Seasonal shifts

A few days ago, we had a brief taste of autumn when temperatures dipped to unseasonable highs and lows. While we are still weeks away from true autumn, this short spell of cool weather created a shift in how I thought about cooking and baking. I have written before about how changes in the weather can provoke anticipation for certain foods or dishes, but on this occasion I was struck by how silly some of these seasonal shifts are in the modern world.

Although canned pumpkin is available year-round (and is in many ways superior to cooking down your own pumpkin), I rarely cook or bake with it except in autumn. There is no real reason for this. I make cakes all year long, so there is nothing stopping me from making, say, a pumpkin roll in May other than I associate it with autumn and therefore that is when I want to make it. The same can be said for countless produce items that are available in grocery stores at any time of year.

Of course, there are some foods that are objectively better when found locally, in season, such as strawberries and asparagus. But for many items the quality is consistent throughout the year, so tradition is really the only reason that we continue to make foods during specific seasons. This is not a bad thing! Anticipating the first apple pie of autumn or initial harvest of tender peas in the spring makes us appreciate them more than if we ate them all year long. Here’s to seasonal eating – even when we don’t have to eat seasonally.