Seasonality

Asturian food is not seasonal in the way French food is. It does not revolve around picking and cooking vegetables at the height of their flavor (when still very small) and accompanying them with meat from animals that also eat them at that time. As a matter of fact, fresh vegetables are not a big part of Asturian cooking at all. This is a legacy of privation and want. It is only recently (the second half of the 20th century) that starvation was not a serious concern for much of the Spanish populace.

When the main concern is making sure there are enough calories for most of the people in the house, there is little room in the garden or the field for mesclun mixes or permanent asparagus beds. Nutrient and calorie dense potatoes and beans are the order of the day. Cattle and pigs graze on land too steep or wooded to plant on, and their meats and cheeses contribute to the diet as well. But tiny baby beets, luxurious melons, and exotic eggplants are not part of the subsistence diet.

That is not to say that there are not seasonal recipes in Asturias. Apples are processed into cider and dulce de manzanas only in Autumn. Frixuelos are eaten primarily during carnaval. Fabada is the ultimate winter food, made from dried beans and long keeping pork sausages.

I mark recipes with the season or the holiday if they have a particular association with it. As Asturians get used to having fresh seasonal vegetables in every season, they too will add to the seasonality of the food here.