At Senserricks Fruit and Flowers in north-west Melbourne, owner Pat Senserrick says that apples, grapes and raspberries should be your go-to at the beginning of autumn – though it’s not the most exciting time of year for fresh produce.
A Melbourne market vendor, Senserrick says markets tend to have more variety than supermarkets as well as better prices.
Grapes are in “full swing”, with traditional crimson and Thompson seedless grapes great value at about $5 to $7 a kilo. But Senserrick’s favourite of the season is a lesser-known red, seedless variety called the crunchy pop. “Some of the supermarkets don’t stock them,” he says.
For a savoury take on grapes, try Anna Jones’s roasted grapes and goat’s cheese on toast or an easily adaptable lentil and roast grape salad, which suits crimson grapes.
For dessert, make use of autumn’s influx of apples. “New season apples are starting anywhere from between $3 and $6 a kilo,” says Senserrick. While jazz apples aren’t on shelves just yet, royal galas are in and can be found for about $3.90 a kilo in supermarkets, with pink ladies and granny smiths starting from about $4.50 a kilo. Try Nigel Slater’s dense apple and blackberry pie or, if you don’t feel like baking, æblekage (Danish apple cake), a no-bake, trifle-cross-cake dessert.
Pears are also in for between $3 and $5 a kilo. Try a riff on Eve’s pudding (traditionally made with apples) with Benjamina Ebuehi’s pear and walnut version.
Blackberries are cheap (about $3.50 a punnet) for the aforementioned pie, but raspberries are even better value, selling for as little as $3 a punnet in supermarkets. Use them in a raspberry oat crumble slice, which can be dressed up for dessert or dressed down for lunchboxes.
But growing conditions have been a bit challenging for strawberries, which means they are smaller than usual. At about $3.50 a punnet in supermarkets, “they’re not overpriced,” says Senserrick. “You just might not get the big plump ones that we’re used to, but they still taste good.”
Blueberries are more scarce and more expensive than usual too, at upwards of $4 a punnet.
Year of the dragon fruit
“Dragon fruit seems to have found some popularity and a rock-steady supply,” says Senserrick. “It is finding a whole new market ... It is not a dirt-cheap fruit – you still have to pay $4 to $8 apiece – but just for something different, I regularly put it on the shelf.”
Dragon fruit can be eaten straight out of its skin with a spoon, like a kiwifruit, or sliced up and served with a squeeze of lime.
Watermelon, at about $2 a kilo, is the only melon worth your while at the moment, with rock melon and honeydew both costly and not at their best.
But pineapple prices are falling, coming down to anywhere from $4 to $6 a head. March is your last chance to grill pineapple on the BBQ and pretend it’s still summer. Or for something more autumnal, make a zingy upside down cake.
Salad days continue
Due to the weather, cabbages, beans, cauliflower and broccoli have all gone up in price this month. With shorter supply, half a cabbage in a supermarket will run you about $4 or more, broccoli and cauliflower are trending upwards of $7 a kilo and beans are at least $10 a kilo.
John Waugh, the purchasing manager at Big Michael’s in Rocklea, Brisbane, says “Mother Nature can change things literally overnight.” He hopes prices will ease mid-month. Asian greens are up slightly too, by about 50c, now averaging $3 a bunch.
Senserrick says that overall, salad greens are very good value. Despite the rain, lettuce is still $2 to $2.50 a head (slightly more in supermarkets). Continental cucumbers and corn remain at about $1.50 apiece, and avocados are about $1.70 each.
Celery – at about $3 to $5 a bunch – is good value when used from top to tail for salads and stew. Finish it off by using the leaves in Tom Hunt’s wintry tabbouleh.
Roasting’s return
Hardy veg like potatoes, pumpkin, and sweet potato (regularly on special) remain consistent, as do “carrots, they never change,” says Senserrick. Well suited to quick and easy meals, make Rukmini Iyer’s one-tray spiced roast carrots with feta, dates, bulgur and beans or Yotam Ottolenghi’s (two-tray) roast carrots and gingery tomato salad.
Mediterranean vegetables are more variable. While eggplant hovers around $6 a kilo in supermarkets, Senserrick sees it much cheaper in the markets – anywhere from $1.50 to $3 a kilo. Try spiced eggplants baked in the oven and topped with tahini if you can get a good deal.
You can also roast tomatoes in the oven, alongside tuna and borlotti beans, for a Nigel Slater store-cupboard bean-feast. Sauce tomatoes, not yet “at giveaway prices”, are hovering around $5 to $6 a kilo, but are in good supply.
Avoid capsicums, which are more expensive than usual, with all varieties starting at about $10 a kilo in supermarkets.
Buy:
Apples
Asian greens
Avocado
Bananas
Beans
Carrots
Celery
Corn
Cucumber
Dragon fruit
Eggplant
Grapes
Lettuce
Pears
Plums
Pineapple
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Raspberries
Salad greens
Tomatoes
Watermelon
Watch:
Blueberries
Herbs
Strawberries
Almost gone:
Mangoes
Nectarines
Peaches
Avoid:
Broccoli
Cabbage
Cauliflower
Capsicums
Rock melon
Honeydew
