In season in September

Mangosteen

Sold beside durian across Southeast Asia and eaten fresh, as its cooling partner.

Pomegranate

Central to Persian cooking, in fesenjan and on the Yalda table, and scattered over chiles en nogada.

Goes into: Lobio, Chiles en nogada, Güllaç, Dabeli

Fig

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

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

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, Tzimmes, Sosatie

Watermelon

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

Grape

Harvested for the table and for wine. Twelve are eaten at midnight on New Year in Spain.

Goes into: Wine, Port wine, Vinho Verde, Ouzo

Apple

The autumn fruit of temperate lands, for pies, strudel, cider, and dipping in honey at Rosh Hashanah.

Goes into: Choucroute garnie, Apple pie, Apple strudel, Coleslaw

Pomelo

The largest citrus, shared at the Mid-Autumn Festival and tossed in Thai and Vietnamese salads.

Goes into: Yusheng

Papaya

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

Date

Harvested across Arabia, Iraq and North Africa. The fruit that breaks the fast in Ramadan.

Goes into: Sheer khurma, Rakı, Ma'amoul, Hamantash

Custard apple

Called sitaphal in India, eaten with a spoon and made into ice cream and rabdi. Cherimoya is its Andean kin.

Passion fruit

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

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, Shukto

Pumpkin and winter squash

Stored through winter. Goes into pie in North America, soup joumou in Haiti, and tempura in Japan.

Goes into: Thanksgiving dinner, Hāngī, Manti, Samsa

Sweet potato

Roasted on winter streets in Japan, China and north India. Baked into pie in the American South.

Goes into: Thanksgiving dinner, Hāngī, Naengmyeon, Shōchū

Yam

The king of crops in West Africa, honoured at harvest festivals and pounded smooth to eat with soup.

Goes into: Jolpan, Tzimmes, Bubur cha cha, Tsukune

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

Taro

A starchy corm pounded into poi in Hawaii, simmered in Japan and Korea, and fried as arbi in India.

Goes into: Hāngī, Khanom mo kaeng, Zongzi, Sticky rice in bamboo

Lotus root

Dug from ponds in autumn and winter. Sliced into soups and stir-fries in China, Japan and Kashmir.

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

Beetroot

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

Goes into: Borscht, Raita, Silpancho, Vinegret

Walnut

Fresh in autumn. Ground into Georgian sauces, Persian fesenjan and the white sauce of chiles en nogada.

Goes into: Baklava, Turkish delight, Kahwah, Samanu

Almond

Harvested in late summer. Green almonds are eaten whole with salt in spring across the Middle East.

Goes into: Baklava, Sheer khurma, Kahwah, Amygdalota

Pistachio

Picked in Iran, Turkey and Sicily in early autumn, for baklava, ice cream, kulfi and halva.

Goes into: Baklava, Turkish delight, Sheer khurma, Kheer

Chanterelle

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

Porcini

The cep of autumn woods, grilled, stirred into risotto and pasta, or dried for the year.

Matsutake

The pine mushroom, the scent of autumn in Japan and Korea, steamed with rice or in a clear broth.

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, Stuffed mussels

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

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, Sardine, 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, Lomi-lomi salmon

Skipjack (katsuo)

The first katsuo of early summer is a Japanese treat, seared over straw. Dried, it becomes dashi.

Game

Venison, pheasant, grouse and wild boar are hunted in autumn, for roasts, stews, pies and ragù.