Here's what you'll need:

• 4 large pears (or apples)
• 20 grams of vegetable butter
• 50 ml apple cider
• 3.5 grams of finely chopped rosemary
• 1 heaping teaspoon of salt
• 2 sprigs of rosemary

Cut the nashi pears in half a day in advance, remove the cores, and make several slits in the tops, as you would for Hasselback potatoes. Place them in a bowl of water with the salt and rosemary sprigs. The next day, make the glaze by melting the butter and adding the apple cider and finely chopped rosemary. Let it reduce briefly. Brush the nashi pears with the glaze and bake them in the oven at 180 °C for 20 minutes or until tender.

Skewer the nashi pears on a skewer, brush them again with the glaze, and place them on the hot barbecue or grill for about 5 minutes. In the photo, the nashi pear is served with a chestnut panisse and chimichurri sauce.

Here's what you'll need:

• yellow cornel cherries
• 3% salt (based on the weight of the fruit)
• 3% sugar (based on the weight of the fruit)

Pick the dogwood cherries when they are slightly red but still firm. Weigh them and add 3% salt and 3% sugar. Mix well and transfer everything to a clean, airtight jar.

Shake the jar daily for the first week, and then a few times a week. Be sure to carefully release the built-up pressure every now and then. After about five weeks, the cherries will be fermented. Store them in the refrigerator afterward. They’re delicious as an appetizer or in a North African stew!

Here's what you'll need:

• 100 grams of olive willow berries
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• 400 ml (sparkling) water
• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Mash the olive willow berries with a fork and place them in a bowl along with the sugar and lemon juice. Let stand for 10 minutes so the berries release their juice. Pour in 100 ml of cold water and stir well. Strain the mixture and squeeze the berries well.

Fill a pitcher with water and add the berry syrup. Stir gently and taste to see if the lemonade is diluted enough. Serve well chilled, optionally with a few ice cubes and a sprig of fresh olive willowberries.

Here's what you'll need:

• 250 grams of flour
• 7 grams of dry yeast
• 4 tablespoons of sugar
• 10 verbena leaves (or another aromatic herb)
• 400 ml (plant-based) milk
• 16 apple sprinkles
• 50 grams of (vegetable) butter

Finely chop the verbena and mix it in a bowl with a pinch of salt, flour, yeast, and sugar. Add the milk and stir with a whisk until you have a smooth batter without any lumps. Let the batter rest for 1 hour at room temperature.

Hold the apple blossoms by the stem and dip only the berries in the batter. Heat a skillet with butter and fry the apple clusters until golden brown. While frying, use scissors to cut off the stem—you’d rather not eat that. After a few minutes, flip the apple clusters and fry the other side until golden brown as well. You can mix in more finely chopped verbena with the (powdered) sugar.

Here's what you'll need:

• 150 grams of sea buckthorn berries (about one cup)
• 30–50 grams of sugar (to taste)
• 3 sprigs of lemon balm

Place all the ingredients in a small saucepan and add a small splash of water. Bring to a boil and let it simmer gently for 10 to 15 minutes, so that the lemon balm releases its flavor and the berries burst open. Then press the mixture through a fine sieve with a spoon and taste to see if any extra sugar is needed.

Serve the warm sauce over a scoop of (plant-based) ice cream, or with Greek yogurt, (almond) ricotta, or quark. If you thin the sauce with a little extra water, you’ll have a delicious syrup for lemonade.

Here's what you'll need:

• 4 large mulberry leaves,
• a handful of mulberries,
• 60 grams of toasted walnuts,
• 6 green olives,
• a teaspoon of sumac and a sprig of thyme (mugwort is also a delicious herb to use here)

Boil the leaves in water for 3 minutes and puree half of the walnuts into a paste.
Coarsely chop the remaining ingredients and mix with salt, pepper, and a dash of olive oil.
Place the filling in the center of a mulberry leaf, roll it up, and enjoy!

Here's what you'll need:

• 500 ml almond milk,
• 50 g chestnut flour,
• 25 g sugar, a pinch of salt,
• 35 g cornstarch,
• zest of ½ organic lemon,
• a cup of honeyberries.

In a bowl, mix one-quarter of the almond milk with the chestnut flour, cornstarch, sugar, and salt until smooth.
While stirring, add the rest of the almond milk and the lemon zest, and heat slowly over low heat. Continue stirring until it comes to a boil, then remove the lemon zest.
Let it thicken for 5 minutes until it becomes a thick sauce, turn off the heat, divide among small molds, and let set in the refrigerator.
Meanwhile, heat the honeyberries with an extra tablespoon of sugar in a small saucepan. Serve over the cold pudding.

Recipe for April/May:

• 15 green asparagus spears,
• 15 wild garlic leaves,
• 5 tbsp olive oil,
• 2 tbsp agave syrup,
• grated zest of 1 lemon,
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 300 g puff pastry.

Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Line a flat baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the olive oil, agave syrup, lemon zest, thyme, salt, and pepper on it. Then arrange the halved asparagus on top, placing them close together on the sheet, and top with the wild garlic.

Cover everything with puff pastry and press the edges down firmly. Bake for 15 minutes using only the bottom heat, then for another 10–15 minutes with the top heat as well, until golden brown and crispy. Let it rest for a moment after baking, then turn the tart out onto a cutting board.

Photo: Lannoo / Rene Mesman