There’s something about cold, dark, short days that makes me want to eat serious food. We’ve got spring and summer for perfect vegetables, fall for apples and the first taste of squash. So in the dead of winter, you’ll find me at Barbara Lynch’s Butcher Shop in the South End, eating rillettes out of little clay pots. Rillettes are a pâté-like spread made from slow-cooked meat, which is then shredded into tender ribbons and blended with some of the fat rendered during cooking. On any given day at the Butcher Shop, you can choose from pork, duck, or rabbit rillettes, a highlight on the short menu of nibbles offered at the wine bar. The best part? The rillettes are perfectly suited to the luscious reds on wine director Cat Silirie’s list. Spring can wait.

Available for $9 at the Butcher Shop, 552 Tremont Street, in Boston. Call (617) 423-4800.