The last month of the year brings with it an abundance of fruit and vegetable products to be chosen with care at the market and brought to the table every day, waiting to celebrate them in the holiday menus. While it's cold outside, in the fields and orchards large and small delights come to maturity which guarantee, even at this time of the year, taste in the kitchen and Welfare to the body, thanks to the richness in fibers and antioxidants that characterize the crops of this period.

A generous vegetable garden
Speaking of healthy seasonal vegetables, the great family of gods immediately comes to mind cabbages. Those apiece, like broccoli And cauliflower, are rich in protective substances, in particular vitamin C, to be exploited more with rapid cooking and even with raw use, particularly indicated for cauliflower which can be sliced ​​like a carpaccio or finely chopped and seasoned as if it were a cous cous vegetable. Among the leafy ones, there are two in particular that benefit from the first frosts: the cabbage and the black cabbage. In fact, the intense cold not only softens the leaves, but makes them sweeter and more aromatic. Ideal for soups and typical dishes, such as Tuscan ribollita or Milanese cassoeula.
It still resists the pumpkin, a very long-lasting vegetable, and continues the season of beets, radicchio, escarole, celery, fennel. While the first ones begin to arrive artichokes, destined to accompany us until spring. If the taste of these vegetables fascinates you, you must try the Jerusalem artichoke, white-fleshed tubers that are in their golden moment and are called "Jerusalem artichokes".
Other "niche" vegetables, and probable botanical ancestors of artichokes, are the thistles. During this period, i hunchbacks, typical of the Asti area and, in particular, of the Nizza Monferrato area. The name derives from the fact that in the fields, at a certain point of development, the tufts of thistles are folded down and continue their growth underground: the lack of light makes them white and very tender, excellent au gratin, in risotto and indispensable with bagna cauda, ​​the traditional Piedmontese sauce.
The leeks, winter bulbs par excellence, more delicate than onions, more characteristic of shallots and very versatile. The white part, in thin slices, is suitable for sautéed and soups, while sliced ​​into slices, it is boiled and baked again in a pan or in the oven, for rustic side dishes. The green part aromatizes the broths and the large outer leaves, left whole, become the wrapping of rolls and bundles.

A jump into the orchard
Or, better, in the citrus grove! It's time to pick the tastiest and juiciest oranges, especially the varieties red: T.arocco, Moro And Sanguinello. Among tangerines, clementines and mandarins, here comes the sours too grapefruits, the sweets pomelos and small kumquat, or Chinese tangerines, intended to brighten up the fruit bowl on the Christmas tables.
Where the dried fruit: walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds and peanuts, harvested in early autumn, reach their perfect degree of dryness, ready to be shelled at the end of a meal and to enrich breakfasts and snacks.
Chapter esotic fruit: it is now common to bring to the table, especially during the holidays, products that come from tropical countries. Not only the now common pineapple, but also mango, papaya, passion fruit, carambola. Colorful, decorative and also suitable for refined savory dishes, the best are those transported by air (it is indicated on packages and boxes), ready to eat as opposed to those arriving by sea and immature. Another parameter to guide you in your choice is to look for fair trade fruits, which are now often also organic. Thus, the festive table will be not only beautiful, but also good.

Francesca Romana Mezzadri
December 2021