Eating seasonally

Apparently Autumn is here, but it sure doesn't feel like it: it's still hot enough to sleep at night without covers and I'm typing away here at 5pm with the windows flung open, glistening under my t-shirt. But one sign that Autumn has actually arrived is the food. There is a saying in Japanese 食読の秋. It means that Autumn is the time for eating delicious food and reading. I haven't gotten around to the latter much yet, but I have been enjoying a bit of the former.

The Japanese have been doing the "local and in-season" thing since long before it became a food-movement in the west. I had a great meal there last week (tofu with mushroom preserve and sauteed seasonal veggies with rice) where all the mushrooms used had been picked that day from the grassland and trees surrounding the restaurant. I mean I was seriously eating the fungi off the tree that I could see through the window. I guess you're putting a certain amount of faith in the chef's knowledge of what is safe to eat. But the food was so good that I didn't really think about that point until I had finished the whole meal.



And in any case, there's a whole bunch of folk wisdom in Japan concerning eating practices that is still seen as common knowledge, so I usually feel in safe hands when it comes to eating. There's a lot of wisdom, too (that has been scientifically backed up) about the benefits of eating the foods from the environment around you at the time of year when they are supposed to be harvested. I find it fascinating.

Of course, the knowledge I have gained is based very much on a Japanese seasonal calendar and growing tradition. Some of the foodstuffs may not readily be available in Europe and the ideas behind eating them probably don't apply too much to four-seasons-in-a-day Ireland. But sure for your enlightenment, here's some of the learnin' I've picked up...

Even though we can now get the same foods pretty much all year around, try to keep to these simple guidelines and you will be eating seasonally and healthfully:

Basic rule number 1 - in Spring and Summer, try to eat what grows above or near the ground.

Basic rule number 2 - in Autumn and Winter, try to eat what grows farther below the ground.

Some more detailed guidance...

In Spring, eat lots of bamboo shoots and ginseng. The element that makes these veggies taste a little bitter also helps to prevent blood rushing around the body (typical in spring when the weather changes from cold to hot in a flash).

In Summer, eat lots of cucumbers and tomatoes. Their high water content helps to keep you hydrated and bring down your body temperature.

In Autumn eat potatoes, yams, gourds, fruit, and the like. Their high nutritional value replenishes what you lost over the long hard summer.

In Winter, eat root vegetables, especially radish, carrot and lotus. They warm the body and stave off the effects of the cold weather.