Seasonal Eating: A Smart Choice for Flavour and Budget
Eating seasonally has always been about taste, but with rising fuel costs, it’s also a practical way to manage your grocery budget. Eden Fanelli, a fourth-generation farmer from Fanelli Organics and a vendor at Carriageworks Farmers Market in Sydney, emphasizes the importance of flexibility when it comes to seasonal produce.
The increase in diesel prices is having a significant impact on supermarkets, which often rely on bulk produce that’s transported over long distances from inland or interstate growers. In contrast, locally grown fruits and vegetables sold at farmers’ markets travel shorter distances and can offer better value. “The produce may not look as pretty, but it will be some of the freshest and best-tasting fruit and veg you’ll ever eat,” Fanelli says.
Best Buys This Season
Pumpkins
Pumpkins are at their peak and ready to be transformed into a variety of dishes, including soup. The hardy, tan-hued butternut offers some of the best value right now, with Kent and butternut varieties priced around $2 per kilo. More interesting options like honeynut, delicata, and kabocha can be found at specialty grocers.
Pumpkins are an easy base for weeknight cooking – think curries or risottos. Kim Driver, owner of Southside Fruit & Veg at Prahran Market in Victoria, recommends buying whole pumpkins instead of prepped ones, which tend to be more expensive. “Buy it whole, and split it with a neighbour or family member, whether it’s a whole pumpkin, cabbage or watermelon.”
Jessica Brook’s one-tray butternut pumpkin curry recipe is a great option for a quick and tasty meal.
Apples and Pears
Autumn is prime time for pome fruit, including apples, pears, nashi, and quince. Pear availability is shifting from josephines to beurre bosc, corella, and packhams, while royal gala is the top choice for apples this season. Julian Parisi, managing director of Sydney-based produce wholesaler Parisi, notes that pink ladies are likely last year’s stock. “Whether a piece of fruit is from this year or last can be difficult to tell just by looking at it. You have to know the seasons.”
Grapes
If you’re looking for a sweet snack, consider buying grapes instead of blueberries. Julian Parisi recommends autumn crisp for green grapes and crimson seedless for red. There’s at least another six weeks of Australian fruit ahead. Black sapphire grapes, which are long, purple, and sweet, are currently around $8 per kilo and worth seeking out. Kim Driver suggests tasting one before purchasing. “Fruiterers don’t mind. You can also judge by fragrance – if it smells good, then it’s going to taste good.”
Adam Liaw’s hung yoghurt with cucumber and green grapes is a refreshing option.
Citrus
Lemons have been expensive lately, but prices are expected to drop in the coming weeks, with a dramatic fall by mid-June. Early fruit may be firm or pale, but they’re still good to eat, according to Fanelli. “They might look a little green, but let them soften and they’ll be nice and juicy and will still have that bright lemon flavour.”
Don’t be tricked by wrinkled fruit. “Anything that’s really yellow right now is old stock, and it’s likely to be dry on the inside.” Australian imperial mandarins are just arriving, and the Japanese citrus yuzu is expected to be more widely available this year. “There are a couple of very big growers that planted around five years ago and we’re only just now starting to see that fruit come in now,” Parisi says.
Figs
Black genoa figs are surprisingly affordable, with punnets of six or seven costing around $6. Peter Broomhall, a fig farmer from Fig-Tastic Fruit Farm in Amiens, Queensland, notes that every fig-producing region in Australia is overlapping right now, resulting in lots of high-quality fruit. However, this won’t last. “By the end of this month, production will start to drop off.” Keep an eye out for trays of split figs at farmers’ markets, often sold at a discount.
Radicchio
Leafy greens such as rocket, baby spinach, and kale are available year-round, but they come into their own in the cooler months. According to Kim Driver, radicchio is the pick of the salad patch this season. “This year, a lot more people are growing it, so it’s more available and more affordable.”
Varieties include the slender Treviso, which is hardier and best grilled, roasted, or charred to soften its bitterness; the white speckled castelfranco, which is mild, tender, and well-suited to salads; and the crimson radicchio di chioggia, which sits somewhere between the two. English spinach and other leafy greens are ideal for dishes like Adam Liaw’s spanakopita.
Danielle Alvarez’s pumpkin and radicchio salad is a delicious and nutritious choice.
