Homemade recipes by Vesna Miletić

My favorite spring vegetable, the true queen of wild greens, has finally peeked out with her slightly shy tip.

Winter is still on the calendar, but the days are slowly growing longer, and the sun’s rays are becoming warmer, as if already whispering of spring.

Collard greens, the true green queen of winter, belong to the cabbage family and, during the cold months, provide our bodies with exactly the nutrients they need most to function at their best.

From my earliest childhood, apples were my great love during the winter months. Back then, there weren’t many varieties at the market or in stores.

At Tač, the pickling season is not just work, it is a ritual. For more than thirty years, every autumn, we pickle vegetables the way they have always been done in our region: patiently, with care and with lots of helping hands.

Winter has finally arrived as we remember and want to experience. The weather has finally coincided with the season.

Red Treviso radicchio is one of those ingredients that stays in my kitchen throughout the winter and well into early spring. It always reminds me of Istria, where we used to plant it along the garden wall, in a spot with heavier, cooler soil – just the way it prefers.

One of the most beautiful and healthiest fruits of autumn is certainly the pumpkin. I love it for its warmth, softness and color – that orange that seems to bring sunshine into the kitchen and into days that are becoming shorter.

I made Parmigiana for the first time when I had an excess of eggplants from the garden and freshly cooked sauce. Everything else – mozzarella, Parmesan and a little olive oil – was already on hand. I didn’t need a recipe, just the feeling.

Some foods may not take your breath away at first glance, but once you get to know them, they’ll win you over forever.

I cook this sauce every summer, when the tomatoes are at their peak – full of sunshine, sweet and meaty. In the morning, we pick them from the garden, still warm from the sun, and together we start chopping, sautéing and stirring. The aroma of onions sizzling in oil always fills the kitchen first, and then comes the real thing – the scent of tomatoes, basil and memories.

One of my favorite gifts of autumn.

Autumn is my favorite time of year. It brings forth flavors that taste of the earth, the forest and the slowly fading sun.