# What "standard" food/ingredient is only available seasonally? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** food-cooking\ **Created:** [December 13, 2024, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615 "2024-12-13T18:30:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/41 "2024-12-14T19:05:37Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > Chestnuts, longans, rambutans, passionfruit, figs, mamey sapote, mangosteens. Goodness, that is impressive! All of those items except chestnuts grow on Hawai’i Island, but I doubt there would be many days at the local farmers’ market that had them all at the same time. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen figs for sale, just fig trees. Question: are these items mostly delicious? Or sort of meh? I ask because when I lived in Boston, we could get things like durian in Chinatown, but often they weren’t that great. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/42 "2024-12-14T19:36:54Z")
Currently there are [clementines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clementine), but there are also star fruit, dragon fruit, lychees and rambutan. In the spring there’s [bear’s garlic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allium_ursinum). Which is sold fresh, and there’s also pasta with bear’s garlic, cheese with bear’s garlic, pesto with bear’s garlic, etc. Which is all made with bear’s garlic from the previous year’s harvest. Which means it could be sold year-round, but it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/43 "2024-12-14T20:22:34Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Pawpaws! […] I’ll be planting them around our house and they should have fruit a few years after I’m gone. That is what I came here to write, so I will improvise instead: [Mirabelle](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirabelle_plum) plums. Three sweet weeks in August. [Artichokes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artichoke): the season is just starting. 😃 [Asparagus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asparagus): spring and very early summer. Chestnuts: now! Figs: the season is just over. 😩 Cherries: Summer! All the Christmas stuff: only available from late August until January. ETA: The [medlar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mespilus_germanica). Winter, but only after [bletting](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bletting). ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/44 "2024-12-14T22:24:14Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Question: are these items mostly delicious? Or sort of meh? I’d say lychee, rambutan & longan (I noticed the ones last night were from Thailand) I’ve tried have all been roughly equivalent, in that peeled grape way. Some are better fragranced & juicier than others and, like durian, I’ve never had any fresh off the tree so don’t know where these fall. Figs are _not_ always available and awfully expensive when they are, usually 50 cents to a dollar each. Always nice, though. I’ve unfortunately never had a mangosteen that was tasty and I’m almost certain they’ve been previously frozen, though they are sold in net bags with the other fresh fruit. I’ve never tried fresh passionfruit or mamey sapote. I’ve never had freshly roasted chestnuts and the packaged ones have been pretty foul. It would be interesting to take an apple census within a 5 mile radius. EDIT: > [@kayaker](#): > > Pawpaws! A friend has trees and gave me some. They aren’t sold in stores because they need to be picked ripe then eaten within a few days. YES!! I’ve never tried these, they’ve been on my list for decades. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/45 "2024-12-14T22:29:07Z")
**Nitpick:** Don’t forget to capitalize your nouns. In German, all nouns (common **and** proper) are capitalized, which (according to Mark Twain) is “a good idea.” ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2024, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/46 "2024-12-14T22:37:22Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Yeah, I can only find pomegranates mid fall thru early winter. That’s why I grow my own. Down here I can usually stretch the harvest season out a few weeks longer than normal. Had a good crop of poms this year, and I’m still harvesting cherry peppers and will be thru New Years. Fresh Hatch chilis are a limited season crop as well. Anaheims are available year-round, but “Hatch” chilis are much more constrained. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/47 "2024-12-15T01:32:01Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > unfortunately never had a mangosteen that was tasty They are really hard to get just right. A good mangosteen is heavenly, but even fresh ones here are often a bit ucky on the inside. I don’t bother buying them because there is no way to tell whether they are good until you open them. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/48 "2024-12-15T01:53:08Z")
Most fruits are better and available in more varieties in season. I can buy strawberries year round, but i can only buy strawberries i actually want to eat in the summer (the latest ones coming from Quebec.) fresh cranberries are only available in the fall. i can buy apples year round. I can even buy apples worth eating year round. But in the fall i can get dozens of cultivars, some of which are much better than what i can get out of season. The last of the really good apples are in my fridge now, and will be consumed within a month. There’s more and better citrus fruit in the winter. Good stone fruits are pretty much a summer thing… Some fruits that travel well have two seasons. Blueberry season starts when the new jersey crop comes in. (There are earlier blueberries from Florida and Texas, but it’s a different type than the ones that grow further north, and not as good, imho.) But there are also good blueberries grown in Chile. So there are only a few months when i can’t get good blueberries. And there are usually two weeks a year when really good blueberries are on sale, one when the jersey berries peak, and another when the Chilean ones do. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/49 "2024-12-15T01:58:51Z")
Table grapes have a very long “season”, May through January. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/50 "2024-12-15T02:46:59Z")
Juneberries, but you have to pick them yourself. But in season (late June) I see them everywhere and no one else is picking them. And blackberries from Oregon to BC, ditto. But for things I buy, corn-on-the-cob is the leading example. I think Pannetone is available only around now. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/51 "2024-12-15T04:32:54Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Question: are these items mostly delicious? Or sort of meh? I ask because when I lived in Boston, we could get things like durian in Chinatown, but often they weren’t that great. I had rambutan in Hawai’i and it was wonderful ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/52 "2024-12-15T13:08:16Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > Currently there are [clementines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clementine), but there are also star fruit, dragon fruit, lychees and rambutan. > > In the spring there’s [bear’s garlic](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allium_ursinum). A few years back, my wife and I commented on the fact that clementines seemed to previously be seasonal, but now we get them year around. We get table grapes all year as well. And asparagus (VERY rarely do we need to go with frozen.) I quoted the rest of your post to suggest that a bunch of you sure consider “standard” food that I’m not sure I’ve ever eaten. But, I admit I have neither a terribly adventurous palate nor cooking habits. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/53 "2024-12-15T13:24:47Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > A few years back, my wife and I commented on the fact that clementines seemed to previously be seasonal, but now we get them year around. I’ve noticed this as well. Clementines are available year round, but really great clementines are still seasonal. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/54 "2024-12-15T13:35:17Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > but really great clementines are still seasonal. Have you recently noted clementines with SEEDS?! Not a BIG deal to have to spit out the occasional seed, but definitely not my preference. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/55 "2024-12-15T13:39:20Z")
There’s a variety of table grapes called “Holiday grapes”. They’re big, fat, crisp sweet grapes. I think they were developed as garnish for the Thanksgiving or Christmas roast platters. But they’re delicious just as a snack, perhaps even superior to regular table grapes. I only see them in November and December. A newish citrus fruit called “Sumo fruit” or “Dekopon” is a big tangerine variety. IIRC, it’s a cross between a tangerine and a California navel. They are delectable, juicy and sweet and easy to peel. But they’re only available for a brief time in mid-winter. Alas, I can’t eat citrus fruit anymore. I miss them. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/56 "2024-12-15T13:39:44Z")
There have always been both seeded and seedless small thin-skinned orange citrus fruits available in the winter. I’m still going with: > [@puzzlegal](#): > > Most fruits are better and available in more varieties in season Most produce remains seasonal, but can now be shipped long distances. I only buy butternut squash in the fall and winter, but it keeps and ships well, so maybe good butternut squash from South America is now available in July. Good strawberries simply aren’t available in February (where i live), neither are any of my favorite types of apples. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/57 "2024-12-15T13:41:49Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I only buy butternut squash in the fall and winter, Yeah - squash - and melons, seem to fit my perception as “standard” foods more than something like lychees (which I had to look up!) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/58 "2024-12-15T13:44:26Z")
How about apples and strawberries? Cranberries? (Which i think really are seasonal, I’ve never seen fresh ones except in the late fall/early winter.) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/59 "2024-12-15T14:02:37Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > How about apples Definitely better selection/quality of apples in the fall. But I’m pretty sure they store apples. for ungodly lengths of time these days. Strawberries are so damned hit-or-miss almost all of the time. I think you hit one with cranberries (which MAY fall short of my personal definition of “standard.” ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/60 "2024-12-15T14:11:35Z")
Fresh rhubarb is only periodically available. Mrs. J. makes a mean rhubarb pie. I’ll be making another attempt to grow our own. Haven’t found the right location yet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615.md?page=4)