, celery, cabbage, endive, potatoes
May
New in season: strawberries, eggplants, cucumbers, turnips, cauliflower
Still in season: rhubarb, blackberries, asparagus, beets, carrots, celery, cabbage, spinach, radishes, potatoes, lettuce
June
New in season: apricots, cherries, currants, raspberries, melons, apples, tomatoes, courgettes, fennel, beans leeks, peas, peppers
Still in season: rhubarb, blackberries, asparagus, beets, carrots, celery, cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, lettuce, turnips, onions, potatoes, radishes
And the rest of the year…
Summer
Continue to enjoy strawberries, the last cherries and apricots. It’s also still the high season for nectarines, peaches, plums, and pears. Grapes arrive. Courgettes, tomatoes, melons, beans, peppers, broccoli, and all lettuces.
Fall
Enjoy grapes until October. Also, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Most of the summer vegetables can be found until October.
Winter
Apples and pears are everywhere. Oranges and clementines arrive in November. We can cook cabbages, carrots, potatoes and leeks. Don’t forget endive.
Topics: A year in a French market: Spring |
7 Responses to “A year in a French market: What’s in season?”
Comments
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April 6th, 2009 at 7:10 am
Le Parisien is a great paper — you can link to it at www.leparisien.fr. No English version, sad for us, but lots of great coverage of local Paris news!
April 6th, 2009 at 11:35 am
I’ve been one of those clueless readers myself, until my daughter planted a garden and decided to inform me. One day she asked me what I was doing eating cantalope (apparently out of its season) and I said “well, I had to pay a bit more for it, but I found it at the market”. That answer didn’t go over to well, so now I’m contemplating signing up for the local organic farmer’s market co-op and only eating organically locally grown fruits and vegetables. L.O.L.
April 7th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Ann,
Can I burden you to provide a link to the Le Parisien article? I looked around on the site for a while but the mysteries of the French journalistic categorizing rubrics eludes me (is gardening a loisir? or part of pres de chez vous? can’t figure it out …). I am a teacher geek, and I immediately thought this reading would make a rocking information gap activity for in-class reading.
April 8th, 2009 at 1:27 am
Here’s the link to the article:
http://www.leparisien.fr/abo-vivremieux/et-si-l-on-ne-mangeait-que-des-fruits-et-legumes-de-saison-04-04-2009-466499.php
But the super-helpful chart has been reduced to a microscopic size in the upper left corner.
April 8th, 2009 at 10:00 am
Thanks! Of course it was the chart that would make a kick-ass info gap but i like the article too.
April 11th, 2009 at 8:40 am
Another useful resource for figuring out what is seasonal is the “Marché du Quinzaine” section in the front of Vie Pratique Gourmand. I rarely buy the magazine, but I often glance at that section while I’m waiting in line at the supermarket. Right now, the asparagus and peas are fantastic, by the way.
April 12th, 2009 at 9:53 am
Thanks for the tip on la Vie Pratique Gourmande. I’ll have to check that out next time I’m at the newstand. Yum, the asparagus is wonderful right now. And the strawberries! The locavore in me felt guilty about buying them because they came from Spain. But they’re so sweet and delicate — like spring sunshine!