Enjoying and cooking with herbs, spices and flowers

What do you get when a “herb whisperer” from the Austrian Waldviertel meets an equally original culinary artist from the Weinviertel region? An extraordinary and innovative cookbook with the title “The Taste of Joy – Enjoying and Cooking with Herbs, Spices and Flowers”.

The main characters: Manfred Buchinger, born in 1952 in the Lower Austrian wine region, has worked as a chef in the Intercontinental Hotel in Vienna, as well as in renowned French and Japanese restaurants, and has received national and international awards.
Today, using preferably local produce wherever possible, the experimental top-chef conjures up innovative culinary creations, in his famous restaurant “Zur Alten Schule” (“The Old School House”) in Riedenthal.
Johannes Gutmann, born in 1965 and native in the Waldviertel region, founded the company SONNENTOR in 1988 when he started marketing organically farmed herbs and spices under the logo of the smiling sun and under the motto “live and let live”. Today, he has about 135 employees at SONNENTOR headquarters in Sprögnitz, a range of about 600 products, and he exports to more than 45 countries worldwide.

The ingredients – double pleasure: Manfred Buchinger’s creative cooking ideas, which make every meal a taste experience for the senses. His recipes involve seasonal local produce and fresh or dried herbs, whether spicy-sweet, aromatic-fresh, Mediterranean classics, or even almost forgotten wild herbs. Johannes Gutmann’s sound and detailed knowledge of herbs and his tea recommendations complement a perfect meal.

Manfred Buchinger explains how the title and the image on the cover have emerged: “A friend gave us some fresh porcini mushrooms and we had the idea to cook something together – millet with wild mushrooms and chives”. Johannes suggested using SONNENTOR Cheery Risonno, which I enriched with fresh seasonal produce. “The result was pure joy for our taste buds”.
The idea for “The Taste of Joy" was born. And Johannes Gutmann adds, “of course we drank tea with our meals, namely the ‘White Protection & Power’ tea with ginger”.

Care for another sample of Manfred Buchinger‘s creations? “Zander with roasted vegetables florets” accompanied by apple mint tea as recommended by Johannes. “Comparable with a young, fruity white wine, it complements fine fish, cheese and pasta. Its fresh flavour blends well with garlic and spinach. Enjoy the tea also with light summer desserts, such as yogurt parfaits”. The recommended healthy dessert to go with the fish – pea and wasabi ice cream with herbs.

Traditional knowledge, combined with clever recipe ideas and plentiful tea recommendations, make this book an adventurous journey of discovery into the gourmet world of herbs, flowers and spices. Manfred Buchinger puts it this way: “We demonstrate how with a little effort you can bring wonderful flavours to the kitchen. Our book is a little treasure chest for anyone who wants to add joy and pleasure to the daily life.”
And Johannes Gutmann is also convinced “We at SONNENTOR believe that nature holds the best recipes for a beautiful and long life”.

Cookbook “The Taste of Joy – Enjoying and Cooking with Herbs, Spices and Flowers” by Manfred Buchinger and Johannes Gutmann
Portraits & Enjoying tea with meals
Hardcover, format 16,5 x 24 cm, 240 pages with numerous illustrations
Published by Residenz Verlag
€ 29,90 (incl. VAT)

Only available in German.