North of the equator
In season in March
What is at its best this month, and the dishes built on it. Seasons shift with latitude and weather, so take this as a guide, not a rule.
Raw mango
Sour green mango, picked before the ripe crop, for pickles, chutney, dal and the cooling drink aam panna.
Rhubarb
Sour pink stalks, the first crop of the northern spring, for crumbles, pies, fools and compote.
Goes into: Toso
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.
Pineapple
Eaten fresh across the tropics, grilled in Brazil, and baked into the tarts of Malaysia and Singapore.
Goes into: Rooh Afza, Al pastor, Canh chua, Chicha morada
Avocado
Native to Mexico, mashed into guacamole, sliced onto tortas, and blended into shakes in Indonesia.
Goes into: Guacamole, California roll, Pozole, Chilaquiles
Artichoke
Fried whole in Rome, braised in Provence and Turkey, or boiled and eaten leaf by leaf.
Goes into: Salade niçoise
Wild garlic
Foraged in European woods in spring, for soup, pesto and dumplings. Its North American cousin is the ramp.
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
Bamboo shoot
A spring delicacy in Japan and China, cooked with rice. Fermented in north-east India.
Goes into: Ramen, Tofu skin roll, Lumpia, Buddha's delight
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
Green chickpeas
Fresh hara chana, a late winter treat in north India, roasted in the pod or cooked into curry.
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
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
Photos from Wikimedia Commons under free licences; credits on the sources page.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Raw Mango: Saileshpat, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tamarind: B.navez, CC BY 2.5, source
- Rhubarb: Dieter Weber ( User:Uellue ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Orange: Ivar Leidus, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Blood Orange: Eric Hill, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Pineapple: Markus Leupold-Löwenthal, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Avocado: B.navez, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Artichoke: Keagiles, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wild Garlic: Agnes Monkelbaan, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Drumstick: Venkatx5, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cassava: David Monniaux, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Plantain: Daegis, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bamboo Shoot: Haragayato, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Leek: WikiLucas00, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fennel: Elekes Andor, CC BY 4.0, source
- Green Chickpea: Sanjay Acharya, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Sugarcane: ruurmo, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Oyster: User:Anthere, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mussel: Wilson44691 at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Cod: Matthieu Godbout, CC BY-SA 3.0, source