North of the equator
In season in May
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.
Mango
The summer fruit of South Asia, eaten ripe, pulped into aamras and lassi, or set over sticky rice.
Goes into: Thingyan rice, Mango sticky rice, Poi
Raw mango
Sour green mango, picked before the ripe crop, for pickles, chutney, dal and the cooling drink aam panna.
Jackfruit
Cooked green as a curry in Kerala, Bengal and Sri Lanka, and eaten ripe and sweet in summer.
Goes into: Jolpan, Cendol, Kolak, Sayur lodeh
Lychee
A short, prized season in south China, Bihar and northern Vietnam. Mostly eaten fresh.
Durian
The king of fruits in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, eaten fresh or with sticky rice.
Goes into: Tempoyak
Mangosteen
Sold beside durian across Southeast Asia and eaten fresh, as its cooling partner.
Cherry
Eaten fresh, baked in clafoutis and pies, and cooked with rice in Iran. Sour cherries make soup in Hungary.
Goes into: Black Forest cake, Clafoutis, Risalamande
Apricot
Prized in Turkey, Central Asia and Ladakh, eaten fresh, dried, or made into jam and tarts.
Goes into: Qamar al-Din, Hamantash
Rhubarb
Sour pink stalks, the first crop of the northern spring, for crumbles, pies, fools and compote.
Goes into: Toso
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
Asparagus
The green spears of spring, steamed with butter or hollandaise, grilled, or stirred into risotto.
White asparagus
Grown under earth and adored in Germany and the Netherlands, where the season ends on 24 June.
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.
Sorrel
A sour spring leaf for green borscht in Ukraine and Poland, and for sauce with salmon in France.
Peas
Sweet for a few weeks in early summer. In north India fresh peas are a winter crop, for matar paneer.
Goes into: Samosa, Olivier salad, Aloo tikki, Bariis iskukaris
Broad beans
Eaten raw with pecorino in Rome on May Day. Dried, they make ful medames and falafel in Egypt.
Goes into: Ta'ameya, Hilbet, Pachamanca, Minestrone
New potatoes
Small, thin-skinned and sweet. Boiled with dill for the Swedish midsummer table.
Bitter gourd
Bitter by nature and prized for it: stuffed in India, stir-fried with egg in Okinawa, with pork in China.
Goes into: Chanpurū, Yong tau foo, Pinakbet
Drumstick (moringa)
Long green pods cooked in sambar and avial in south India. The leaves go into soups in the Philippines.
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
Morel
A wild spring mushroom, cooked in cream in France and prized as gucchi in Kashmir.
Crab
Brown crab in a British summer, blue crab in Chesapeake Bay, and hairy crab in Shanghai in autumn.
Goes into: Jaffna crab curry, Arròs negre, Po' boy, Chilli crab
Crayfish
Boiled with dill for August parties in Sweden, and with spice in Louisiana in spring.
Goes into: Nkwobi, Jollof rice, Po' boy, Moin moin
Herring
The first young herring of June is a Dutch event. Pickled for every Nordic feast day.
Goes into: Smörgåsbord, Labskaus, Dressed herring, Pickled herring
Mackerel
An oily summer fish, grilled, smoked or soused. Cured with vinegar for sushi in Japan.
Pacific salmon
Wild salmon runs from Alaska to Hokkaido, long the first food of the peoples of the north-west coast.
Goes into: Smörgåsbord, Gravlax, Lox
Skipjack (katsuo)
The first katsuo of early summer is a Japanese treat, seared over straw. Dried, it becomes dashi.
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.
- Mango: W.A. Djatmiko ( Wie146 ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Raw Mango: Saileshpat, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jackfruit: This work was made by Tushar Hossain and released under the license(s), CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lychee: Forest and Kim Starr, CC BY 3.0 us, source
- Durian: Kalai, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mangosteen: VpuipV, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Strawberry: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Cherry: Benjamint444 , edited by Fir0002, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Apricot: Fir0002, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rhubarb: Dieter Weber ( User:Uellue ), CC BY-SA 3.0, 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
- Sorrel: AnRo0002, CC0, source
- Peas: This work was made by Tushar Hossain and released under the license(s), CC BY 4.0, source
- Broad Beans: Stefan.lefnaer, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- New Potatoes: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Bitter Gourd: Morenga01, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Drumstick: Venkatx5, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Plantain: Daegis, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bamboo Shoot: Haragayato, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Herring: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Morel: Beentree, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Crab: Trougnouf, CC BY 4.0, source
- Crayfish: Justin Watt, CC BY 3.0, source
- Mackerel: Jastrow, Public domain, source
- Pacific Salmon: Tiia Monto, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bonito: Karg se, CC BY-SA 3.0, source