Cooking Seasonally – How to Cook by the Season

In spring, we harvest hearty wild garlic and delicious asparagus, in summer the berries ripen on the bushes and yellow corn grows in the fields, in fall we pick crisp apples from the trees and enjoy delicious pumpkin, and in winter there's fresh, crunchy kale. That's what regional and seasonal cooking is all about: cooking with fruits and vegetables that are native to your area and ready for harvest. Discover {nrEvents} cooking classes in Germany and Austria.

Here you'll learn which fruits and vegetables are in season during which time of year, how to shop seasonally, and the benefits that seasonal cooking brings. You'll also find a delicious seasonal recipe in this article.

What Does Cooking Seasonally Mean?

Cooking seasonally means choosing foods that are currently in season, meaning ripe and available during the current time of year, in your own country. In other words, we use what nature currently has to offer.

Seasonal Calendar – What Foods Are Best for Which Season?

Below you'll find some examples of which seasonal vegetables and fruits are available in spring, summer, fall, and winter.

A seasonal calendar shows you when fruit, mushrooms, vegetables, potatoes, and corn are in season locally. For each food, it shows which months it's typically ripe and available freshly harvested. Some seasonal calendars also include information about which seasonal foods are currently available from storage, and which foods in stores are imported from other countries.

What Are the Benefits of Seasonal Cooking?

Seasonal cooking offers several advantages:

• Seasonal fruits and vegetables are usually cheaper: Prices naturally adjust based on the high supply available during the season. For example, strawberries as a seasonal fruit are more affordable in July than for a New Year's Eve dinner.
• Sustainability: When fruits and vegetables are purchased out of season, they often have to be kept in heated greenhouses or cold storage, and are sometimes flown in from other countries. Seasonal fruits and vegetables are therefore significantly more sustainable, conserving resources and avoiding long transport routes.
• Joy and gratitude: Enjoyment brings us positive feelings. The fact that seasonal foods are only available for a limited time gives us the joy of being able to enjoy that food right now, and gratitude for it.
• Connection to nature: Seasonal cooking strengthens the connection between nature and our food.
• Ripe seasonal fruits and vegetables: Industrial fruit and vegetable farming mainly aims for fast growth, which often results in a watered-down flavor. Exotic fruits in particular are sometimes harvested unripe so they can survive long transport. But they can't ripen afterward in a way that fully develops their flavor. That's why a freshly harvested papaya in Bali is a delight, while one bought in Germany can be a letdown.
• Seasonal fruits and vegetables are healthier: Long transport times cause foods to lose vitamins and nutrients. That's another reason our bodies benefit from regional, seasonal cooking.
• Variety on your plate: Exotic fruits might seem more exciting than an apple, but our local, seasonal selection of fruits and vegetables is more than enough to meet our nutritional needs. It's best to eat a varied diet. Most fruits and vegetables can also be preserved by freezing or canning, so you can enjoy them outside their season too.

Tips for Seasonal Cooking – How to Shop Seasonally

• Use a seasonal calendar for your shopping list: Hang a seasonal calendar in your kitchen or pantry. A seasonal calendar app is another option. This way, you'll always know what fruits and vegetables are in season.
• Plan recipes seasonally: If you plan your weekly recipes seasonally, you'll naturally reach for seasonal ingredients while shopping. It also reduces stress, since you won't be figuring out recipes on the fly at the store.
• Spring, summer, fall, and winter – let the season inspire you: Shopping itself can be inspiring. Some seasonal products are displayed more prominently in supermarkets and promoted alongside complementary ingredients, like asparagus greeting you near the entrance next to hollandaise sauce and white wine.
• It's worth checking where your food comes from: Even in season, fruits and vegetables can still be imported from far away, either because local supply is too limited or because it's cheaper to distribute that way.
• At the farmers market too, check the origin: Larger vendors often sell both locally harvested produce and non-seasonal, imported wholesale goods. Other, usually smaller and regional vendors offer seasonal produce straight from their own farm. It's worth asking!

What Does Regional and Seasonal Cooking Mean?

Regionality means selecting foods based on where they come from. The goal of regional cooking is to keep transport routes short, protecting both the food and the environment. Shopping regionally also strengthens the local economy.

Good to know: "Regional" isn't a legally protected term, so it can be interpreted in very different ways. If you buy "regional" white cabbage in a city, for example, it could come from a farm 12 miles away in the surrounding area, or from a farm 100 miles away in a neighboring region. That's why it's often worth taking a closer look: sometimes the producer is clearly listed on the packaging, sometimes you can figure it out from a printed address. In general, you can also always ask a vendor you trust.

Definitions aside, seasonal only really works when it's also regional, since it's about fruits and vegetables grown in your own country. The closer, the better, for you and for the environment.

People living in cities who want to cook regionally and seasonally often have to search a bit longer for the right ingredients.

Here are a few tips for finding seasonal and regional foods:

• Try visiting a farmers market. Cities in particular often have large markets with a rich selection of seasonal and regional fruits and vegetables. You'll sometimes find affordable organic products here too.
• Another option is vending machines, where you can find things like potatoes and, depending on the season, zucchini, pumpkin, spinach, and more.
• Some farms also sell their products through their own farm store. These are usually found in more rural areas, but some farms offer a delivery service for fruit and vegetable boxes. Depending on the provider and your personal preferences, these boxes come filled with regional, seasonal fruits and vegetables.

A Quick and Easy Seasonal Recipe for Fall

Yellow Pumpkin Curry

Ingredients:

• 800 g butternut squash
• 1 leek
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 2-3 tsp yellow curry paste
• 150 g frozen peas
• 200 ml coconut milk
• 200 ml water
• 250 g basmati rice
• 1-2 tbsp soy sauce
• 40 g toasted pumpkin seeds

Instructions:

1. Peel and seed the butternut squash, then cut it into cubes. Slice the leek into rings, wash, and drain.
2. Heat the canola oil in a pot and sauté 2 tsp of yellow curry paste and the leek in it. Add the squash and peas, then deglaze with the coconut milk and water. Let it simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the rice according to the package instructions.
3. Season the curry with 1-2 tsp soy sauce and more curry paste to taste, then bring it back to a boil.
4. Serve the curry over the rice and sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds.

Tips:

• The seeds from the squash can be removed from the flesh, dried, and toasted for your next seasonal recipe.
• For a one-pot seasonal meal, you can also cook the rice directly in the curry using an extra 250 ml of water.

Want to learn what it really means to enjoy cooking and food to the fullest? Then a cooking class is exactly right for you. Set off on a culinary journey with all your senses.