Seasonal products: what do we eat in winter?

Outside everything is frozen, it's cold and the light is running out? No doubt about it, winter has arrived! So as not to be overwhelmed by the gloom, we prepare some good little dishes to comfort ourselves. Soups, gratins, purees... And as soon as a ray of sunshine comes up, we take out our Kokko and let our creativity express itself. Only one restriction: we only cook seasonal products! Here is the list of those you should put in your basket in winter.

1 - Fruits

From January to March, you can eat without restraint: dry almond, lemon, kiwi, orange, grapefruit, pomelo, apple and pear. The first two months, persimmon, clementine and mandarin will also be available.

Don't forget the exotic fruits as well. For some, the beautiful season will be in full swing: pineapple, avocado, banana, mango, but be careful about where they come from!

There's not enough fruit in winter? Even if the panel on the stalls is less complete than in summer, there is enough to prepare good compotes or roast them in Kokko!

Here are our favourite recipes:

Pears with honey

Pineapple with caramelized ginger

Nems with pineapple and orange sauce

2 - Vegetables

Throughout the winter, you can eat without moderation: spinach, squash, garlic, beetroot, carrot, chard, celery, cabbage, turnip, leek, black radish, parsnip, endive, cabbage, white cabbage, Brussels sprouts, kale, salsify, Jerusalem artichoke, crosne, curly, lamb's lettuce, onion, turnip, potato and watercress.

At the beginning of winter, during the months of January and February, squash (pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin, butternut), kale, chicory and red cabbage will still be in season.

From March, they are left aside for: pink radish, asparagus, artichoke and lettuce.

3 - Fish

Respecting seasonality when eating fish means eating better quality products. It is also a way to preserve certain species, the reproduction periods and to avoid overfishing.

On the fish side, we find: sea bass, sea bream, skate, cod, haddock, haddock, bass, monkfish, cod, red gurnard, pollack, flounder, sole, hake, red mullet, dogfish, St. Pierre, cuttlefish, pout, pout, whiting, hake or saithe and turbot.

For seafood: mussels, oysters, whelks, scallops, shrimp and spider crabs.

A few ideas to enjoy:

Red mullet fillets on a bed of mangoes

Shrimps grilled and marinated with spices

Bar and its new turnips

4 - Cheese

And yes, it's not only fruits, vegetables and fish that are subject to the rhythm of the seasons, cheese too. Since pastures are less rich than in the summer season, the food ingested by animals will have less flavour and therefore their milk will be less tasty.

So in winter, the focus is on cheeses matured from the summer milk or from the previous year's milk, such as Tomes, Gruyère, Ossau-Iraty, Beaufort, Laguiole, Cantal, Salers, Appenzeller or Comté. An exception is Mont-d'Or, traditionally made in winter. It is also used for blue-veined pasta such as ants, Roquefort or blue cheese.

We also try to choose them as locally as possible and avoid buying products that travel thousands of miles. What if you started preparing eco-responsible meals as early as the festive season? We'll give you some tips on how to do it!