What's in season: a West African winter basket

What we are buying in this month, why yam gets better in the cold, and how to keep plantains from turning on you.

Not everything travels well, and not everything should be bought year round. Here is what is worth putting in your basket this month.

Yam is at its best now. The tubers harvested at the end of the dry season have had months to firm up, and they roast far better than the softer early crop.

Plantains are the opposite problem: they keep ripening on your counter. Buy them green if you want them for frying later in the week, and only buy them black-spotted if you are cooking that day.

Ugu and other leafy greens should be bought for the next two days and no further. If the leaves are limp when you get them home, they were cut too long ago.