Vegetables (and thus, dishes that depend heavily on vegetables) are of course seasonal. And thick, rich soups are a lot more appreciated in winter. But if someone offers me something that isn’t veggie-dependent out of its normal season, sure, I’ll eat it.
Only? Of course not, except for those things (rare though they are) that you can quite literally only get at a certain time of year. But that doesn’t mean certain dishes don’t tend more towards certain seasons; stew and chili both qualify for me. Thinking about coming in from the cold to a nice hot bowl of chili is making me wish it were winter right now, in fact… you can have chili in the summer, but you can’t have that particular experience of it.
I don’t, but weather places some constraints. It’s not practical to barbecue in the middle of the winter (in my neck of the woods), and a hot summer day is a bad time to have the oven going. In the middle of summer, though, a cool rainy day is a great time to make a hearty stew.
Not as such, no. I do however believe in seasonal local(ish) produce, and if you’re cooking a lot of that kind of thing, there are certain “summer” dishes that go with them, or “winter” ones that go with root veggies, etc…
That being said, we had a sausage, kale and potato soup for dinner tonight, so it’s not a hard and fast rule at all.
Inviting people over for 4th of July and serving them a turkey would be hilariously weird. You have to do it!
My mother used to let us choose whatever we wanted for dinner on our birthdays. My little brother whose birthday is in JULY always wanted a full turkey dinner.
Compounding this ridiculousness was the fact that my father, having lived through the depression, squeezed a penny till it cried and refused to turn on the air conditioning for any reason what so ever. So my mother and sisters slaved away in the July heat with no AC preparing a turkey dinner in a stuffy, cramped, sweltering kitchen year after year.
It’s a wonder “T” wasn’t smothered in his sleep one June.
For the most part no. But I really like to eat salads in the summer, and there’s no way you’ll find me making or ordering a salad in the winter.
ETA: By salad I mean a leafy green crunchy dish with added vegetables and dressing, etc.
As far as I’m concerned, the only reason for a food to be seasonal is if there’s a practical difficulty with making it in other seasons, like those already mentioned by other posters–availability of fresh ingredients, excessive indoor heat in summer from prolonged cooking, and the like. I made beef stew a couple of weeks ago, but I simmered it on low and exhausted most of the steam, so it didn’t heat the place up too much.
I served turkey on the 4th of July this year, and no one thought anything of it. It was smoked, rather than roasted, but I smoke turkey for Thanksgiving, too.
Not so much that I think certain things should only be eaten at certain times of the year. It’s more that when it’s hot as hades, I don’t feel like eating a hearty beef stew. I’d rather have a steak with a crispy salad. I’d rather have watermelon or ice cream or fresh fruit salad or a cold dessert of some kind to follow.
When it’s freezing cold, I don’t want generally want to eat that crispy salad, that’s when I want to curl up under my blanket with the previously mentioned hearty beef stew. Follow that up with say chocolate pudding and warm custard - heaven!
Hot apple pie just out of the oven with ice cream at any time though. 
I live in Australia and I don’t have central heating or cooling so that probably has a lot to do with it. When it’s hot outside, it’s hot inside. When it’s cold outside, it’s cold inside.
I will eat soup any time of year, any time of day, and I’ve gotten grief for it. Love love love soup. Chicken noodle for breakfast in July? Why not?
But yes, I agree with the other comments about seasonal availability of really good produce. So my summer soups are more likely to contain zucchini and fresh corn and tomatoes and green beans and that sort of thing, while my winter soups are heavier on root veggies and lend themselves well to barley, beans and beef stock.
My summer soups are also more likely to be made in the Crock-Pot and/or reheated in the microwave than the stovetop, due to the heating up the kitchen issue.
Yeah, soup is one of those things that I think goes year round, but the type of soup might vary a bit by season. Soup was literally served at nearly every single meal my mom or dad made growing up. I have a hard time thinking of meals where the first course wasn’t soup. As much as I love cooking, I’m usually too lazy to do that in my dinners. When I make soup, it’s typically as the main course, unless it’s a special occasion.
Speaking of soup.
Soup is something I have every day at lunch while at work. 95% of the time I bring a can in with me and the other 5% I grab a bowl from the cafeteria. It was 31 C here today and I had my bowl of hot, steaming soup. (Along with my usual sandwich.)
I absolutely love soup.
I tend to equate chili with NFL football season, so I tend to make it a lot during that time. Once football season is over, I’ll make it a few more times in March and April, but I don’t think I make it at all between the months of May and August.
Somewhat differently, I find dark beers (stouts, porters, IPAs) perfect during the winter, but not so good during the summer.
Funny you should ask this because I just made a whole Turkey Day Dinner about 2 weeks ago and it’s still about 100 degrees here.
It all started with a pumpkin I grew and spread from there…
With the messed up weather of this year, it doesn’t matter if I’m a seasonal eater or not. There will always be a day soon that is cold enough for one food or hot enough for another.
Chili season starts in September and ends in April at my house. Gazpacho season is the remaining months.
There’s no reason I couldn’t eat chili in July, but it would seem wrong.
Every day is Chili Day! Just like I can grill steaks in a Denver blizzard or a Houston Summer.
I only eat hot cereals for breakfast in the cold months. Even tho I can eat bacon, eggs, and pancakes any day. Weird.
Grasshoppers (no ice cream) are only a cold month after dinner dessert drink for some reason.
I was born in Coastal Texas, grew up there and L.A., CA, as an adult have lived in San Fran, Denver, north CO, Iowa, OKC, and Rio Grande River valley among other places.
I had to give this some thought - I was going to say we don’t do “seasonal” but then it occured to me that we really kind of do.
I usually make pot roasts, rump roasts, any roasts for that matter for fall/winter. That’s when I usually bake too. Unless it’s like a small pork tenderloin that cooks really fast.
Hams are usually eaten during the spring - I can’t remember any time I’ve had a whole ham OTHER than the spring now that I think about it.
I don’t do soup so that’s a no-brainer.
The husband eats chili all year long - but he doesn’t really “make” it - he adds some stuff to canned Hormel chili.
We BBQ (well - grill - it’s not real BBQ) all year long. But way more in the spring/summer/fall.
We generally only eat salads during the summer (either lettuce or macaroni/potato/whatever.)
I only eat grapefruit in the winter.
Corn on the cob is mainly late July through August.
Don’t forget the pumpkin chili.
Yes, it is literally the law.
I don’t really do the seasonal thing. Some things are of course better in season but if I’m in the mood for some corn on the cob, which is most of the time, I’m getting some corn on the cob.
Only one month of corn on the cob? This makes me sad.
Yes and no.
I like roast prime rib and Yorkshire pudding for Christmas dinner; ham hocks and black-eyed peas, and ham hock and collard greens on New Year’s Day; and corned beef and cabbage sometime around St. Patrick’s Day (but not necessarily on the day). I could eat those things any day of the year, but they tend to last a week and there are other things I like to cook. So while I don’t see them as ‘seasonal’, the end up being ‘occasional’.
The SO likes soups for Autumn and Winter when the weather starts cooling down. She’s definitely seasonal that way. I could have soup any season, but I guess the cooler months are as good as any.
I said the food for occasions last a long time, so I tend to make them once a year. There are other foods that last a long time, and those also end up being made once a year. Jambalaya comes to mind. Jambalaya is also just a little bit of a ‘production’ to make. It’s easy, but I have to go select the shrimp and pull the legs and shells off, and get to the sausage maker for the andouille. Then I have all of that celery that doesn’t get eaten because I only need a couple of stalks. Dirty rice? Love it. But the SO isn’t into filtration units, since she’s become a nurse. I also love cassoulet. But once again, leftovers for a week; and it takes some effort, since I make the bread crumbs fresh. The SO doesn’t care for lamb or duck, either.
With steaks, variations on salmon, BBQ, chiles relleno, carnitas, and so many other things to cook, some foods are ‘seasonal’ by default.