On a vast snowy field, deep in the heart of Ukraine, a military unit cycles through all the weapons at their disposal… shooting semi automatic guns, flying drones, testing out the latest kit being developed by entrepreneurs from around the country. A siren blares in the distance; the soldiers barely blink. The day is sunny but cold, below freezing; everyone says this is the worst winter they’ve had in 10 years.

It’s nearly four years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but the faces here show the same grit and grim determination to defend their homeland as they did on day one. For them, there is no other option. The endless cycle of fighting… training… fighting and training takes its toll, as does the weather. Luckily, here, there is a hot lunch.

To start, a bowl of pickled chicken broth with rice – full of stick-to-your-ribs boiled potatoes, onions, carrots and long-cooked chicken thighs. It’s the first time I’ve stumbled on this soup, and it’s lightly sour flavor comes from diced pickle and a dash of brine. Sour cream stirred in at the end make it creamy and comforting.

On the side, shredded cabbage, mini sweet peppers and carrots, tossed with dill and salt for an overnight brine in the fridge (my favorite way to pickle vegetables now, by the way – no liquid required!). And a platter of both dark and white bread.

Thinking this feast was lunch, I immediately set out to polish off every plate in front of me… until an army of grandmothers marched out of the kitchen with even more: bowls of the earthy buckwheat known as kasha topped with braised pork and stewed carrots.

I find kasha is an acquired taste – it has a dark undertone to it that verges on bitterness – but for me it’s one of my favorites, as it always means I’m getting some real Ukrainian homecooking.

Mugs of what I hoped was hot tea soon followed – but instead it was kompot – a kind of low-sugar juice popular in Ukraine, which can range from a sort of cranberry juice flavor to this one… which was a smoky as mezcal with none of the buzz. Not my thing.

But fear not: gorgeous poppyseed rolls and seedless clementines abounded. Exactly the dose of vitamin C and sugar you need to get back out in snowboots and onto the field.

Four years of fighting requires constant fortification… and here they nailed the recipe.