Cookbook MOCKUP

51 PIETRO BOR, RICE FARMER Vercelli Risotto “Panissa Vercellese” Method • Leave to flavour, then add the rice; toast, deglaze with the wine and let it • Soak the borlotti beans the evaporate completely. night before • Add the broth only (no beans) and • When ready to cook, place all cook over a medium heat for about ingredients for the broth in cold water 12 minutes, stirring constantly and and cook over a very low heat for adding more broth when necessary. around 1 ½ hour. The beans must be cooked al dente, not smashed • When cooked, add all the beans, remove from heat, cover and leave to • Prepare a mixture with the salami rest for around 1 minute. paste (or pork or lardo) and the onion (or shallots) and brown it over a low • Season with pepper; to the taste of all heat; add the tomato paste. the diners add the grated parmesan. Ingredients In their own words Serves 4 What's your earliest memory of life on your farm? For the broth “ The familiar harmony. Love, any fight, that’s what I remember. Harmony between 50 g lard 300 g dried borlotti beans every family member is my philosophy, and my biggest challenge and fear. Whether 1 onion it’s an issue with a tractor or a technical issue on the field or anything else, we will 1 bay leaf Coarse salt to taste ”get through it as long as the family is in harmony and works together. Risotto 320 g Carnaroli rice 1 small onion or 2 shallots 1 dl red wine, e.g. Barbera 150 g salami paste, or minced pork or lardo 1 tablespoon tomato puree or double concentrate Grated Grana Padano, optional Freshly ground black pepper

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53 INGRID MELHUS, DAIRY FARMER AND RETAILER Norwegian Waffles Method • Bake the waffles in a heart shaped waffle iron, and serve them hot. • Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl then slowly pour in the milk a little at a Serve with any topping, but often with time. Stir well between pours to get a jam, sour cream, sugar, butter and/or smooth mixture without lumps. brown cheese. • Stir in the eggs and add the melted butter. Let the batter rise for 1/2 hour. Adjust the batter with a little water or milk if it is too thick. Ingredients In their own words 5 eggs Is this recipe typical of your region or country? 8 tablespoons sugar “ Waffles are very typical for all of Norway, but how we make it is unique to each of 1/4 teaspoon salt us. The topping we use also varies a lot, most people like sugar, jam, sour cream and 2 dl instant oats ”the Norwegian brown cheese. But there are many regional differences. 2-3 dl whole wheat flour Why is this recipe important to you and your family? 8-10 dl all-purpose flour “ ”Tastes good, fast and easy to make! 12 dl milk What do you think the future of farming looks like? 1 dl melted butter “ I hope it is a bright future and that we are recognised for the good work we This is approx. You use what do. Covid-19 has put more focus on Norwegian food and locally produced food, you have when you make them. and makes people want to be self‑sufficient. I also hope the work we put in is Feel free to add a little cream if you have any. Sugar must be to ”properly compensated. taste, but we think waffles can be a little sweet.

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55 INGHILD BLOMSTERENG, DAIRY AND SHEEP FARMER AND AGRICULTURAL PARTS RETAILER Rognbollesuppe Method Soup • Mix the fatty dry meat into the cod roe. • Add chopped potato, onion, carrots, Leave it to settle for about ½ hour. rutabaga and mutton to your meat broth and cook for about 1 hour. • Stir in the onion, salt, pepper and Season with salt and pepper. wheat flour. If the roe is completely fresh, you need less flour. • Add the roe buns and some of the broth. (The buns and soup can be • Boil the water and add the meat bone served separately, if someone wants to make a broth. Season with salt. to eat only soup or is allergic to fish products). • Form small buns from your cod roe Ingredients mixture and test cook one in the broth. If it is loose, then you can add 2 medium-sized cod roe (approx. more flour. ½ l) – cleaned and whipped well 2 1/2 dl finely chopped fatty dry • Put the small buns in the boiling mutton meat water with a spoon and cook for ¼ small onion finely chopped about 10 min. If you want to, make 1 teaspoon salt more portions for freezing: cool the ½ teaspoon pepper broth down and freeze the small buns 2½ dl wheat flour within it. The broth can be used in the 1½-2 l boiling water and a dry soup eventually. meat bone for broth 2 kg potatoes In their own words 1 kg carrots 1 kg rutabaga What’s the name and history of this recipe? 1 onion 2 kg mutton “ The dish is called Rognbollesuppe, this is a traditional Sea Sámi dish. It consists of roe from cod, dried meat from sheep, milk, some flour, some oatmeal, salt and pepper. Rognbollesuppe is a result of the fact that in the past people did not have such a good economy nor a good food supply, especially after the Second World War. You had to use everything that was edible, and when you did not have access to so ”much meat, this was a good alternative. What ingredients come from your farm? Where do you source other ingredients? “ From the farm we get milk and mutton. We slaughter sheep, butcher it, put in brine and hang to dry. When the meat has dried, we cut it into small pieces ready for the mixture. The roe we buy from local fishermen when they come ashore. We get milk from the milk tank in the barn, it is a little fattier than the one you get at the store. You can use ”a little cream in the mix if you do not have that much roe. Why did you choose this recipe? “ Because it is a recipe and an idea with a strong tradition where we live and we see that many have taken an interest in it. It’s also very important to care for the old Sea Sámi traditions, it deserves a little honour and glory, it is special and does not ”exist anywhere else. It also reminds us of the tough history of the Sámi people.

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57 BJØRNAR OTTESEN, FARMER AND RETAILER Boknafesk Method for approx. 15 minutes. It should not boil. It is finished when the fish easily • Whether you have bought the fish comes away from the bones. dried or done it yourself, soak it in water for 12 hours. • Serve with boiled potatoes, fried bacon or lard. Some people use carrot stew, • Use the same water when cooking or pea stew or pea puree. the fish. Boil the water in a large saucepan and add 1/2 dl salt per litre of water. Add the fish and let it soak Ingredients In their own words Cod (preferably skrei cod) is hung Who was the first person in your family to establish your farm? for 1 to 2 weeks to dry. When the fish has a dry skin, but still has “ My great-great-grandfather started the farm and ran a combined fishing, elasticity in the fish flesh, then take it down and freeze. cow and sheep business. It was so in the past that the men went to sea and fished, ”while the ladies were at home and ran the farm. What’s your earliest memory of life on your farm? “ I remember I was 3 or 4 years old and grandfather ran the farm. We had an old silo with a conveyor belt and we raised hay with a fork on the belt. I was so small and ”got very tired, but everyone had to work, big and small. What do you think the future of farming looks like? “ My hope is that politicians see the value in producing food, both towards the producer and those who sell. Today, the entire production is controlled by large chains. I want those who produce to get the salary they deserve, and that there can be opportunities for those who have small farms. My hope is that agriculture will become the small units that a family can live from, that the large industry that is controlled by very few will disappear. In the world, there is unequal distribution of food. It is important that the food is produced where it is eaten, that we do not ship food over large parts of the world when it can be produced locally. We buy cheaper products from poor countries so they become poorer and we get richer. I have faith, ”during the Covid-19 pandemic, that there has been more focus on self-rescue.

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59 TOMASZ KOC, MONIKA ZALEWSKA, AGRICULTURAL PARTS DEALERS Koryciński Cheese Method Ingredients • Heat up milk to 36-38 degrees. • Put the thickened suspension into Don’t use cold or pasteurised milk! a sieve lined with a cheesecloth. Makes about 1.5 kilos of cheese You could use the strainer by itself if it 10 l fresh milk • Add 30 drops of microbial rennet has a fine mesh. 30 drops microbial rennet per 10 litres of milk, gently mixing Flavouring ingredients together. Stop the milk with a spatula • Now it’s time for flavouring as preferred so that it does not spin. ingredients. You can add garlic flakes, wild garlic, black seed, pink pepper, • Wait about 30 minutes for curds mint, cranberry or even caramel. to form. • Let the mass drain off at a • When the curds are ready and crack temperature of 18-20 degrees, until evenly under a knife, gently cut it the consistency thickens and becomes along its entire length (vertically compact and no whey accumulates and horizontally) into squares about under the sieve. 1.5 x 1.5 centimetres. • While dripping, turn the cheese every • Wait until the whey starts to emerge 1-2 hours to create a nice ‘loaf’ shape. and the curd is underneath. • Put the drained cheese into brine with • Cut the suspension diagonally a concentration of 18-22%. If you want (compared to the way cut previously) it to be slightly salty then the cheese with a side of about 0.5 cm and set should lie in the brine for about aside for about 15 minutes. 4 hours, if you like it saltier leave it in the brine for 6 hours. • When it has cooled, warm it up gently, stirring carefully (preferably in a • The cheese prepared in this way water bath) and making sure that the should be eaten within a maximum temperature is always 36-38 degrees. of 2 weeks so that it does not dry out, Stir until the pieces of curd are about unless you have a special refrigerator the size of a grain of puffed rice. in which it can mature for longer. • Leave the suspension aside for around • The cheese can be served fresh in 12 minutes for the curd to settle down slices or as a great addition to salads to the bottom and then pour off some or fried in cubes in oil with spices. of the whey from above. In their own words What are the biggest challenges to farming life? What do you think the future of farming looks like? “ Agriculture is changing in a direction that I don’t like. Chemicalisation and centralisation of farms takes place quickly, which is harmful to the environment and high-quality products. Unfortunately, this process will continue and, in my opinion, in Poland, we should emphasise the preservation of small family farms and the ”production of high-quality products for the local community.

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61 TOMASZ BAGŁAJ, AGRICULTURAL PARTS DEALER Pike Perch Fillets Method • Dice the fish into very small cubes, spices to taste and olive oil. You can sprinkle with lemon juice, pour vodka also add egg, but in summer I usually on it and sprinkle with a little salt, add only olive oil. then put in the fridge to marinate for 3 hours. • Finally, toast the bread and brush it lightly with butter. Serve it alongside • After taking it out of the fridge, add the the main dish. onion and gherkin (diced into small cubes), mustard, a little sugar and Ingredients In their own words Pike perch without skin Who in your family came up with this recipe? 2 large spoonfuls Żubrówka vodka, or brandy “ The recipe is my idea. At first the fish came out bland and tasteless, because it is 1 lemon 1 red onion a white and thin fish. Only when I made the Żubrówka marinade or brandy with lemon Olive oil Gherkin ”did it take on a taste and now everyone is delighted with it! Toasted bread Butter When do you make this recipe? 1 teaspoon mustard Salt, sugar, black pepper “ ”For special occasions. It is a dish that I take on boat trips on the lake with my friends. I also make it for name days and birthdays for my family. Why did you choose this particular recipe? “ I really like fishing and boating on the lake. The inspiration for this dish was salmon and cod tartare prepared by my fisherman friend. We often go on a boat with our friends, everyone has to prepare something, so I decided to surprise them with a ”pike perch fillet.

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63 MONIKA AND MATEUSZ WITCZAKOWIE, AGRICULTURAL PARTS DEALERS “Keks” Cake with Cranberry and Pistachio Method • Mix everything together to form a batter and pour into a cake tin. • Preheat oven to approx. 160-170°C • After baking, pour white chocolate • Combine egg, sugar, oil, buttermilk on top of the cake or sprinkle with and a teaspoon of vanilla powdered sugar. • Sift the flour, baking powder and • Make sure that the ingredients for baking soda into the bowl with the the batter are at room temperature, wet ingredients otherwise you will have a soggy cake! • Add raw and dried cranberries, chopped pistachios and orange peel Ingredients In their own words 250 g wheat flour Who in your family came up with this recipe? 1 teaspoon baking powder Half a teaspoon baking soda “ It is a recipe found in the cookbooks of my late great-grandmother. Now I, 1 teaspoon vanilla 1 large egg a great-granddaughter, use these recipes and continue its traditions. We usually bake 160 g sugar 240 ml buttermilk ”a cake for special occasions, birthdays, Christmas and autumn evenings. 80 ml oil Zest 1 orange Where do you get the ingredients for this dish? 1 cup fresh and dried chopped cranberries “ We search for ingredients from local suppliers and farmers’ neighbours. 65 g chopped pistachios Cake tin 11x21cm For example, we buy cranberries on a farm from close friends and make delicious ”fruitcakes, liqueurs and juices out of them. Why did you choose this particular recipe? “ For us, this cake is a return to a carefree childhood. I run a small studio after hours, where I make cakes, but the fruitcake is my beloved cake. At home, when baking, it always smells great and is very simple to make. It can be eaten up to ”a week after baking, it is perfect for soaking in tea.

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65 NICOLAE IONITA, KRAMP EMPLOYEE Quail with Mushroom Sauce Method • When the butter has melted, add the flour, stirring constantly to avoid Quail sticking. It will start to thicken in a few seconds, this is the base of the sauce. • Fry the quail meat in butter and season with salt and pepper. After the • Separately, fry the mushrooms in meat has a nice colour, put in the oven butter. Put aside some large slices to for 20 minutes at 180°C. use for decorating the plate. Add salt and pepper then pour the sauce over Mushroom sauce the mushrooms, keeping the heat on for a few seconds to blend tastes. • Melt and heat 100 g of butter in a frying pan. If you want, you can add Arranging the plate is simple: put the additional flavours such as coriander quail on a plate and pour the white and ginger, but not too much as we sauce over it. You can also use the big want to keep the mushroom flavour. slices of cooked mushrooms to give a nice final design. Ingredients In their own words One quail (200-250 g) When do you prepare this recipe? 500 g mushrooms (champignon or pleurotus) “ It is an opportunity to delight our friends when they visit us, to put something 50 g flour 100 g butter exquisite on the table. I am passionate about cooking and I cook other recipes, 150 ml milk but the quail recipe is a way of saying welcome to my guests and also make it feel like a gastronomic visit the moment when we meet up with our friends. I want them ”to feel something special, happiness for me is the happiness of others around me.

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67 CIPRIAN CONSTANTIN SICOE, KRAMP EMPLOYEE Balmos Ardelenesc Method • The sour cream is boiled in a pan. • Add salt to taste and keep on the After it starts boiling, sprinkle the corn boil until the butter shows up on top. flour in, constantly stirring so it won’t The Balmos is underneath, made out stick to the bottom of the pan. of sour cream and flour. • It can be served with fried sausage pieces. Ingredients In their own words 800 g homemade sour cream Tell us about this recipe (minimum 30% fat) 6 tablespoons corn flour “ The recipe is a very simple one, specific to the area that I come from, Tara Motilor. Salt to be added to taste It is usually prepared in the morning before people go to work. Breakfast over there is served around 10am. In that region, people go to work at 5am, and at 10am the wives or mothers would come over to visit the boys that were working the fields, bringing ”them food. Where do you get the ingredients from? “ Things are very simple. The majority of the ingredients for any recipe were made or grown on your own farm. For the Balmos, ingredients come from your own farm because the ingredients are very simple. Sadly, nobody produces corn flour anymore ”and that’s why we have to buy it.

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69 ISAEV ISA, ARABLE FARMER Halva Method • Put melted butter in a heated thick • Add flour until the mixture has the pan. Bring to a boil. To check the consistency of thick sour cream. readiness of the butter, pour a pinch of The mixture should produce a pleasant flour – it should become golden. nutty smell and have the same taste. If you can still taste raw flour, continue • Gradually, pour in parts of the sifted to fry. flour, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon until the mass thickens • Pour sugar powder into the hot to such an extent that it will be difficult mixture and mix well. Walnuts, to mix. hazelnuts, or almonds can be added if desired. • We pour flour in 7 stages, constantly stirring. The whole preparation • Put the finished, hot mass on a process takes 70-80 minutes. plate, press and let cool. After, make diamond-shaped cuts. Ingredients In their own words 1 l melted butter When was your farm established? 12 cups flour 500 g powdered sugar “ It’s been around for over 35 years, if memory serves. My father and grandfather, for whom I was named, moved from Dagestan to Stavropol Krai 40 years ago. My father has lived in this area since then. So, the farm has existed for 35 years if not more. He moved here just before the break-up of the Soviet Union and ”stayed here. What is your father’s approach to farming? “ My father is a hardworking man. Work is what makes his life meaningful. He really respects those who work hard, which he has been doing all his life. He even worked when he was still in school: the times were hard, so everybody worked. It is the Soviet upbringing – there is nothing you can do about it. Even if we try to persuade him to take some time off and travel somewhere, it is still difficult despite the fact that we can afford it now. It is difficult to take him anywhere far from the farm. Just before we started talking, he was in the District centre and he still called me to check if everything was OK on the farm. For the two years I’ve been working here, I have come to realise how much he cares about the farm. The farm is his whole life. My father’s life principle is that no one should be hungry – neither people nor animals. That’s when he is happy: when the animals are fed and the people are not hungry. Everyone who used to work for us but now works elsewhere remembers ”having such good meals that it was difficult to work at times!

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71 NIYAZ GALIEV, AGRI DEALER Chak-Chak Method • Break eggs into a bowl, beat lightly. • Fry the chak-chak until golden brown over a medium heat in a preheated • Add salt and flour and knead a soft pan with plenty of oil. dough, enough so that it does not stick to your hands. • When all the chak-chak is fried, prepare the syrup. • Cover with a bowl and let sit for 15 minutes. • Bring honey with sugar and water to a boil and simmer over low heat for • Roll out the dough about 4 mm thick 4 minutes, no need to add extra water. and cut into strips 1.5-2 cm wide. • Pour the syrup over the chak-chak and • Cut into strips like for noodles, you can mix thoroughly. Put the chak-chak on cut thinner or thicker as you prefer. a dish to serve. Ingredients In their own words 5 eggs A pinch of salt Why did you choose this recipe? Why is it important to you or your family? 350 g flour Oil for frying “ I wanted to show what dishes Tatar and Bashkir people, from our region of Syrup the Volga and the Urals, eat. Things like Belish and Chak-Chak are eaten during celebrations. These are things that our parents would cook, and we are used 250 g honey 50 g sugar ”to them. 2 tablespoons water What do you think is the future of farming? “ I believe that agriculture is a strategic area. When I was a student in the early 2000s, the global population was about 6 billion people, and now it’s approaching 8 billion. It’s increased by nearly 2 billion in 20 years! If we don’t develop agriculture, we’ll end up having nothing to eat. That is why I think that agriculture does have ”a future.

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73 VICTOR LEVKIN, ARABLE FARMER Lachory Method • Pour the cottage cheese and sour • Dust a large baking sheet with flour cream into a large bowl. and preheat the oven to 200°C. • Add the kefir or yoghurt and mix until • Take a cup of water and dip a it has the consistency of a liquid puree. tablespoon in. Use the wet spoon to spread the mass onto the baking • Gently stir in the baking soda and let sheet, moistening the spoon with the mixture stand. water each time. • In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs • Once everything is spread onto together with the sugar. The sugar will the baking sheet, let it settle for not dissolve entirely but that’s ok. three minutes before cooking for 50 minutes. The mixture should be • By now, your cottage cheese mixture a nice golden brown in colour. should have risen well. Mix together Ingredients with the whisked eggs and sugar and a pinch of salt and begin to add plain 400 g cottage cheese flour until you have a thick dough 1 tablespoon sour cream and can no longer use a spoon to 1 teaspoon baking soda stir. I usually mix by hand at the end. 100-150 g kefir or yogurt Set aside. 4 eggs 250 g sugar In their own words Plain flour – judge by eye 30 g butter Why did you choose this recipe? Is it part of your family history? Pinch of salt “ I wouldn’t call it history, just a tradition of the Cossacks from the north of the Oblast who have always been making it. Everything is grown here, and there is no need to get anything elsewhere in the city. All the ingredients are available from the garden. We are in Aksay, a village in Oktyabrsky District, Volgograd Oblast. The farms here are very big, and we are no exception – 25,000 hectares. We produce wheat, barley, proso millet, and any grain that is in demand on the market. It dates way back to ”the 1930s. What’s your earliest memory of living on the farm? “ My parents started taking me to the field when I was very little. I was with them everywhere. One thing I remember clearly is that they used to get to work in a horse‑drawn carriage. I remember sitting there and looking at the horses in front ”of me.

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75 URKUMBAEV AMIRKHAN, MACHINERY AND TRACTOR SPECIALIST IN AGRO-HOLDING Beshbarmak Method Ingredients Broth • Spread the noodles on parchment or For the broth on a free table sprinkled with flour. • Wash the meat. Put meat in a Leave them to dry for 30-40 minutes. 1300 g lamb (and/or beef) saucepan and cover with cold water. with bone • Cut the onions into rings or half rings. 2 bay leaves • Bring to a boil, reduce heat, remove In a frying pan, heat the fat removed A few pinches of allspice foam – keep for later. from the broth or a little vegetable oil. Salt Put in half of the onion, salt a little and Optional: • Cook for 3-3.5 hours at a low boil lightly fry until soft. 1-2 peeled and chopped onions covered with a lid, until the meat is 1 peeled and chopped carrot tender and separates very easily from • Pour 2 scoops of broth into a the bone. saucepan, put in a second onion, cut For the noodles into rings or half rings, sprinkle with • 1-1.5 hours before the end of freshly ground pepper, bring the broth 2 eggs cooking, put the onions, carrot, bay to a boil and cook for 1-2 minutes. 200 ml water (or broth) leaf, allspice and salt into the broth 600 g flour (vegetables are not necessary, you can • Remove the onion with a slotted spoon 2 onions use only spices and salt). and transfer to a bowl. Add another Parsley 4-5 scoops of broth to the broth in ½ teaspoon salt Noodles which the onions were cooked, add Freshly ground pepper water and salt to taste. • While the broth is cooking, prepare the noodle dough. Pour sifted flour • In boiling broth with water, boil (300-400 g) into a bowl, beat in eggs the noodles in small batches for (you can pre-whisk them), add salt and 7-8 minutes (noodles can be placed pour in water (or cold broth). in a sieve and shaken to remove off excess flour or you can quickly rinse • Knead the stiff dough, adding flour the noodles with cold water). if necessary. Knead the dough well, wrap in plastic wrap and leave for • Remove the boiled noodles with a 20-30 minutes. Then sprinkle the table slotted spoon, transfer to a colander with sifted flour and lay out the dough. to get rid of excess water, then mix the noodles with the fried onions and stir • Separate a piece the size of a medium so they don’t stick together. apple from the dough (wrap the rest in foil so that it does not weather). Roll • Put the cooked noodles around the out the dough into a fairly thin layer on edges of a wide plate and place the a floured table. meat in the centre. Put the onion stewed in broth on top of the meat • The dough must be constantly and season with plenty of freshly sprinkled with flour so that it does not ground pepper. stick to your hands and work surface. The dough should be rolled out • To accompany the finished with effort. Beshbarmak, serve hot broth poured into bowls or soup plates, thickly • Cut the rolled dough into strips and sprinkled with chopped herbs such as cut the strips into rhombuses. chives and parsley. In their own words What is the recipe you have selected? “ Beshbarmak is a Kazakh national dish (as far as I know, it is rather the Russian version of the name of this dish). If translated literally – “besh” in Kazakh – five, and “barmak” – finger/fingers. Kazakh and other nomadic tribes did not use cutlery while eating, but took meat with their hands – hence the name. We have been cooking it since ancient times. Nowadays, no celebration takes place ”without it.

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77 SERGEI CHERDANTSEV, ARABLE FARMER Fried Venison in Lingonberry Sauce Ingredients Method • Now you can prepare the lingonberry sauce. Take 4 tablespoons of ½ kilo venison fillet • First prepare the marinade for lingonberry sauce, add 3 tablespoons Pinch juniper berries the meat. Take 6 tablespoons of of water, 30 g of butter and salt and Pinch peppercorns lingonberries, put them in a saucepan pepper to taste. 30 g butter and add the water. Bring to the boil 6 tablespoons fresh or and boil for 3–4 minutes. Then whisk • Boil it for 3–4 minutes and leave it to frozen lingonberries and add salt to taste, add the red wine cool down. While it is cooling, fry your 4 tablespoons lingonberry sauce – the marinade is ready. meat. When it’s almost ready, I also (bought or homemade) add shelled pine nuts to the sauce. 200 ml water • Take the meat, remove the membrane They add a specific pine flavour. 100 ml dry red wine if there is any, rinse carefully, and Salt to taste then cut it into medium-sized pieces, • Once the meat is ready, put it on Olive oil for cooking about 1.5 cm thick, like you would for plates and pour the lingonberry sauce a steak. The meat is then marinated on top. You can use anything as an for a day in the fridge. accompaniment, be it potatoes or anything else that you prefer. • An hour before cooking, take the meat out of the fridge and tenderise it a little. In their own words Why did you choose this recipe? “ When I have the chance, I really like cooking fried venison with lingonberry sauce. When I was a small child my father would ask his northern friends to bring some venison. Now, it is easier to order it. The dish is quite interesting. It has a peculiar taste. Basically, you can cook something that is only served in very ”expensive restaurants. Tell us about your farm “ I grew up in the city, but when I would come to my grandmother, I would always think that I wanted to move to a village and live there. It was my dream. So, when I could afford it, I built a house in the countryside. The garden we have produces more than one family can eat, so when our friends come to visit, you can give something to them and be even happy doing that. When people come to visit from the city, they note how different it is to have home-grown tomatoes rather than buying them in a shop. ”For me, it’s not a chore but a way to relax.

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79 TOMÁŠ LAKOMI, AGRI DEALER Gemer Meatballs Method • Boil lightly salted water in a deep pot. • Divide the potatoes into two equal • Place the meatballs into the boiling batches. Clean, boil and mash one water where they will naturally sink to batch of the potatoes. Clean the other the bottom of the pot. The meatballs half of the potatoes and finely grate are cooked when they rise to the them, raw. Then drain the juice that surface. Remove them from the the raw potatoes release. boiling water. • Mince the smoked pork meat together • Finely cut the onion and fry in lard with the cracklings, then mix the meat until golden. with cooked and mashed as well as raw grated potatoes. • Gemer meatballs are served sprinkled with sauerkraut on top and then • Add both types of flour, eggs, mashed topped with the fried onion. garlic, salt, ground black pepper and marjoram. • As a drink we serve sour milk or acidophilic milk, depending • Thoroughly mix all the ingredients on preference. together, then manually shape Ingredients meatballs the size of your palm. While shaping the meatballs, it’s a 1 kg potatoes good idea to soak your hands in cold 1 cup plain flour water so that the mixture does not 1 cup coarse flour stick to the hands. 250 g smoked pork meat Pork cracklings (to taste) In their own words 2 eggs 5 cloves garlic When do you typically prepare this recipe? A special occasion? 2 onions Sauerkraut (to taste) “ In the past, this recipe was prepared for Miners’ Day (September 8-9) as the 1 tablespoon lard Salt Gemer region has a strong mining history. It was a peasant food with the task of Ground black pepper feeding those with little money and little time. Today, it is not prepared for any special Marjoram Sour or acidophilic milk ”occasion and is more or less a common dish. Where do you usually buy your produce? “ For this particular recipe, we produce or grow most of the ingredients. We have potatoes, onions and garlic from our garden, eggs from our hens and even smoked meat of our own production. We try to shop for other produce at the farmers markets. And in the end, what we don’t buy at the farmers markets, we buy in local groceries. When people buy local food, they indirectly give work to local farmers ”and sellers. What is the name of the recipe you would like to share with us? “ I chose this recipe because it is a very tasty food, easy to prepare and simple and it does not require any ingredients that would be unavailable in a normal household. It is a recipe typical of our Gemer region and I wanted to share it with the world. And maybe those who give this recipe a try and find it tasty, will also look up ”something about Gemer on the internet and one day will come and visit us.

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81 PAVOL BAČÍK, KRAMP EMPLOYEE Sauerkraut Soup Method • Stir and cook over low heat with a lid for approximately 1 hour. • Melt the lard in a deep pot. Gradually add chopped onions and sausages, • Then remove the smoked pork neck bay leaves, whole black peppercorns, from the pot, cut into smaller pieces allspice and paprika. and return back into the pot. • Fry the onion until it is golden, • Add sliced or whole potatoes and let add diced pork shoulder and finely the soup boil. It should be ready in chopped garlic. Stew for about 20 minutes. 10 minutes until the meat is soft. • Serve Sauerkraut soup with toasted • Add the sweet ground paprika, bread smeared with fresh garlic. mix and fry briefly. The taste of the soup is more pronounced the following day. • Add sauerkraut, salt and hot water. • Cut the plums and mushrooms into smaller pieces and add them to the pot together with the smoked pork neck. Ingredients In their own words 1 tablespoon lard Who in your family is the author of this recipe? 300 g sausages or 2 sausages 2 onions “ I know this recipe from my mother but the authors are generations before us, it is 4 bay leaves Whole black peppercorns a traditional Slovak dish. The soup itself is characterised by the sour taste caused by Allspice sauerkraut or fermented cabbage. By the way, it is a very rich source of vitamin C and 300 g pork shoulder fermentation produces probiotics that have a positive effect on the microbiome in the 500 g smoked pork neck digestive system. It is therefore a food that strengthens immunity and maybe that is 4 cloves garlic Sweet ground paprika ”the reason sauerkraut has long been a traditional food in our region. 800 g sauerkraut 300 g potatoes When do you typically prepare this recipe? A special occasion? Salt 2 1/2 l hot water “ We prepare this recipe most often at Christmas and Easter but also during the 1 handful plums 1 handful dried mushrooms year, at least once a month. We have our own homemade fermented cabbage from local farmers and we use it in other recipes as well as the main ingredient. We really ”like sauerkraut. Why is this recipe important to you and your family? “ ”It is a traditional soup for Christmas Eve Dinner. I can’t imagine Christmas, even Easter without it. It simply belongs to these important holidays.

82 UNITED KINGDOM

83 JANE OGLESBY, CATTLE FARMER Slow Cooked Beef Shin Method Ingredients • Thickly slice enough onion to cover the to serve it, I move it to the baking oven bottom of a shallow pan or casserole. (180°C) so that it can caramelise a Beef shin One that is just big enough that it will bit. During this hour, you need to keep allow you to tightly lay the shin on top an eye on it and sometimes I turn Enough onion to cover the of the onion in a single layer. Pour on the slices of shin over so that they do bottom of a shallow pan enough water to just cover the meat not dry out on the top. The aim is to or casserole and sprinkle some sea salt on. fully soften the onions; further soften the gelatinous part of the meat and Salt • Put the dish, uncovered, into the reduce the liquid to a thicker gravy simmer oven of an AGA or your oven at type consistency. Enough water to cover the meat 110°C for several hours – to suit your day, really – but more than four and • It is, of course, necessary to make Two days to cook! less than eight. The first time you do sure the dish does not run out of liquid this, you will need to check regularly completely, at any point, but by the end that the liquid is sufficient. It should of the ‘bake’ it can afford to have little continue to sit at the level of the top juice left. of the meat. Just add more water if the level drops. If you’re worried and • If you still have a lot of juice left and are going out for the day, or doing want to get serving, just transfer it overnight, then put a lid or silver the liquid to a saucepan and ‘rapid foil on. boil‘ it until you have a thicker, tasty sauce left. • Leave it in your fridge overnight. • Serve with mashed potatoes made • The day I want to eat it, I put it in the with plenty of butter, full cream simmer oven, again, two hours before milk, salt and pepper and serving and then an hour before I want seasonal vegetables. In their own words What’s the history of your farm? “ This started as my hobby. I was a GP but became much more interested in farming and much more open to all sorts of health benefits of everything we do and the way that we live. I started with 4 acres and now we have 200, which we’re slowly taking back from an intensive dairy farmer. We bought three and a half acres in Mobberley, with a derelict cowshed on it, and we converted it into a home. We got the cow a year or so after that, the first cow, and the pig. Then when my daughter was born it really focused my mind. You start to think more consciously about everything. I just thought actually, I don’t want to eat rubbish but I don’t feel that a vegetarian or vegan diet is right for a child. We’ll do our own meat then. ”It really just grew from there. Do you have a ‘philosophy’ of farming? “ Our farming practices are animal, human and planet friendly. Our native breeds can live outdoors all year long, in even the harshest Cheshire winters. They are extensively reared on mixed pasture and forage: their natural diet. The calves stay with their mother for nine months and the bull lives amongst them to keep everyone happy! This makes our beef incredibly human friendly, as grass fed beef has the heart healthy ratio of Omega 6: Omega 3 and contains CLA and Vitamin E resulting in a decreased risk of heart disease, cancer, obesity and auto-immune disorders. We spread no nitrates and use minimal pesticide and herbicide. The cows often drink from our natural ponds: created to help with flooding. The “outdoor” system needs ”no heat or light, and we create minimal food miles by killing and selling locally.

84 UNITED KINGDOM

85 TOM PEMBERTON, DAIRY FARMER Apple Dessert Cake Method • Grease 10” fluted cake ring tin. • Spread the rest of the mixture over the apple and smooth over. • Put all ingredients except apples, almonds and demerara sugar in a • Bake at 160°C. Gas 3.for approximately mixing bowl. Mix well until smooth. 1 hour 30 minutes until pale golden (Use a food processor if available) and shrunk from side of the tin. • Sprinkle almonds on the bottom of the • Allow to cool slightly before removing greased tin. from the tin. • With a teaspoon roughly dot half the • Remove from the tin and sprinkle with mixture over the almonds. (Do not demerara sugar. level the mixture) • Serve warm or cold with cream or • Spoon the prepared apple over the ice-cream. mixture in the tin. Ingredients In their own words 8 oz melted butter Tell us about your farm 3 large eggs 12 oz caster sugar “ Our farm is 250 acres based in Lytham St Annes, in the north west of England, 2 teaspoons baking powder 12 oz self-raising flour and has been in the family since the 1950s. 18 oz cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced. My grandad and his brother, my great-uncle Tom, bought the farm off the estate 15 oz flaked almonds when his father died, when they were 18 and 15. They had six cows, which they sold Demerara sugar for sprinkling to buy six Ayrshire cows. The story is that Great-uncle Tom used to say ‘I’ll be a wealthy man with six cows.’ At the moment, we have 350 heads of stock, and we are not that wealthy! I’m the fifth generation of Pemberton farmers. We have cows and sheep and produce milk, cream, butter, our own meat, honey from our own bees and more. It’s a real family affair, most of the family contributes to the running of the farm or the farm shop in one way or another and I want to keep it in the family and keep it moving on ”for generations to come! Is the recipe typical of your region? “ My dad’s mum, Grandma Pem, came up with this recipe and we used to have plenty of cooking apples from a tree my dad planted for my mum at our old house. We’d have so many apples, we’d be eating apple cake, apple, pie, apple crumble - everything apple based. We’d usually have this after a big Sunday dinner, as a treat. We don’t have an apple tree on the land at the moment, so we source ingredients locally, using our own butter of course. I must remember to plant a new ”apple tree.

86 GERMANY

87 BEATE LOOS, ORGANIC VITICULTURIST Wedding Soup with Liver Dumplings and “Schwimmerli” Method Schwimmerli Broth Ingredients • Boil root vegetables together with • For the pastry: bring the milk, butter, Broth the beef. and salt to the boil, and add the sifted flour to the boiling liquid all at once. 1 l water • Simmer for 4 hours. Stir until the dough is smooth and the 1 teaspoon salt mixture comes away from the pan in Root vegetables – 1 stick celery, Liver dumplings one lump forming a white coating on 1 small carrot, 1 small onion the bottom of the pan. 1 lb beef or beef bones • Boil the egg and dice it. Then, soak the bread roll in some water and squeeze • Allow to cool slightly and, one at a Liver dumplings it to soften. Finally, sauté the onion in time, add the eggs and the parsley. the onion and add parsley. 250 g liver • Take small bits of dough with a spoon, 1 boiled egg • Mix the liver, the roll, the egg, and the drop it into some fat and cook until 1 bread roll sautéed onion into a paste. Season golden brown. 1 tablespoon butter with salt and pepper. Shape into 1 small onion, finely chopped dumplings and test one by cooking it • To serve, sprinkle the Schwimmerli Flat leaf parsley in some broth. on top of the warm broth with Salt, pepper liver dumplings. Breadcrumbs as required • If the dumpling cooks correctly, add the rest of them to the broth. Schwemmerli • Bring to the boil briefly, then leave to ¼ l milk simmer for 5 minutes. 50 g butter 150 g flour, sifted. In their own words 4 eggs Salt, pepper and nutmeg Has the farm always been in your family? 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley “ The Loos family have farmed the hills around Dingolshause for longer than we can remember. A farmstead has existed in some form on our land for centuries, with the biggest recorded update, a new farmhouse in 1882! In the beginning, hundreds of years ago, our family concentrated on pig-breeding, wine and asparagus cultivation, but today, we are exclusively organic viticulturalists, ”or wine growers, a switch we made approximately 15 years ago. Tell us about the recipe. Is this a family recipe? Who did it come from? “ The recipe for the Hochzeitssuppe comes from our family cookbook, which is at least 100 years old. The recipes have been passed down from generation to generation – and always varied a little according to taste. Normally, the recipes and the menu are served at special occasions like festivals and holidays, when the whole family gets together and wants to enjoy a special treat - ”or simply when a family member specifically requests it. Where do you source other ingredients? “ We are true to our region and fellow farmers, with beef fillet coming from the grazing cattle in our village, apples from nearby while eggs are from our ”neighbour’s chickens.

88 GERMANY

89 ANJA PÖTTING, ORGANIC DAIRY FARM OWNER AND AGRICULTURE COOPERATIVE PARTNER Apple-Walnut Cupcakes with Caramel Cream Method Ingredients • Preheat the oven to 180°C. be completely dissolved, do not allow it Batter to stick to the edges of the pan. • Peel the apples and cut them into 450 g flour 1.5 cm pieces. Sprinkle with the lemon • Increase the heat and cook without 1 teaspoon cinnamon juice and the apple juice and mix well. stirring (swirling occasionally) until 1 teaspoon baking powder the sugar turns light amber (approx. 3/4 teaspoon salt Batter 15 min; always stay by the pot because 360 ml vegetable oil the colour quickly changes to dark 480 g sugar • Mix the flour, cinnamon, baking brown, which means it’s burnt). 3 eggs powder and salt together and sift into 3 large apples a large bowl. • The sugar crystals that settle on the Juice of 1 lemon edge can be wiped off with a brush 1 cup walnuts, chopped • In another bowl beat the oil and the dipped in water. 3 tablespoons apple juice sugar together until light and fluffy (for best results, use a hand mixer or • As soon as the sugar turns a medium Frosting a Kitchen Aid at medium speed for amber colour, remove immediately about 3 minutes). from the heat and slowly add the 125 g unsalted butter cream, stirring all the time (be careful, 500 g cream cheese • Add in the eggs one at a time mixing it bubbles a lot, and the sugar is very well in between until the mixture hot). When everything is well blended, Caramel becomes light coloured. Now add the return the saucepan to the plate over flour mixture in three stages always medium heat and heat for approx. 240 g sugar mixing well in between. The batter will 1 min, stirring until everything is nice 80 ml cold water become very thick! and creamy. 160 ml single cream • Now fold in the apple pieces and the • Allow the finished caramel to cool chopped walnuts. completely (you can also prepare it well (e.g. double the quantity) and fill • Pour the batter into muffin cases in a it into twist-off jars, it will keep in the muffin baking tin. fridge for about 1 month and tastes delicious in coffee or on toast). • Bake for 20 min (stab with a toothpick to check if it’s cooked through). Frosting • Allow the muffins to cool for about • When the cake and caramel have 10 minutes in the tin and then leave to cooled completely, make the frosting. cool completely on a cooling rack. • Mix the butter and cream cheese Caramel sauce together (both at room temperature) for 3 minutes until creamy. Then add • Prepare the caramel while waiting for about 3/4 of the caramel and mix until cakes to cool. well combined. • In a small to medium saucepan, heat • Then pipe the frosting onto the water with sugar over a medium heat, cupcakes with a piping bag and stirring occasionally. The sugar must decorate with a walnut and the rest of the caramel sauce. In their own words Do you have a “philosophy” for the farm? What was it? Has it changed over the generations? “ There has actually only been one farm philosophy since we, my husband and I, started running the farm. We try to farm as sustainably as possible and ask about the positive ecological impact of every decision we make. Nothing is done solely based on ”economic efficiency.

90 GERMANY

91 KARINA SCHWARZBAUER, ARABLE AND RARE BREED FARMER Beef Rumpsteak Ingredients Method • Whilst it’s cooking, check from time to time to ensure the liquid does Serves 4 • Preheat the oven to 150°C. not decrease too much – if it does, Prepare the dish in a well-sealed Then season the rump steak with salt add some stock or water. casserole pot and pepper. 2 to 3 rump steaks (about 1 kg) • Now comes a resting phase! Salt and pepper • Heat two tablespoons of oil in an If possible, the meat should be left to 3 tablespoons high quality oil ovenproof casserole dish on the marinate overnight. This way it will 2–3 onions, diced hob and sear the beef on all sides. become so tender that it can be easily 3 carrots, sliced Remove from the casserole and cut with a fork. 500 ml beef stock set aside. 250 ml dry red wine • After warming slightly, remove the 1 bay leaf • Lightly toss the onion and the carrots vegetables and the meat from the 3 sprigs fresh thyme in the leftover oil in the casserole. casserole. Strain the sauce into Add the meat, the stock and the another pot, boil to reduce slightly red wine. and season to taste. Then put the meat and vegetables back into the • Then, lay the herbs in the casserole sauce to warm up. The meat now dish and cover the vegetables with a has a strong taste and a jelly-like tightly fitting lid to keep the moisture consistency – a delicacy! As a side in over a long period of time. dish, I recommend Spaetzle and, if seasonally available, asparagus. • Now put the rump steak in the oven and cook for 4 hours at 150°C. In their own words Tell us about your farm “ We are a part-time farm with arable farming and breed the endangered cattle breed, Pinzgauer. We look after a herd of about 50 cows, who live in a stable in the farm during the winter months and on the pastures about 0.5 km from the farm, on the edge off the Schrobenhausen forest, during the rest of the year. For us it is the most beautiful and sociable breed of cattle in the world and that’s why ”we are committed to ensuring that it does not become extinct. Why is this recipe important to you and your family? “ A regional and seasonal diet is very important to us – we only eat meat from animals that we raise ourselves or game that my husband brings home as a hunter. ”We are committed to stress-free handling of the animals right up to the end.

92 GERMANY

93 NADINE WEBER, FRUIT FARMER Pork Filet Wrapped in Bacon with Chanterelle Cream Sauce with Spatzle and Pepper Cherry Preserve Method Chanterelle Cream Sauce Spätzle Ingredients • Beat all ingredients together in a • Finely dice the shallots into and sauté Spätzle mixing bowl until air bubbles appear. in the pan until translucent. Bring about 4 litres of salted water to 500 g flour the boil and, with the help of a potato • Toss the cleaned chanterelle 1 teaspoon salt press, slowly press the dough into the mushrooms into the pan and braise 5 eggs (medium sized) boiling water. until the liquid has evaporated. 200 ml lukewarm water Salt Pork filet wrapped in bacon • Douse the pan with the beef stock and the wine and simmer until the Pork Filet Wrapped in Bacon • Pre-heat the oven to 200°C. mushrooms are cooked. 500 g pork filet • Lay out the bacon slices next to each • Then, add the cream, and add the salt, About 400 g Black Forest bacon other overlapping slightly on a sheet pepper and nutmeg to taste. in slices. of clingfilm. • To thicken the sauce, dissolve some Chanterelle Cream Sauce • Place the pork tenderloin along the corn starch in water and add to bottom of the bacon slices, folding the the sauce. 500 g fresh thinner end of the filet under the slices chanterelle mushrooms so that the meat remains at an even Cherry Preserve 2 shallots thickness later. 400 ml beef stock • Caramelise the sugar and simmer 100 ml white wine • With the help of the clingfilm, with the cherry juice. 200 ml single cream now begin wrapping the filet with Salt, pepper, nutmeg the bacon. • Allow to simmer until the juice has reduced to about 250 ml and stir in a Cherry Preserve • Remove the cling film and sear the little starch to thicken. meat in a frying pan over a medium 50 cl cherry juice heat, seam side down, and gradually • Season the cherry stock with balsamic 50 g sugar turn, until golden brown on all sides. vinegar and freshly ground pepper. 2 cl cherry brandy Balsamic vinegar • Place the filet in a baking dish and add • Halve and pit the cherries and add Pepper (Freshly ground from a a splash of wine. them to the cherry stock. Allow them pepper mill) to stew in the sauce preferably from • Roast in a preheated oven at a 200°C the day before serving. for about 20 min. • Take the filet out of the baking dish. Wrap it in aluminium foil and allow it to rest for about 5 minutes. In their own words Who is the author of this recipe in your family? “ I got the recipe from my mother and I then added the cherry preserve, as I really like the combination of sweet and sour. We normally cook this recipe during special ”occasions, for example on feast days or holidays. Is your recipe typical in your region or in your country? “ I think that the recipe is typical for our region, Ortenau, because we cook a lot with spaetzle. The Ortenau is also known for its orchards and vineyards. It is a fertile region with the best climatic conditions. We love our home, live close to nature and prefer regional products. Not just since there have been “buy local” campaigns, but ”because that is how we have grown up: with what nature gives us!

94 GERMANY

95 HEINER AND CLAUDIA KEIL, LIVESTOCK FARMERS Rump Steak with Pepper Cream Method • Pat the steaks dry. • Add the peppercorns and deglaze with the pastis. • Heat the oil in a large frying pan, place the steaks in the pan and sear over a • Add the stock and reduce by half. high heat for about 2 minutes per side. Then boil up the rest with the cream. Then leave in the pan over a medium heat for a further two minutes. • Arrange the steak on the pepper cream and season with black pepper • Melt the butter in a pan and sauté the and fleur de sel. Garnish with chives. onion until translucent. • Serve with fried potatoes and runner beans wrapped in bacon. Ingredients In their own words Serves 4 Tell us about your farm. 250 g rump steak of beef per person “ We manage our farm on 180 hectares of land within the framework of mother- 2 tablespoons of oil 50 g butter bound pasture husbandry. Our animals are born on our farm, stay with their mothers 100 g diced onions for the first nine months of their lives, and from March to November they live in a 2 tablespoons pickled pepper herd on the surrounding nature conservation meadows. After 24 to 32 months, the 100 ml beef stock animals are slaughtered, processed and marketed in the farm’s own butcher shop. 100 g cream 1 tablespoon chives Our family has been running this farm since 1965. We live here with my Black pepper, “fleur de sel” salt parents‑in‑law and our three children together on the farm. As a family farm we live (sea salt flakes) and work here together, my husband runs the farm and the country butchery. I am responsible for planning and organising farm tours and events. The farm has been in the family for three generations and was founded by Heiner’s grandfather Günther Keil in 1965. From 1965 to 2012 it was a conventional mixed farm. But since 2012 we have specialised in species-appropriate and sustainable ”animal husbandry and transparent meat production. Is this a family recipe? Who did it come from? “ My mother-in-law has been making rump steak from free-range beef in pepper sauce for decades and serves it on special occasions. We prepare it at Christmas or ”for a birthday.

96 GERMANY

97 SUSANNE LÖHRLEIN, DAIRY FARMER Beef Roulade Method • Pour in enough stock to half-cover the roulades. Cover and braise the • Spread the meat slices out flat, roulades in a casserole dish over a low season with salt and pepper and coat heat for 1-1½ hours; turn the roulades with mustard. halfway through cooking, adding more liquid if necessary. • Heat the butter in a frying pan and sauté the onion and parsley, • Remove the binding material from then spread on the meat. the meat. • Cover each piece of meat with two • Add the red wine to the sauce, reduce slices of bacon and half a pickle and over a high heat, strain, and season roll it up. Pin the meat with metal or to taste. wooden skewers, or tie with twine. • Arrange the roulades in a shallow, • Roll the roulades in flour. Heat the preheated dish or a deep plate and clarified butter in a casserole dish and pour the sauce over them. sear the roulades on all sides. • Brown the onions and carrots, add the tomato purée. Ingredients In their own words 4 large, thin slices from the Tell us about your farm: topside of beef Salt, black pepper “ Our farm is located in the eastern part of the district of Bamberg on the Jura, 1 teaspoon medium hot mustard 20 g butter 480 metres above sea level. The small village is called Wotzendorf and has about 1 onion, chopped. 60 inhabitants. 1 bunch parsley, chopped. 8 thin slices streaky bacon The farm has been in the family for many generations. The first owner on our family 2 pickles halved lengthwise. tree was Löhrlein Andreas Schultheiß in 1728. 11 generations later, our father took 2 tablespoons flour over the farm in 1987. In 1995, our parents got married and have been managing the farm together ever since. For Braising: The eldest of us four girls is Franzi, a trained industrial mechanic. After her 40 g clarified butter apprenticeship she completed part-time training as a caretaker. After work, she is 1 onion, quartered mainly responsible for our “Milchhäusla”, our dairy shop where you can buy raw 1 carrot, thickly sliced milk from our cows, as well as various other milk and meat products from the 1-2 teaspoons tomato paste region. I’m the second of the four of us and a qualified Master of Agriculture. I will About 3/8 litre beef stock take over the farm when my parents retire. Our third sister Lissi, also a trained 2 tablespoons red wine industrial mechanic helps with milking and watering calves after work in the barn. The youngest of us is Johanna. At 13 years old she is still at school and then ”responsible for the “Milchhäusla” and the barn. Tell us about the recipe. Is this a family recipe? Who did it come from? “ Beef roulades are a typical dish for our region. We like to cook them on Sundays or at the “Kerwa” (the parish fair), because everyone in the family likes to eat them. The ingredients for our roulades are meat from our cattle and vegetables from ”our garden.

98 BELGIUM

99 ANNEMIE VANRUSSELT, MOTHER OF KRAMP EMPLOYEE Grandma's Flemish Stew from Hasselt Method Ingredients • Sear the seasoned pieces of meat with • The ratio of vinegar/sugar + syrup a knob of butter in a frying pan. depends on whether you prefer 1.2 kg stewing beef a sweet/sour sauce or a very 2 onions • Be careful not to fry too much of the sweet sauce. Tasting as you go is Knob of butter meat at once, as the meat will cook recommended because you can Salt and pepper rather than sear always add more of the ingredients. Vinegar 2 tablespoons syrup • After searing the meat, transfer it to a • Put the cooking pot on a low heat and 2 tablespoons brown sugar cooking pot together with the remains let it simmer slowly. 4 slices soft white bread, of the butter it was cooked in, plus a crusts removed bit of water. • Spread the bread generously Mustard with mustard. • Chop the onions roughly, not too small, and add to the cooking pot with • When the meat is almost done, the meat. after simmering for around 1 1/2 hours, place the slices of bread mustard side • Add a dash of vinegar along down on top of the meat and continue with 2 tablespoons of sugar and to cook until the bread is dissolved in 2 tablespoons of syrup. the sauce (the bread is used to bind the sauce together). • It’s very tasty served with fresh home‑made fries and home-made apple sauce. In their own words Who in your family is the originator of this recipe? “ This regional dish, typical of all of Flanders, has been handed down from generation to generation and has been one of the highlights of the family cookbook over the years. This dish is prepared on request and not necessarily for a special occasion, but is wonderful on a cold winter evening together with a nice wine or a strong glass of ”regional beer by a crackling fire.

100 BELGIUM