Market Day #1: Winter Seasonal Eating

The 1st of June marks the Australian calendar’s official start of winter, so this post is dedicated to seasonal produce, with a list below of what’s in season now.

Eating in-season ensures we consume vegetables and fruits at their peak, when their nutritional stores are at their richest. Winter especially is the time to focus on ‘the foods of storage’ – the roots, nuts, grains and seeds, where plants store their densest nutrients. Winter-greens are also vital for providing nourishment and invigoration.

Cooking methods such as: baking, steaming, simmering and stewing are winter specialties, using warming spices such as: cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger.

I can feel an Apple Pie coming on…! (will blog that tomorrow.)

This week, I tried to do a “Rick Lee” with my grocery shopping… I’ve a long way to go before I reach his level of mastery, but I'm planning to practice and practice each time I go shopping and hopefully time will bring improvement. You can see my efforts below. I had a bit of hassle at a couple of supermarkets, where they won’t allow photography of the produce – heaven’s WHATEVER might I do with my humble pictures of vegetables – industrial espionage??? But the lovely people at Hong Phuoc Vietnamese Grocery on Illawarra Rd in Marrickville were very happy for me to immortalise their beautiful, fresh vegetables. So I know where I will be doing most of my shopping in my future lunch-time forays… (get the hint, mean multinationals…?!)

Think Globally, Act Locally!!

SEASONAL PRODUCE for JUNE – EARLY WINTER:
(Sourced from Campion and Curtis,
Melbourne Food and Wine Specialists)

June - Early Winter Vegetables
Asian greens (bok-choi, choi-sum, gai-lan, wong-bok)
brassicas (broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, turnip), avocados, beetroot, carrots, celeriac, celery, fennel, garlic, ginger, horseradish, jerusalem artichokes, leeks, okra, olives, onions, parsnip, peas, potato, pumpkin, rhubarb, shallot, silverbeet, spinach, swede, sweet potato, witlof.

June - Early Winter Fruit.
apples (Bonza, Braeburn, Cox's Orange Pippins, Fuji, Gala, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Jonagold, Jonathan, Lady Williams, Mutso, Pink Lady, Red Delicious, Snow, Sundowner) Citrus (grapefruit, lemons, limes, mandarins, Navel oranges), custard apple, champagne-melon, kiwifruit, nuts (chestnut - hazelnut – walnut), pears (Beurre Bosc - Josephine – Nashi - Packham), persimmon, pomelo, quince.















Grapefruit #1.















Grapefruit #2.















A Pear that sat too long in the sun?













Sweet sweet-potatoes.















Garlic Stalks.






















Asian Greens: Kang Kung - tasty stirfried in salty-bean-curd sauce.

















Lemongrass stalks.



















The back-end of some beautiful Bok Choi.

Thank you again to the beautiful people at Hong Phuoc Grocery on Illawarra Rd in Marrickville for letting me photograph in your shop - your kindness and patience is always much appreciated.

Yum-oh!

Subscribe to Yum-oh! by email