Seasonal delights

As the credit card receipts are beginning to come in thick and fast, Darina Allen warns against making savings on food. Fresh, good quality food is in season and central to winter survival

No matter what savings one makes it's vital to keep the food on the table. As our wise old GP Dr Derry McCarthy was fond of saying, "If you don't put the petrol in the tank the car won't go." Unquestionably true – if we scrimp on nutritious food we'll end up paying more to the chemist and the doctor.

Investing time and energy into sourcing as much top-quality, fresh, locally-produced food in season as possible will cut food bills in half and provide you with live food bursting with vitamins, minerals and trace elements.

Nowadays, it's difficult, particularly for younger people, to work out what's in season when so much is available from January to December, and there are so few clues to indicate when something is in season. I long for at least one chain of supermarkets to celebrate the seasons and highlight local produce in their shops. This would be a tremendous help to concerned consumers and would give a much-needed boost to local farmers and food producers.

So what's in season at present? All the root vegetables are fantastic just now, parsnips, carrots, celeriac, Jerusalem artichokes, swede turnips. The latter are now sweet and nutty, having had several nights of frost which concentrates the natural fructose. Brussels sprouts are still in season for another few weeks. There's lots of yummy crunchy Savoy cabbage to cook on its own, or to add to a big bowl of mashed Golden Wonder potatoes, to make a bowl of comforting, delicious and inexpensive colcannon.

Look out for kale also, and my favourite sprouting broccoli – green, purple or white. I adore all those greens, in winter my body seems to crave those clean fresh flavours. Somehow I'm convinced that it's what we need to supplement our iron, vitamins and minerals at this time of the year. Kale, by the way, is the most nutritious of all the brassicas, a family renowned for its vitamin A, B and C content, it is a good source of iron. Of all vegetables it is one of the richest sources of calcium, in a form which can easily be absorbed by the body.

Leeks, a good source of potassium and folate, are also excellent at present and we've been enjoying and feasting on the first of the herrings and sprats filled with minerals, calcium and valuable Omega 3 fatty acids. If you're someone who reckons they haven't eaten at all unless you've had meat, then in lean times take the opportunity to experiment with the many inexpensive cuts. Next time you go to your local butcher or market, seek out pork spare ribs, bacon ribs, chicken wings, lamb shanks, shin of beef. All inexpensive, succulent and delicious, cooked in a myriad of ways – here are a few suggestions to get you started!

Darina Allen