Autumn fruits and vegetables: what to eat as the countryside changes colour
/ All articles / Tips
Which autumn fruits and vegetables are at their best right now? Mushrooms, chestnuts, squash, sweet potato, persimmon, pomegranate, grapes, quince and apples. These are what the Spanish countryside gives between September and December, when temperatures drop and the first rains arrive. Here’s when to buy each one, how to spot a good one and where to find it straight from the people who grow it.
Why autumn fruits and vegetables are worth it
Eating seasonally isn’t a trend. It’s the simplest way to eat better: produce is picked when it’s ripe, travels less and reaches your table with all its flavour. Out of season, many fruits and vegetables are harvested too early or spend weeks in cold storage, and you can tell. We explain it in detail in why tomatoes don’t taste like tomatoes anymore.
Autumn is also a generous season. After the summer, the kitchen asks for spoons, a warm oven and long lunches that stretch into the afternoon. And autumn fruits and vegetables are made for exactly that: toasty sweetness, creamy textures and aromas of the forest.
Calendar of autumn fruits and vegetables in Spain
Dates vary by region and year, but across much of Spain this is a good guide. For more ideas across the year, see these Spanish dishes for every season.
| Produce | Best months | How to enjoy it |
|---|---|---|
| Mushrooms and saffron milk caps | October and November, after the first rains | Grilled, scrambled with eggs or in stews |
| Chestnuts | October to December | Roasted, in a cream or in syrup |
| Squash | September to December | Roasted, in soup or in cake |
| Sweet potato | October to January | Roasted whole or mashed |
| Persimmon | October to December | On its own, with yoghurt or in salads |
| Pomegranate | September to December | In salads, rice dishes or by the spoonful |
| Table grapes | September to December | For dessert or with cheese |
| Quince | September to November | As quince paste or baked |
| Reinette apples | October to January | Baked, in compote or in a tart |
Mushrooms: autumn starts when it rains
If one thing announces autumn, it’s mushrooms. They appear with the first rains and a bit of cold, and every year we wait for them. Saffron milk caps (níscalos in Spanish) are the most sought after: firm flesh, an orange colour and a flavour that reminds you of pine forests.
On Mentta you’ll find níscalos in season and, for the rest of the year, dried níscalos from Teruel or Setacor’s organic mushrooms, grown and prepared in Córdoba. To tell them apart, here are the most popular types of mushrooms.
A tip: don’t wash them under the tap. Clean them with a damp cloth or a brush. They soak up water and lose their texture.
Chestnuts: the smell of the streets in November
Few things feel more like autumn than warming your hands with a paper cone of roasted chestnuts. At home they’re just as easy: a cut in the shell, a hot oven and a little patience to peel them while they’re warm.
The chestnuts from the Sierra de San Vicente arrive in the middle of the season. And if you’d rather have something ready to enjoy, the chestnuts in syrup from Lo mejor del Bierzo come from a region of León with a long chestnut tradition.
Squash and sweet potato: oven-baked sweetness
When you turn the oven on in autumn, squash and sweet potato earn their place on their own. Both turn sweet and creamy when roasted, and they keep well in the pantry.
Butternut squash is the most rewarding: thin skin, plenty of flesh and an intense orange colour that brightens everything. Sweet potato from Andalusia, roasted whole in its skin, needs nothing more than a drizzle of olive oil. Not sure how it differs from yam? Here are the differences between sweet potato and yam. And if you have kids at home, these Halloween recipes make the most of squash.
Persimmon, pomegranate and grapes: the fruit that closes the year
Persimmon is the most autumnal fruit of all. The Persimon persimmon from the Ribera del Xúquer (Valencia) is the Rojo Brillante variety, protected by a Designation of Origin. It’s harvested between October and December and, unlike other persimmons, it’s eaten firm, like an apple, without that dry, rough feeling in the mouth.
A pomegranate opens like a jewellery box. Its seeds, sour and sweet at the same time, brighten up a salad, a rice dish or a yoghurt. On Mentta you can get it, for example, from Agricultores en Origen, a group of small farmers who take it from the field to your home with no middlemen.
And grapes close the calendar. Vinalopó grapes (Alicante) come from an area famous for bagging each bunch by hand during the summer, to protect it and let it ripen slowly. Many of the twelve grapes Spaniards eat at midnight on New Year’s Eve come from there.
Quince and Reinette apples: pantry classics
Raw quince isn’t for eating, but cooked it’s another story. Turned into quince paste (membrillo), it’s the perfect partner for a good Spanish cheese.
Reinette apples, tart and rough-skinned, are the queen of baked apples. A little cinnamon, the oven, and wait for the kitchen to smell like Sunday.
How to choose and store autumn fruits and vegetables
- Mushrooms: firm, dry and without soft spots. In the fridge, in paper or a cloth bag, never in sealed plastic. Best eaten within a couple of days.
- Chestnuts: heavy for their size, shiny and without holes. Keep them somewhere cool and dry.
- Squash and sweet potato: hard skin and no bruises. Whole, they last weeks somewhere cool and dark; once cut, in the fridge.
- Persimmon: the Persimon variety is eaten firm; other persimmons are best left until they’re soft as jelly.
- Pomegranate: the heavier it is, the more juice it has. It keeps well out of the fridge for several days.
- Grapes and apples: they stay crisp for longer in the fridge.
Three ideas to bring autumn to the table
- Roasted squash soup topped with a handful of toasted chestnuts.
- Scrambled eggs with níscalos, garlic, parsley and good bread for dipping.
- Persimmon and pomegranate salad with green leaves, walnuts and a fresh cheese.
Hungry for more? Here are more autumn meal ideas for the whole week.
Walking on dry leaves, coming home in the cold and finding something in the oven. Autumn is something you eat, too.
Frequently asked questions
What are the autumn fruits and vegetables in Spain?
The most typical are mushrooms, chestnuts, squash, sweet potato, persimmon, pomegranate, grapes, quince and apples. Pears, leeks, cauliflower, broccoli and chard are also in season, among others.
Which fruit is typical of autumn?
Persimmon, pomegranate, chestnuts and quince are the most typical autumn fruits in Spain. Grapes and apples are also at their best at this time.
When does mushroom season start?
It depends on rain and temperature. Across much of Spain, mushrooms such as saffron milk caps appear between October and November, after the first autumn rains.
Why is it better to buy autumn fruits and vegetables in season?
Because they’re picked ripe, travel less and keep their flavour and texture better. They also tend to be better value when there’s more produce.
Where can I buy autumn fruits and vegetables straight from the producer?
On Mentta, a Spanish online food market that, since 2015, has connected producers and specialist shops from all over Spain directly with the people who buy from them, with no middlemen.
Mentta. Will you stay for lunch?
