Until very recently in human history, no one had a choice. You ate what was in season because nothing else existed. Now we can buy strawberries in January and asparagus in October, and the result is that food has slowly lost some of its meaning.
The flavour case
A tomato in August is a different vegetable from a tomato in February. Same shape, same name, totally different thing. Cooking with what is in season means cooking with ingredients that taste like themselves.
The price case
Seasonal produce is, by definition, in abundance. It is cheap, plentiful, and often available locally. Cooking with the seasons cuts the supermarket bill more than any meal-planning app can.
The pleasure of waiting
Strawberries in May are exciting. Strawberries on a wet January Tuesday from a faraway country are a disappointment. The wait is part of the joy.
How to start
Visit a real greengrocer or farmer\'s market once a month. Look at what is piled high and cheap. That is what is in season. Cook that.
Preserve when you can
Make tomato sauce in summer and freeze it. Stew plums in autumn. Pickle cucumbers in July. The kitchen becomes a small storehouse that lets the seasons stretch.
Cooking with the seasons is not nostalgic or fussy. It is the oldest, most practical, most economical way of feeding yourself well — and once you start, food in general just tastes more interesting.
