Seasonal cooking & eating

The easiest way to make effortlessly great food is by purchasing the best quality ingredients you can. This does not mean shelling out ridiculous amounts for a punnet of berries, it means buying what is in season. 

Most of us walk into a supermarket and the same produce is there for us to buy, no matter the time of year. Understanding what produce is in season is the biggest game changer you can bring into your cooking: we all want our food to pop and zing, but a winter tomato, for example, will bring little to no flavour. 

Buying in season produce, not only fruit and veg but meats and fish, certifies that it’ll be of the highest quality.  The flavour and texture will be at its optimum, and visually, it will most likely look more appealing. Granted, you might think winter has little fruit and veg to offer, but eating seasonally can broaden your palate, you get to know an array of new produce and figure out what you like, as well as support your local/regional farmers. Another plus is that the ingredients most likely are regional or local, that means less co2 being let out into the air because it doesn’t need to fly in from the other side of the world.  Subtracting transport costs is a blessing for your bank account too!

My favourite winter ingredient to use is pumpkin because of its versatility.  There are so many varieties available, and each differ in texture and flavour.  Whether you use it to make desserts or in a savoury dish, there is a pumpkin variety for you.