In season in February

Guava

Eaten with salt and chilli in India and Mexico, and cooked into paste and hot punch in Latin America.

Goes into: Galette

Tamarind

The sour pod behind sambar, rasam, pad thai, chutneys and the aguas frescas of Mexico.

Goes into: Zoomkoom, Bhel puri, Panipuri, Pad thai

Orange

The winter fruit of the Mediterranean, Florida and Nagpur, for juice, marmalade and salads.

Goes into: Mulled wine, Negroni, Rooh Afza, Calisson

Blood orange

Grown on the slopes of Etna in Sicily. Eaten in salads with fennel and pressed for juice.

Mandarin and clementine

The easy-peel citrus of winter, given at Chinese New Year and tucked into Christmas stockings.

Mustard greens

The winter green of Punjab, cooked slowly into sarson ka saag and eaten with maize flatbread.

Goes into: Caldo verde, Saag

Drumstick (moringa)

Long green pods cooked in sambar and avial in south India. The leaves go into soups in the Philippines.

Cassava

A staple root of Africa and South America, made into gari, fufu, farofa, tapioca and cassava bread.

Goes into: Bubble tea, Carimañola, Papadam, Fufu

Plantain

Harvested all year in the tropics. Fried green as tostones, ripe as dodo and maduros, or boiled and pounded.

Goes into: Pastelón, Fufu, Bhaji, Bandeja paisa

Daikon and winter radish

Simmered in oden in Japan, salted into kimchi in Korea, and stuffed into mooli paratha in north India.

Goes into: Kimchi, Sashimi, Miso soup, Naengmyeon

Cabbage

The keeping vegetable of winter, for sauerkraut, stuffed cabbage rolls, colcannon and coleslaw.

Goes into: Borscht, Shawarma, Sauerkraut, Smörgåsbord

Kale

Sweeter after frost. Shredded into caldo verde in Portugal and cooked with sausage in north Germany.

Goes into: Colcannon, Ribollita, Caldo verde, Stamppot

Leek

The emblem of Wales, in cawl and cock-a-leekie. In France it goes into vichyssoise and vinaigrette.

Goes into: Tofu skin roll, Ukha, Ghormeh sabzi, Pot-au-feu

Cauliflower

A winter vegetable in north India, for aloo gobi and stuffed paratha. Baked with cheese in Britain.

Goes into: Pakora, Khichdi, Maqluba, Aloo gobi

Carrot

The red carrots of the north Indian winter are grated and cooked in milk for gajar ka halwa.

Goes into: Borscht, Pilaf, Goulash, Olivier salad

Fennel

A winter bulb in Italy, sliced raw with orange in Sicily or braised and baked with cheese.

Goes into: Akvavit, Ouzo, Merguez, Porchetta

Green chickpeas

Fresh hara chana, a late winter treat in north India, roasted in the pod or cooked into curry.

Purple yam

Ube in the Philippines, for halaya and ice cream. In Gujarat it goes into the winter pot of undhiyu.

Goes into: Ube halaya

Date palm jaggery

Nolen gur, tapped from date palms in the Bengal winter, for sandesh, payesh and rice cakes.

Sugarcane

Cut in the cool season, pressed for juice, boiled into jaggery, and chewed at Pongal and Chhath.

Goes into: Grogue, Sugarcane juice, Arrack, Aguardiente

Truffle

White truffles from Alba in autumn, black from Périgord in winter, shaved over eggs, pasta and risotto.

Fenugreek leaves

Fresh methi, a winter green in India, kneaded into thepla and paratha and cooked with potatoes.

Oysters

Native oysters are eaten in the months with an R. Opened by the dozen in France at Christmas.

Goes into: Po' boy, Oyster omelette

Mussels

Best in the cold months. Steamed with wine and served with chips in Belgium and northern France.

Goes into: Moules-frites, Clambake

Cod (skrei)

Arctic cod reach the Lofoten islands to spawn in winter. Much of the catch is dried as stockfish.

Goes into: Dried and salted cod, Afang soup, Bacalhau, Baccalà mantecato

Pomfret

The prized fish of Mumbai and the Konkan coast after the monsoon, fried whole or cooked in curry.