Asparagus is spearheading October’s best produce. Cheap and plentiful, it is selling for $2.50 or $3 a bunch in supermarkets as we greet the second month of spring.
“In good conditions asparagus can grow about 20cm in a 24-hour period,” says Dave Foreman, owner at Foreman’s Fine Food Merchant in Balwyn, Melbourne.
“Koo Wee Rup, Victoria, is the home of asparagus in Australia, and these beautiful spring days will have the spears lapping it up.”
Asparagus is most commonly boiled until just right (crisp, yet tender) for a side or a salad. But there are plenty of other fun ways to eat it; they can be cooked on the barbecue, put in tarts, quick fried for toast or doused in hollandaise sauce, as is the French tradition. For an Indian twist, coconut and vegetable thoran makes asparagus the star of the show. Those with thin stems, or baby asparagus, can also be eaten raw.
Leafy green staples are in good supply.
“English spinach … celery, alternative lettuce varieties (oak, butter, mignonette) as well as most herb lines are right back in price now and the quality is fantastic,” says Foreman.
Lettuces have returned to $2 or $3 each and herbs are readily available, with big bunches for about $3 in supermarkets.
But there is still some caution as a third La Niña threatens the eastern states, with lettuce and loose greens such as baby spinach and rocket likely to struggle if the weather gets too wet.
Colour and crunch
Complementing the salad greens, there’s also plenty of colour coming to shelves.
“Beetroot is beautiful right now. It will go right through till Christmas,” says Trena Waugh, founder and owner of Farmer & Sun in Gympie, Queensland.
Beetroot, found in supermarkets for about $5 a kilo (about 80 cents each), is easy to roast or use raw, and its sweetness pairs particularly well with goat’s cheese. The same sweetness can be used as a base in Alice Zaslavsky’s blender beetroot brownie.
Waugh also recommends zucchini, broccoli, cabbage and tomato, with smaller varieties such as cherry tomatoes on the way once the warmer months hit.
Citrus, berries and summer fruit
“All citrus – mandarins, oranges, lemons – are all in plentiful supply and reasonably priced,” says Sam Theo from Red Rich Fruits, which provides wholesale services across Australia and has a stall at Parramatta’s Sydney Market.
“Navel oranges are in their peak season. They’ve been hanging on the tree since early June, so they’re really sweet and full of juice and sugar.”
Both oranges and mandarins can be found in supermarkets for about $2.90 a kilo.
Following September’s strawberry glut, blueberries are the “pick of the category”, says Foreman, who is selling them for $3 or $4 a punnet in Victoria, depending on the size and grade. “Blueberries are all go go go right now, they are eating the best they have in years.”
Perfect to top off a dessert, drop into cakes or smoothies, they can be found for $2.50 or $3 a punnet in supermarkets. For a lush dessert almost everyone can eat, try Meera Sodha’s blueberry cake with vegan elderflower cream.
Raspberries are also coming down in price, though are still fetching between $5 and $6 a punnet. Strawberries vary from $2 to $5 a punnet as Queensland’s season finishes, and supply switches to Western Australia for the next few weeks, before the start of the Victorian season. There could also be a delay in berry season if we have a wet spring.
But summer is in sight and with it the fruits that make dreams of pavlova and trifle come true.
“You will see the onset of early summer fruit in early October, peaches and nectarines, which start in Queensland first and then in Victoria,” says Theo.
“They will be $5 or $6 a kilo in late October, and then go down to $2.50 or $3 a kilo in the summer months.”
Mangoes are also ripe and available in supermarkets for $3 to $5 as the Northern Territory mango season gets under way. Prices are expected to drop by the middle of October as more fruit lands in the southern states.
Buy
Asparagus
Lettuce
Beetroot
Celery
Beans
Avocados
Pumpkins
Broccoli and broccolini
Spinach
Herbs
Oranges
Blueberries
Strawberries
Mangoes
Watch
Tomatoes: coming down in price
Raspberries: still the priciest berry
Stone fruits: Available soon, but cheaper later
Avoid
Watermelon: still expensive
Blackberries: still expensive
