A vivid spicy bean soup and slow-cooked quinces supply midwinter sweetness and sustenance

The year will start with soup. Soup has been the first meal of the year for as long as I can remember, eaten for lunch or maybe later in the day. Something hot in a deep bowl, to revive and restore.

This year, a soup of beans or lentils for good luck, with chillies for warmth, and turmeric or coconut milk to soothe. Nothing too taxing to make, save a few cardamom pods to crack and their seeds to grind; onions to slice and soften with coriander seeds and cumin and perhaps cabbage – or chard – leaves to shred.