“MEADOWS: The Swedish Farmer & The Scottish Cook” by Bosse Dahlgren & Wendy Barrie.

Sustainable recipes, self-sufficiency, biodiversity, food security and conservation doesn’t even come close to describing the topics covered in this 424 page fully illustrated book. Exploring food culture with over 100 recipes, this hardback is the result of years of research and practical experience. Co-written by Scottish Food Guide creator Wendy Barrie and her husband Bosse, they highlight serious issues seasoned with light-hearted anecdotes from farming life to inform and entertain.

Published in June 2022, printed in Scotland, available from selected farm shops: Auchentullich Farm Shop (Loch Lomond), Craigie’s Farm Shop (Edinburgh), Errichel (Aberfeldy), Galloway Lodge Preserves (Gatehouse of Fleet) & Scotland The Bread Stall @ Bowhouse Market (Fife) plus more to follow. Alternatively order online @ £30 (includ. UK p&p).

Nordic in style, Nordic by nature, together Wendy & Bosse explore the shared food cultures of Northern Europe, created by landscape, climate and soils, reflecting on the past and looking to the future with refreshing ideas for food production and tourism: making the most of what you have and using it in ways that will provide the best food in the kindest way for our planet following Slow Food principles.

Bosse is a regenerative farmer, horse logger and lifelong campaigner for biodiversity, working with rare breed living genebanks. He has been milking cows since he was eight years old, his grandfather broke in horses for the army and as a boy he watched his grandmother carry out nose-to-tail pig butchery on the kitchen table every December.

This book combines Bosse’s first hand knowhow of nature friendly farming practices, supplying chefs and restoring landscapes, alongside Wendy’s collaborations with artisan food producers, chefs, restaurants, festivals and food tourism. Their book, like many of the heritage foods therein, is truly a rare breed.

The perfect read for…

• Growers who wish to cook more
• Cooks who seek insights into how food is produced
• Farmers, smallholders and gardeners
• Self-sufficiency followers
• Environmentalists
• Supporters of the Slow Food movement
• Students of life
• Gastronomes and foodies