Late Fall to Winter
- November and December, in the Northern Hemisphere, is a time when the soil slows down and the produce must be hardy enough to withstand frost, rain, and snow.
- Some produce varieties love the cold, while others will dramatically announce they are done growing for the season. It is interesting to me how “winter meals” that humans enjoy in this season heavily reflect what can withstand the temperatures outside; delicate lettuces and watery tomatoes just won’t cut it.
This season, the freshest foods harvested from the fields include:
- Winter squashes, like kabocha pumpkin, delicata squash, acorn squash, and many other thick-skinned densely sweet squash.
- Brassicas like kale, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, pak choi, tatsoi, mustard greens, collards, broccoli, and cabbage.
- Winter fruits including persimmon, the last of the grapes, and citrus are ready to be enjoyed.
- Root vegetables such as beets, radishes, turnips, carrots, parsnips, and sweet potatoes are freshly unearthed.
Cooking Greens
Although you may not find it on the menu in many restaurants, most cuisines from around the world have their own cooking greens customs. “Cooking greens” refer to hardy greens, usually in the Brassica family, that are most nutritionally available and palatable when they are cooked down. Some cultures stew them down with root vegetables and smoked meats for soup, some gently sautéed them with onions and salt, but I grew up eating them Southern style.
My dad cooks them like so: Fill a pot with water and add a smoked meat (ham hock or turkey wing preferred, leftover bones from a roast chicken or turkey work too). Add a few black peppercorns, a pinch or two of sugar and a chiltapin pepper. Let the stock boil for an hour to extract the flavor then add the washed and chopped greens. Cook for an hour or more till very tender. Serve with a dash of vinegar and hot sauce.
We like to eat collards on New Year’s Day with black-eyed peas and cornbread. The meal is said to bring prosperity in the coming year, as the collards symbolize paper money, the black-eyed peas represents coins, and the cornbread substitutes for gold ingots.
However you cook your greens, enjoy them with good company!