We are nearing summer’s end, officially as well as emotionally. I can feel it getting darker earlier, the crisp morning air that encourages you to draw your coat in tighter and the lure of something slow cooking in the oven for hours infusing the home with warm, inviting aromas.

I may not be actively preserving the last of the harvest for the coming winter period but my body senses the change of seasons nonetheless. I crave the deep flavours of well-cooked meats and comforting carb-laden accompaniments.

Tomatoes and cucumbers suddenly look less appealing while the muted autumnal tones of pumpkins, carrots, mushrooms and potatoes seduce with a promise of contentment. Apples and pears are somehow an infinitely wiser, more mature choice than flashy summer berries, their innate austerity understood by the select few.

Autumn was the favourite season of my maternal grandmother, Nana, and as a child I never understood why. It never occurred to me to ask her why but I guess that’s the arrogance of youth. To me, autumn only meant winter was coming and there’d be less time to play outside after school, worse weather and its corollary having to wear more layers of clothing. I couldn’t see any upside to autumn. Maybe it was just something that happened as you got older, when playing wasn’t high on the to-do list.

I don’t know how old I was when I realised that autumn actually produces the most exquisite light. Is this just a Melbourne thing or is it something universal? The daylight seems to get crisper, clearer. Trees have better definition, each leaf now with an almost perceptible outline. Was the sky always that enticing shade of blue? Each time you feel the late afternoon sun on your skin and wonder if it’s the last warm day for the season.

I’m not yet ready to embrace braises heavy with red wine and tinned tomatoes but I do want to flirt with the complexity a slow cook brings. It’s time to resurrect my Asian master stock from its frozen slumber. Let it defrost, warm through and give it a flavour boost with fresh aromatics and spices.