The WA produce calendar
we actually cook from

Every August a client asks for asparagus on the menu and every August I explain the same thing: you can have it, but it will taste like it flew here. Because it did.

This is the calendar our kitchen works to. It is not a marketing diagram, it is the actual call sheet Daniel uses on Monday mornings when he rings the growers.

Summer: December to February

Stone fruit season. Peaches and nectarines from the hills, Albany oysters running clean, tomatoes that taste like the argument for buying local. Menus go chilled and raw because Perth gets hot and nobody wants a braise in February.

Watch for: Shark Bay crab, heirloom tomatoes, stone fruit, basil everything.

Autumn: March to May

The best eating of the year, honestly. Grapes finish, quinces start, the first truffles whisper about July. Wild mushrooms appear and disappear within weeks. This is when the gala menus write themselves.

Watch for: quince, wild mushrooms, new-season lamb, figs if the season is kind.

The menu should read like the farm report, not the other way around.

Winter: June to August

Truffle season in Manjimup and the kitchen smells like it for three months straight. Citrus peaks, root vegetables get serious, and the braises earn their keep. Winter galas are where the truffle pasta wheel pays for itself.

Watch for: Manjimup truffle, blood oranges, Jerusalem artichokes, slow-cooked everything.

Spring: September to November

Asparagus finally earns its invite. Broad beans, peas, the first marron after the winter break, strawberries that do not need sugar. Menus go green and light as corporate Perth remembers it owns sandals.

Watch for: asparagus, marron, broad beans, spring lamb, early berries.