Angela Clutton: Why does seasonality matter?
The latest in the stellar line-up of dinner and conversation guests sharing their Food Experiences at Kino is one of the most exciting voices in UK food writing, Angela Clutton. We were keen to find out more about the inspiration behind Angela’s latest book Seasoning and why she thinks cooking seasonally is so important.
Why does Seasonality matter in the modern kitchen? That’s the question I kept asking myself throughout the writing of my latest cookbook, Seasoning – How To Cook and Celebrate the Seasons. Trying to find the answers forced me to really stop and think – and think, and think – about our perceptions of seasonality. I suspect I started off with what I thought was a clear idea of what the seasons were, and when. Of what they mean for the produce that is available through the year for us to cook and eat. What I have discovered is that embracing seasonality is about understanding the rhythms of the land and the climate. Even, or especially, as it changes.
Our globalised food system and modern production techniques mean so many of our favourite vegetables and fruits are now around far beyond their traditional seasonality. There is some good in that, for sure. Our world has a lot of people to feed; we have become used to choice; and society feels it has earned the right to have what it wants when it wants it. But there is quite a lot wrong, and damaging, about that approach too.
Producing vast quantities of vegetables and fruits outside their natural season requires significant energy for artificial heating and light. Then yet more energy is needed to store them so they can last as long as possible. And then the chances are that where they have been produced is a long way from where they are going to be sold/eaten, so there’s all the transportation to factor in – time spent in storage and travelling, which is also never to the benefit of flavour and can often result in food being spoiled and wasted.
Beyond even the significant environmental costs, food that’s produced like this misses out the sheer delicious delight that exists in how the seasonality of land and climate have a unique ability to make things taste the best possible versions of themselves. Winter frosts bring out the sugars of sprouts and parsnips; sunshine doesn’t just make summer’s peaches sweet but come with depth of flavour too….
The good news is that we are all getting a bit better at knowing all this. There is a growing real-world emphasis on the importance of eating more seasonally, more locally, and moving away from processed or ultra-processed foods. The priorities behind so much of modern cooking – sustainability, simplicity, satisfaction, convenience, cost – share their axis point with the very heart of Seasoning and of shopping / cooking / eating seasonally.
I want to urge for a reconnection with seasonality. To get back to the arc of the food year that nature gifts us. I want to feel the excitement of the first summertime tomatoes and strawberries. I think there’s even a point to the boredom of winter’s roots by the end of their season. I want food that fills me with anticipation, surprise, nostalgia, tedium – because that is life. There is joy in not being able to have everything all the time, but in looking forward to something – and then missing it when it is gone.
Without doubt, the best way to eat sustainably, healthily, economically and fabulously is to load up on seasonal produce, then be able to keep on reincarnating those through their season.
Those are the ideas at the heart of Seasoning – How to Cook and Celebrate the Seasons and the menu which will be served during our Food Experiences dinner at Kino.
Text courtesy of Angela Clutton; images courtesy of Murdoch Books
Angela Clutton’s Seasoning – How To Cook and Celebrate the Seasons is available now and will be available to purchase on the night