The clocks have gone back, the evenings are getting longer and celery and cabbage are back in the shops. Moving from central England, with large supermarkets nearby, I was surprised when I moved to rural southern Italy 12 years ago at just how local and seasonal the produce was in the shops. Back then foods like bananas, raspberries and avocados were hard to find and fresh fruit and veg followed a strictly regional and seasonal timetable. Woe betide anyone hoping to find mandarins in August or French beans at Christmas.
This is a fruit growing area and I soon began to appreciate looking forward to the first, very local, strawberries in March, followed by asparagus from Puglia in April. We gorged on them while they were available, trying every possible recipe to ring the changes, knowing that when they were gone that was it for the year, we wouldn’t see them again. May brought apricots, followed by peaches and nectarines and I luxuriated in the abundance of really fresh, truly ripe stone fruits, so unlike the often rock hard supermarket purchases I had made in the UK. The winter brought oranges, mandarins and clementines and I was amazed at how very orangey a fresh picked orange tasted.
Over the years a wider range of international produce has appeared and climate change has seen the introduction of new fruits and vegetables. Avocados are now grown in Sicily and Calabria and a local farmer has experimented with growing raspberries as a winter crop. The first time I saw some in the greengrocers I squeaked in delight, surprised at the reasonable price. The grocer explained that she was having trouble selling them as they were unfamiliar to locals and people didn’t like them, this area not being known for people’s willingness to try produce from elsewhere, firmly believing that traditional local products are infinitely superior to the cuisine of anywhere else.
I’ve settled into appreciating the seasonality of produce now and even started to avoid anything imported however much I miss the taste. There are some things I still pine for though. I really miss parsnips in winter stews and with Christmas dinner. When I talked about this to local friends they can’t understand why I could possibly want to eat something they consider only suitable as cattle feed. So, if there is anyone out there, passing by, who could drop off some parsnips?