From farm to table: Farmmade introduce their first cookery book
I’ve known Lisa and Steffi, the sisters behind Farmmade, for a couple of years now. I remember meeting them at a friend’s book launch and instantly knowing that I would get on with them. There were two main reasons for this, firstly their friendly manner & authenticity and secondly, for what they do. I was really happy when they agreed to chat to me about their first cookery book. Going back to the aforementioned book launch, Steffi and Lisa were in charge of the drinks. The recipes they used turned out to be a few of the recipes from their blog.
Farmmade is a collection of images & words that inspires its readers to cook with what can be found in the garden, no matter the size. The ingredients could also literally be on their doorsteps. A lot of those recipes were created with findings from Lisa & Steffi’s own kitchen garden, situated on their 200 year old family farm (now run by their brother) just outside Munich. Lisa and Steffi’s initial idea was to use their blog to document their daily life and what they do. When they founded it in late 2016/early 2017 they never imagined that their content would one day lead to a beautiful seasonal cookery book with their name & logo adorning its cover.
It was only a couple of years later that the initial idea to approach publishers & potentially create a book arose. As is so often the case in life, destiny had a different path in mind for the two of them. In a weird turn of events, it was actually their dream publishers themselves who approached the sisters and helped turn their ideas into reality. Hölker Verlag (the publisher) created some guidelines on how many pages/recipes could be included but other than that, Lisa and Steffi had free reign on what went into the book as well as its appearance. Lisa was in charge of the photography (the portraits from the Farmmade girls were created with support from Carina Pilz) and the seasonal recipes were written up by both Steffi and Lisa. I’ve tried quite a few of them already. They’re easy to follow, delicious and I must say, it is hard to decide on only one favourite.
When I asked the Farmmade girls what their favourite recipes were, Steffi mentioned the romanesco sourdough flatbread and her special summery birthday cake. Lisa’s first choice was the tomato focaccia because not only does it taste wonderful, but it’s also simple to make. She also loves the potato tortilla with radishes and the battered elderflower blossoms (see recipe below). What do all of the recipes have in common? They were created with joy.
Joyfulness is the overwhelming feeling felt by the sisters when reflecting on the book writing process and their journey from starting their blog up until now. Had Lisa & Steffi lost that joy along the way, they might have made it to where they are today - and in my opinion, that would have been a real loss. Their love of seasonal cooking is infectious and radiates from every page, making it very hard not to become inspired. The combination of great ideas and the sisters clear devotion makes it oh-so easy to fall in love with their recipes.
Speaking of joy, I couldn’t resist asking them about what adds Heiterkeit to their lives. Lisa explains that her summers always start on the 1st of May. As soon as she sees the trees around her in bloom, she can’t help herself but feel heiter. Steffi feels the same way whenever she sees a flock of sheep. She can cycle where she lives and there’s a local shepard with his flock she sometimes spots when cycling. It reminds her of her childhood back on the farm and brings back feelings of joy and nostalgia.
Last but not least, I wanted to know what their biggest takeaway from writing a book was. Both agreed it was the realisation that they could actually do it. Within a short amount of time they got all the photography & words together. It was a process of growing and ‘learning by doing’ and they’re immensely grateful for the experience as well as the confidence & trust in themselves they gained from it.
The Farmmade girls have kindly agreed to share one of their recipes with the heiter community. Unfortunately, their book is not available in English (yet) but if you’re interested in learning more about how they cook, I highly recommend following their journey on Instagram. If you would like to get their book (in German), you can do that here.
Elderflower Fritters
Recipe for 4 people
12 elderflower clusters, make sure the stems are about 10cm long
2 organic eggs
200g wheat flour (alternatively, spelt flour)
250ml pale ale/lager (alternatively, white wine or milk)
1 tbsp plant oil
a pinch of salt
a pinch of sugar
Additionally:
Your preferred cooking oil
Icing sugar to dust the battered blossoms
Optional: apple sauce
Carefully shake the clusters to get rid of potential dirt and small insects. Briefly dunk them into cold water and then leave them on a kitchen towel to dry. Wherever possible, try to avoid collecting elderflower growing next to a busy road. Make sure you leave the stems at least 10cm long when trimming, that way it’s easier to dunk them into the batter and fry them later. You will only eat the blossoms, not the stems.
Separate the eggs and beat the egg white until stiff. Mix the egg yolk, flour, beer, oil, salt and sugar until smooth. Then carefully add the egg white to the mixture.
Pour enough oil into a big saucepan and heat well. Dunk the elderflower clusters into the batter, shake them slightly to make sure there’s not too much batter on the individual blossoms and fry them in the oil until golden brown (approximately 2-3 minutes). Take them out and leave them on a sheet of kitchen roll to get remove any excess oil. Dust the blossoms with icing sugar and serve them warm (with or without the optional apple sauce).
Recipe: Farmmade Munich
Words: Katharina Geissler-Evans, heiter magazine
Images: Farmmade Munich
Image recipe: Katharina Geissler-Evans, heiter magazine
