# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/61 "2024-12-15T14:11:46Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I think Pannetone is available only around now. I’m sure it is - but “panettone” is one of the foods that is prepared for a specific holiday that the OP excluded. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2024, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/62 "2024-12-15T15:26:41Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Mrs. J. makes a mean rhubarb pie. Has she ever made a rhubarb/cherry pie? Mrs. Mercotan makes an absolutely delicious one, when I can persuade her to do so. Also rhubarb/strawberry and standard rhubarb pie. Plus a mean rhubarb salsa. However she will only make them with rhubarb from our own patch. ---
**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, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/63 "2024-12-15T15:28:45Z")
Strawberries aren’t hit or miss in strawberry season. If you buy the expensive local strawberries, they will taste like strawberry. (I live in the northeast, where the local strawberry crop is all decent strawberries.) ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/64 "2024-12-16T15:42:30Z")
Vidalia onions. Maybe they’re available in other states year round but not in MN. They’re my husbands favorite onion to put on sandwiches, burgers, dogs. We can only get them Sept-Oct. Maybe the end of August. ---
**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 16, 2024, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/65 "2024-12-16T15:43:58Z")
I asked her about making pies with rhubarb mixed with other fruits like strawberries. She said that such recipes were for wimps who can’t handle rhubarb alone. Seems a bit harsh. 😆 ---
**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 16, 2024, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/66 "2024-12-16T15:51:26Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > such recipes were for wimps who can’t handle rhubarb alone. I’ve said exactly this to my gf. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/67 "2024-12-16T15:58:25Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > such recipes were for wimps who can’t handle rhubarb alone. I always get a kick out of folk who extol delicious rhubarb+something tasty recipes. SURE, you can make something nasty palatable if you combine it with enough of something that actually TASTES GOOD! ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/68 "2024-12-16T16:01:32Z")
Am I the only one who’s never had rhubarb pie? A couple of years ago, it was being sold at a local independent grocery store around the holidays and I was tempted to buy it. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/69 "2024-12-16T16:06:28Z")
If you are a fan of sour fruits, I recommend you try it. Plain rhubarb pie is a treat. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/70 "2024-12-16T16:30:03Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I asked her about making pies with rhubarb mixed with other fruits like strawberries. She said that such recipes were for wimps who can’t handle rhubarb alone. If she’s that hardcore, does she make her rhubarb pie without added sugar? Yumm! ---
**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 16, 2024, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/71 "2024-12-16T17:11:51Z")
I do not add sugar to stewed rhubarb or rhubarb pie. I also never add any sugar to my applesauce. In fact I toss the apples in some lemon juice, then right into the crock pot. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/72 "2024-12-16T18:16:13Z")
Was mincemeat mentioned? Because I have two friends who say they can’t find it in the grocery stores. It’s a wintertime thing, and an acquired taste in baked goods. ---
**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 16, 2024, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/73 "2024-12-16T18:41:18Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > > [@Jackmannii](#): > > > > such recipes were for wimps who can’t handle rhubarb alone. > > I always get a kick out of folk who extol delicious rhubarb+something tasty recipes. SURE, you can make something nasty palatable if you combine it with enough of something that actually TASTES GOOD! It’s one of many ways to add acid to foods that otherwise lack acid. Like strawberries, which have a nice flavor, but would make a bland and unappealing fruit pie. I usually use lemon juice for sweets (because i always have it around) but rhubarb adds a nice flavor as well as being acid. Personally, i don’t care for the texture, though. But i sometimes make rhubarb dishes for my husband, and they taste very good. ---
**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 31, 2024, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/74 "2024-12-31T17:15:41Z")
Definitely cranberries. I just went to every food store in town, and they are all sold out, and won’t get any more until next year. This is a problem, because i need cranberries for my goose stuffing I’m making for tonight, and my husband has eaten most of our supply. 😢 We have some frozen ones. Maybe they will be okay. I’m pretty mad at my husband. He _knows_ i need a bag for the stuffing, and he knows they aren’t usually available by now. I guess i can’t trust him. Next year maybe I’ll mark a bag, “for stuffing” and hide it. ---
**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 31, 2024, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/75 "2024-12-31T17:35:35Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Next year maybe I’ll mark a bag, “for stuffing” and hide it. Anytime I buy fresh cranberries, I put them directly in the freezer, because sometimes I’ve forgotten about them and then had to throw them out. Being frozen doesn’t bother them too much. The only problem is sometimes I forget that I already bought some, and only remember when I put the new purchase in the freezer. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2024, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/76 "2024-12-31T17:46:11Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Definitely cranberries. I just went to every food store in town, and they are all sold out, and won’t get any more until next year. This is a problem, because i need cranberries for my goose stuffing I’m making for tonight, and my husband has eaten most of our supply. I ran into this just before Christmas. My wife sent me to the grocery store, to pick up some ingredients for a couple of dishes she was making for the Christmas gathering with her family, and wanted a bag of fresh cranberries for the dessert she was planning. None to be had, so after a text conversation, I got two cans of whole cranberries. After I got back home with the groceries, she had discovered that she still had a bag of cranberries in the freezer, left over from Thanksgiving. ---
**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 31, 2024, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/77 "2024-12-31T17:48:01Z")
I did put a few bags on the freezer. Maybe those will be fine for stuffing. They can’t be used for muffins or other seasonal cranberry treats, as they are either too cold or too wet to work properly. I’m a little worried about the food safety of using stuffing that’s not piping hot. There are a bunch defrosting in the kitchen now. They look soggy to me. Maybe that’s my imagination. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/78 "2025-01-01T15:53:58Z")
Sardines. The season varies depending where exactly you are, but on the Normandy/Brittany coast it’s mid-summer into the fall. So, better to holiday there in September rather than May (though ideally, do both). And a very British offering: Seville Oranges (aka Marmalade Oranges). One to two weeks in early/mid January, and that’s it. I’m already feeling tense. > [@kayaker](#): > > …I’m currently stratifying some of their seeds. Assuming I get them to germinate, I’ll be planting them around our house and they should have fruit a few years after I’m gone. I immediately thought of this: “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit” Good on you. j ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2025, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/79 "2025-01-02T20:10:31Z")
When I was stationed in Germany a few decades ago the one thing that stood out was spargel. Spargel is white asparagus. It has a very specific season in the spring. Restaurants hang signs saying they have a special spargel menu (Spargelkarte). June comes along and the signs come down. You won’t be able to find any until next year. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@salinqmind1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind1)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615/80 "2025-01-04T17:48:25Z")
Here in Upstate NY in the spring there are a couple of restaurants that feature deep-fried catfish - bullheads - that are fished from nearby lakes. They are bony and scrumptious, only available for a couple of weeks. When the lakes warm up with warmer weather, they get a muddy taste, so they are seasonal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-standard-food-ingredient-is-only-available-seasonally/1011615.md?page=5)