Preserved Menu Planning: The Seasonality of Flavor & Texture

Rough Outline of Major Produce Seasonality in Southeast Michigan

I know this table is not especially beautiful, but I promise fellow food preservers that what it lacks in form, it makes up for in function.

You see, I've learned that the most important thing in preserving an abundance of food is making sure that it has an abundance of variety, especially in the flavor and texture departments. One of the easiest ways to get variety of preserved foods is, of course, to use a variety of main ingredients. Not only do different ingredients lead to dishes with distinct flavors (sweet/sour/savory/briny) and textures (pureed/chuky/liquidy), but they also contribute to better overall nutrition (vitamins a-e in carrots/fiber in peas/lycopene in cooked tomatoes). 

That's all well and good and I doubt anyone will dispute the premise. However, the tricky thing about local produce, especially in Michigan, is that is has a limited season. Take, for instance, those fibrous peas: If you want to freeze a bulk order of whole peas and need to get them from the farmers' market to do so, better get there in June otherwise you'll find yourself pea-less. Same thing with blueberries. And sweet corn. And parsnips. You get the idea...

That's where the table comes in handy, to give you a general sense of when you can easily find a specific product (and one of the best things about getting it during its peak season is it tends to be cheaper and better quality). Obviously, if you have a garden, you'll know when this stuff is available, but in case you're looking for some produce that you're not growing yourself or you want to supplement your own stock with a bulk order from elsewhere, to the table!

I find that the table alone isn't enough. For me, the best way to keep track of these things is to make rough notes on my personal calendar of which weekends (or weekdays) I plan to commit to securing the ingredient I need to make a specific dish.

Speaking of which, I need to add "pickled asparagus" to my calendar for Saturday, June 11. We've missed the season every year except our first, so I am hell bent on eating asparagus in January 2012...