In season in July

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

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.

Fig

A Mediterranean late-summer fruit, eaten with ham or cheese, baked in tarts, or dried.

Goes into: Rakı, Ma'amoul, Charoset, Picarones

Strawberry

The fruit of early summer in Europe, with cream in Britain and on the Swedish midsummer table.

Goes into: Eton mess, Chajá

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

Peach and nectarine

High summer stone fruit for cobblers, pies, peach Melba, or eating over the sink.

Goes into: Chiles en nogada, Chajá

Plum

Baked into central European cakes and dumplings, cooked into jam, and dried as prunes.

Goes into: Hamantash, Roast goose, Sosatie, Pašticada

Watermelon

The fruit of hot weather everywhere, eaten in slices, as juice, or with white cheese in the Balkans.

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

Papaya

Eaten ripe at breakfast across the tropics, and shredded green for the salads of Thailand and Laos.

Jamun

The purple monsoon plum of India, sold on the street with salt for a few weeks only.

Avocado

Native to Mexico, mashed into guacamole, sliced onto tortas, and blended into shakes in Indonesia.

Goes into: Guacamole, California roll, Pozole, Chilaquiles

Passion fruit

Sharp and scented, for juice in Brazil and Colombia and on top of pavlova in Australia.

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.

Tomato

At its best in high summer, for gazpacho, salads, and the sauces bottled for the year in Italy.

Goes into: Hamburger, Kebab, Borscht, Ratatouille

Aubergine

Roasted for baba ghanoush and baingan bharta, layered in moussaka and parmigiana, braised in China.

Goes into: Ratatouille, Moussaka, Khoresh bademjan, Riz gras

Courgette

A summer squash. Its flowers are stuffed and fried in Italy and folded into quesadillas in Mexico.

Goes into: Ratatouille, Minestrone, Jjajangmyeon, Stuffed squash

Sweetcorn

Boiled or grilled on the cob, as elote in Mexico, bhutta in the Indian monsoon, and at American cookouts.

Goes into: Apam balik, Pastel de choclo, Ais kacang, Pamonha

Okra

Thickens gumbo in Louisiana and soups in West Africa. Fried dry as bhindi in India, stewed in the Levant.

Goes into: Peanut stew, Kpekpele, Gumbo, Peanut soup

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

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

Beetroot

The root behind borscht across eastern Europe. Pickled, roasted, or grated into salads.

Goes into: Borscht, Raita, Silpancho, Vinegret

Chanterelle

Golden forest mushrooms, picked across the Nordic countries and fried in butter on toast.

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

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

Hilsa

The monsoon fish of Bengal, steamed in mustard or fried. Catching it is banned while it spawns.

Sardines

Fattest in summer. Grilled whole on the streets of Lisbon and Porto for the June saints.

Goes into: Pasta con le sarde, Sarde in saor

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

Eel

Grilled and glazed over rice in Japan on the midsummer day of the ox, for strength in the heat.

Goes into: Smörgåsbord, Unadon