The term “local” has been the buzz word of the sustainable foods movement and has grown to mean different things to different people. In Everywhere Is Local: Recipes and Reflections to Strengthen Community and Nurture Well-being, personal chef and life coach Robyn Wright explores how local is not about geography, but rather a mindset.
The cookbook has nine chapters and 81 color photographs with vignettes of farmers, restaurateurs and entrepreneurs committed to the sustainable foods movement. Wright, who founded KalyANa (originally called PoSaNa) line of gluten-free baking mixes, highlights recipes with gluten-free flours, sustainably and humanely raised meat and nutrient-dense substitutions. (Wright sold KalyANa to Susie Roberts in February 2017.)
Wright came up with the Everywhere Is Local concept while traveling throughout the country doing demos in organic grocery stores. “No matter where I went, people came to my demonstration table and asked, ‘are you local?’” she recalls.
While observing people in stores in other states, she noticed the similarities of those shoppers and shoppers in southeast Wisconsin. “It made me think that many of us are tuned into the idea of local, and it dawned on me as I’d watch people coming into these stores that we’re all in the same community, just divided by thousands of miles. There’s a metaphysical aspect to this idea of local, and local is not just a geography, it’s a mindset. We’re all one humanity, and everywhere is local, really.”
Wright’s original concept was to do a cooking show where she would travel to farmers markets all over country and abroad to explore locally grown items in other places. Due to high costs of TV production, Wright reexamined bringing the concept forth in a different form. As a longtime cook and lover of cookbooks, releasing an Everywhere Is Local book was the next best choice.
Exploring Foods From Wisconsin and Beyond
Each chapter highlights a conversation with different families committed to the sustainable food world. Featured Wisconsin farmers include Three Brothers Farm, in Oconomowoc, and Whelan’s Wild Roots Farm, offering pasture-raised meat. Outside the United States, Wright features Los Perros Urban Farming, in Malmö, Sweden. “They were the first urban farm in Sweden,” says Wright, whose daughter lives in Sweden. “They deliver everything on bicycles.”
Wright made connections with sustainable farmers and vendors while traveling and through social media. She notes that she often had to do her own self-coaching while working on the two-year endeavor, as there were times when she second-guessed her ability to do the project and fussed over which recipes to feature.
Because Everywhere Is Local isn’t a conventional cookbook and based on the idea behind KalyANa, Wright crafted recipes with almond or coconut flours and healthy substitutions. “I’ve updated some family recipes and comfort foods that have been what I call ‘healthified,’” she says. Recipes that stand out for Wright include gluten-free cinnamon rolls. “It was a big challenge to make something that captures the taste and texture memorable from a conventional bake.”
Other favorites, which range from beginner to sophisticated cooking skills, include an apricot appetizer stuffed with a dairy-free ricotta mixture with fresh rosemary, topped with local raw honey and pistachios. Her Better at Home Crab Cakes are made with less filling and more crab than those found at some restaurants. The book also includes her family’s potato salad recipe, gluten-free apple dumplings, lemon ricotta pancakes, and coconut flour-based banana chip muffins, a recipe she developed for KalyANa and remains one of their best sellers.
Unlike artists who create works of art that lasts a lifetime, cooks spend hours on making beautiful meals, only to have them devoured and gone within minutes. “I don’t feel sad about that. Those of us who love to cook are enthusiastic about the act of love that goes into what we make. It never grows old, because I know we’ll just do it again!”
The book is available through everywhereislocal.com, Amazon and select locations throughout the Lake Country region in Waukesha County.
