Discover what's in season and how to eat it
In addition to the sound ecological reasons for eating fresh local produce, including the use of less fertilizer, and of course a lower carbon footprint due to the huge reduction in energy used for growing, transportation and storage; local, seasonal foods are fresher, more flavourful and nutritious than foods consumed out of season. Crops matured naturally and picked at peak ripeness are sweeter, fuller flavoured and contain more nutrients than their forced counterparts.
July: melons, peaches and plums are still in excellent condition and the price should probably starting to drop as more ripe fruit hits the shops. In some years figs also start to make an appearance. Vegetable wise it’s mostly all about salad crops, cucumbers, beetroot, peppers and tomatoes in particular.
Ramallet tomatoes are an indigenous variety in the islands and have a great aroma and flavour. They have a thick, fairly tough skin and a low water content meaning that they are uniquely suitable for scrubbing onto bread or toast for a delicious pa amb oli or grated and used in sauces and stews – but not so good as a regular salad tomato.
Look out for funky new varieties, blue, green and black amongst them!
Mackerel are also in season and offer a delicious, healthy and cheap source of protein, omega fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. Really good, simply cooked on a plancha or barbecue with a good dousing of citrus juice, salt, chile and fennel. Serve with a tart salsa, like green tomato and chile, or a mustardy vinaigrette with cornichons or capers.
When produce is fresh and ripe it doesn’t need much help to sing on your tongue – a simple summertime favourite like “tomates alinadas” served with some nice cheese and fresh bread is hard to beat.
Eating what's in Season Recipes: Tomates Alinadas
ripe but firm tomatoes (I like to use a mix of yellow and red) sliced
a few finely cut slices of sweet white onion
1 clove garlic crushed
Flaky salt, fresh thyme leaves, a pinch of oregano
Xv olive oil and aged sherry vinegar
Simply mix all together and leave to marinate for 4 hours or so.
Trampo
Trampo is a really simple yet delicious traditional Mallorquin salad made from almost equal quantities of chopped mild sweet white onions, tomatoes and “white” peppers which are in fact a very pale green long pointy pepper with quite a thin flesh – tossed together and traditionally dressed with olive oil and salt it goes really well with anything from paella to roast chicken and chips – I like to add a splash of sherry vinegar.
Whilst they are so tasty and relatively cheap it’s a great time to make preserves like tomato and chile jam, which will serve you through the winter.
Tomato Chili Jam
2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, peeled and finely diced
3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp fennel seeds
4 fresh chillies finely chopped (to taste)
1kg fresh ripe tomatoes diced (1.5cm)
325g soft light brown sugar
275ml white wine or cider vinegar
Gently fry the onions in the oil and when they begin to turn translucent add the garlic, chillies and fennel seeds, cook for another 3-5 minutes, then add in the tomatoes, sugar and vinegar – increase the heat until it comes to a steady boil.
Then reduce the heat and simmer for approx. 1 hour – until the jam is thick and sticky. Store in sterilized jars or keep it in the fridge.
Beetroot Gazpacho
800g tomatoes (fresh if you can get good ones – or tinned)
500 g beetroot (boiled until tender, tough skins removed)
½ dutch cucumber (Spanish ones can be a bit dry for this recipe) peeled and diced
½ red pepper – diced
2 cloves garlic – peeled
A slice or 2 of day old white bread
125 ml xv olive oil
30-50ml good sherry vinegar
50ml iced water
Simply blitz the vegetables and bread together with half of the oil, vinegar and water until fairly smooth. Continue to add water, oil and vinegar and season with salt until you’re happy with the consistency and flavour. Leave for at least 4 hours or overnight allowing the flavours to harmonize. Garnish with toasted carraway seeds, avocado cubes, fresh mint or coriander, soured cream or yoghurt and serve chilled.
Steve French has been a Chef, restaurateur and food consultant in both the UK and Spain for over 35 years; most recently at Finca49 in Pollença and is currently running cookery experiences in Andalucia (www.finca49.com/experiences).
Finca49 snapshots of summer cookbook is available to buy from www.finca49.com