What is in season in September
109 ingredients with a short season — three months or less — are at their best in September in France. Not only fruit and vegetables: the fish, the mushrooms, the game and the cheeses have a season too.
September is when the year turns from fruit to nuts. Fresh hazelnuts first — Piedmont, Cervione, Giresun — still milky enough to open with a knife, then walnuts, then chestnuts. The first serious mushrooms come up underneath: matsutake, maitake, honey fungus, the saffron milk-cap after rain. The dried beans land all at once, Soissons and Sorana and Tolosa, and the olives and the grape must with them. Meanwhile summer goes in a fortnight — the last mirabelles, the last watermelon, the last sweetcorn. Whatever you don't cook this month waits a year.
New this month 47
In season now and not in August.
Acorn Antep pistachio Beechnut Black trumpet Blue corn Burgundy snail Cervione hazelnut Doraji (balloon flower root) Edible chrysanthemum petals (shokuyō-giku) Faba asturiana Fresh ginseng Fresh walnut Grape must Green tomato Grenoble walnut Hairy crab Hazelnut Hojiso (shiso flower spikes) Hon-shimeji Honey fungus (chiodini) Ikura Japanese chestnut Jujube King oyster Kiwi berry Lily bulb Lucques olive Maitake Matsutake Olive Osmanthus Pacific saury (sanma) Piedmont hazelnut Pinyon pine nut Piquillo pepper Périgord walnut Rosehip Rowan berry Saffron milk cap Sea buckthorn Soissons bean Sorana bean Sorghum syrup Sujiko Tolosa black bean Vendace roe (Kalix löjrom) Walnut
Last month for 44
In season now and gone in October.
Anise hyssop Antep pistachio Avola almond Black Krim tomato Blueberry Bronte pistachio Caper berries Cervione hazelnut Corn Cornelian cherry Cucamelon Edamame Elderberry Fresh green hazelnut Gagome kombu Green Zebra tomato Greengage Heather honey Huitlacoche Kkaennip (Korean perilla leaf) Largueta almond Longan Lotus seed Marcona almond Mirabelle Mogette de Vendée Nasturtium capers Nectarine Okra Omija (schisandra berry) Oxheart tomato Plum Pochas Rat-tail radish pod San Marzano tomato Shibazuke Taro stem Tombul hazelnut Trombetta squash Vineyard peach Watermelon Wild bergamot Wild bilberry Williams pear
Everything in season in September
Vegetables 16
Black Krim tomato Corn Cucamelon Doraji (balloon flower root) Edamame Fresh ginseng Green tomato Green Zebra tomato Lily bulb Okra Oxheart tomato Piquillo pepper Rat-tail radish pod San Marzano tomato Taro stem Trombetta squash
Fruits 29
Blackberry Blueberry Cornelian cherry Crowberry Damson Elderberry Grape Greengage Jabuticaba Jujube Kabosu Kiwi berry Lingonberry Longan Mirabelle Nashi pear Nectarine Plum Prickly pear Quetsche plum Rosehip Rowan berry Sea buckthorn Shikuwasa Sudachi Vineyard peach Watermelon Wild bilberry Williams pear
Herbs 3
Anise hyssop Kkaennip (Korean perilla leaf) Wild bergamot
Flowers 3
Edible chrysanthemum petals (shokuyō-giku) Hojiso (shiso flower spikes) Osmanthus
Mushrooms 11
Beefsteak fungus Black trumpet Field mushroom Giant puffball Hon-shimeji Honey fungus (chiodini) Huitlacoche King oyster Maitake Matsutake Saffron milk cap
Seaweed 1
Grains & flours 1
Legumes & pulses 8
Borlotti bean Coco de Paimpol Faba asturiana Mogette de Vendée Pochas Soissons bean Sorana bean Tolosa black bean
Nuts & seeds 20
Acorn Antep pistachio Avola almond Beechnut Bronte pistachio Cervione hazelnut Fresh green hazelnut Fresh walnut Grenoble walnut Hazelnut Japanese chestnut Largueta almond Lotus seed Marcona almond Piedmont hazelnut Pinyon pine nut Périgord walnut Tombul hazelnut Walnut Water caltrop
Fish & seafood 2
Shellfish & molluscs 2
Roe & caviar 3
Ikura Sujiko Vendace roe (Kalix löjrom)
Condiments & ferments 7
Ajvar Caper berries Grape must Lucques olive Nasturtium capers Olive Shibazuke
Tea & infusions 1
Sweet pantry 2
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