The best fresh produce to shop for in June

Chef Analiese Gregory says June is the season for making "winter vegetables the star".

This could look like preparing a stuffed cabbage dish or salt-baking a whole celeriac and serving it with cheese sauce and hazelnuts, Ms Gregory says.

Fresh produce she's looking forward to in Lutruwita/Tasmania this month includes beetroot, cabbage and celeriac.

Georgina Dragwidge, the owner of Georgie's Harvest in South Melbourne Market in Naarm, names potatoes, apples and mandarins among her picks.

So, what can you look for?

Vegetables:

Parsnips

Beetroots

Celeriac

Potatoes

Broccoli

Cauliflowers

Brussels sprouts

Cabbages

Radicchio

Fruit:

Apples

Pears

Quinces

Citrus, such as oranges and mandarins

Kiwifruit

Pomegranates

Beetroot, parsnip and potatoes

Rosa Ansaldo, from Rospaul Fresh Fruit in the Queen Victoria Market in Naarm, says it's a good time for vegetables, including hearty parsnips and beetroots.

Ms Gregory says she enjoys salt-baking vegetables like beetroot and celeriac at this time of year.

This involves packing a mixture of egg whites and salt around the whole unpeeled vegetables and baking them it in the oven (at about 160 or 180 degrees Celsius), then taking them out and "breaking the crust".

"They're generally really nicely seasoned the whole way through after that process," she says.

When it comes to using beetroot at home, Ms Gregory recommends cooking it straight away so they are easier to use.

"Having a cooked beetroot in the fridge is totally different to having a raw beetroot in the fridge."

Ms Gregory says you could then add cooked beetroot to a salad with fresh herbs, vinaigrette and goat's cheese, laid over pastry in a vegetable tart, or they are "super, super delicious" cut and glazed with honey, butter and herbs like sage, rosemary and thyme in a pan.

Ms Dragwidge says it's also a peak period for potatoes, a speciality in her store.

"We've got up to 22 different varieties," she says.

Among the waxy varieties, Ms Dragwidge lists Pink Fir Apple, Nicola and Dutch creams among her favourites.

"From a flowery perspective, we've also got the King Edwards, Maris Piper, and some really gorgeous russets are in."

Waxy potatoes work best in dishes like potato salad or cubed into stews and soups, while something floury is a better fit for mashing and roasting, she says.

Ms Ansaldo says she likes Desiree, "because you can make gnocchi, you can make your baked potatoes [and] It's the best for mashed potatoes".

Brassicas and a case for 'bitter' radicchio

Ms Ansaldo says brassicas including broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts are affordable at the moment.

"Cauliflowers are at their peak at the moment."

Another brassica, cabbage is one of the vegetable highlights of winter cooking, according to Ms Gregory.

"I love a roasted cabbage, personally. If I see one on the menu down here, I'm always going to order it."

Ms Gregory says sugarloaf cabbages are "really amazing" for roasting, and she likes using a savoy cabbage in a shaved salad or for chou farsi, a traditional French recipe "where you stuff the cabbage".

Ms Ansaldo says radicchio is another nice option for winter salads.

Because of the bitterness of radicchio, Ms Gregory says it is suited to fatty and sweeter vinaigrettes.

"Last night we had radicchio salad with dinner and I make a vinaigrette that's blended walnuts or walnut butter and then a little bit of vinegar and some olive oil."

A very acidic dressing with the natural bitterness of the radicchio can be "jarring", she says.

Apples, pears and quince

Ms Gregory says Tasmania is "still deep into apple, pear and quince season".

Yvette Vitalone from Benny's Fruit Corner in the Queen Victoria Market says apple varieties are abundant.

"The latest new season stuff is your bravo and your Gippsland gold. Still nice and crunchy, still really good in flavour."

Citrus and pomegranates

There's a range of citrus, particularly mandarins and oranges, on the shelves.

Ms Vitalone says lots of new-season citrus including blood oranges and cara cara oranges will also start coming through this month.

There's also an influx of cheap pomegranates on the shelves, Ms Ansaldo says.

When selecting a pomegranate, choosing a "really heavy" one should mean it is nice and juicy.

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