About herbal cuisine with the magical Eva Huňková

Eva Huňková is a magical woman, a passionate herbalist and an enthusiastic promoter of cooking from wild plants. I was captivated by her optimistic approach to life, her colorful website and her love for the gifts of nature. The photographs of her culinary gems exude pure joy from creation and life. She is a great inspiration to me and I believe that you will also want to try these specialties at home!

Hello Eva, thank you for sharing your love of herbal cooking with us today and for telling us much more about yourself and your hobby. Let's get straight to it.

1. Who introduced you to herbalism? When did your love for herbs deepen into a passion for cooking with wild plants and fruits?

I got into herbalism through illness. When I got sick, chance brought me to a young herbalist who showed me other options, a different perspective during my treatment. This opened the door to the world of herbs and it was up to me whether I would open it wide. There was no escape, herbs enchanted me. Every time I went into nature, I felt like I had entered a fairy tale realm. The power of nature could be felt at every step. I learned to recognize new herbs and processing options. Using herbs in the kitchen became my passion and I brought this world home, into my kitchen. Every year I keep discovering new herbs and new options. From early spring to late autumn, we can collect and process an incredible amount of herbs or wild weeds with vitamins and minerals that are missing in today's diet.

2. How did the name of your website Za šipkovým keřem come about?

Name Behind the rosehip bush again it came about by chance. I knew that the name had to resonate with me, so I gave it space and time. One day I woke up and the name was clear :-) It came to me on its own. I have rosehip bushes in my garden, so they just spoke up and added to my journey of knowledge.

3. How Rosehip Oil Found Its Way to You SoZoLe Rose?

My daughter brought me the rosehip oil from SoZole Rose. Aromatherapy & Herbs Festival in Brno. She discovered your stand and bought me rosehip oil as a gift. I fell in love with it immediately. Your products are beautifully pure, natural. You can feel the love and sunshine in them. I would love to try other gems in your shop and I highly recommend them to everyone.

4. You are also preparing various herbal workshops. What will we learn and take away from them?

The world of herbs and wild cuisine has taken up permanent residence in our home. At first, I cooked these dishes just for myself, then my daughter gradually joined in, and after a few years, my husband, who was initially quite reserved, also started trying them. But when he realized that this dish also tastes great, he joined in. Not in everything yet, but he is already trying them. On herbal workshops I bring people the possibilities of using wild herbs. I show how easy it is to cook and use the gifts of nature, how uplifting the flavors are, how these foods provide the body with everything it needs and how good your soul feels after eating such food. After each course, people leave feeling a huge energy from the food. It is beautiful to watch how surprised and excited they are. And that is what it is all about. I want to share this enthusiasm with people, to share this world, these possibilities with them.

What will you take away? I think that those who come to a lecture or workshop will take away a full stomach, but also an understanding that nature offers us a lot. It offers us not only food, but also healing and understanding. When you go to collect herbs, you will not only be healthier, but you will feel much better, because you will spend a lot of time outdoors. Everything is connected. Not only food is important to us, but also rest and relaxation. It is necessary to have everything in balance. The more you go to nature, the more you will perceive the beauty, the connection. The more you will be grateful for the things that we already take for granted. Birds singing, tree flowers, sunshine, fruits, herbs. It may sound like a cliché, but when nature gets under your skin and you connect with it, you will understand a lot, but you yourself certainly know and recognize this beautiful connection.

5. Can you tell us about your favorite recipe?

In the herbal kitchen, I cook classic dishes, I just change the ingredients.
I am a potato salad lover. My kids could tell you :-) I am always coming up with new alternatives.

Potato salad with fermented mushrooms and dandelion leaves.

Boil the potatoes in their skins, peel them, cut them into rounds and place them in a bowl. Lightly fry the red onion in a frying pan, mix it with the potatoes, add the fermented mushrooms and dandelion leaves (the mushrooms are briefly boiled and then fermented with dandelion leaves in tamari sauce with garlic and a little honey), season with pepper. Season with a marinade of lemon oil and honey, if desired. Sprinkle with nettle seeds and serve with sprout meatballs.

6. I know that you are preparing to publish a storybook with beautiful illustrations. Where do you draw inspiration from? And is it challenging to publish a book?

I never planned to write a book. But a person's intentions change their fate. One day a muse came to me, woke me up at 2 am with a message - write stories about a little girl and her perception of nature. The basis of the first story was already created at the first midnight. Every night another and another story was created, which I only developed during the day. Writing the stories went by itself, because when you go to nature and perceive it, it provides you with stories. You just have to listen to it. In the storybook you will experience Rozárka's stories with fairies, with the elves of the rosehip bush, with Vrbova's grandmother, but also meet the moss grandfather. All the stories are supplemented with simple herbal recipes for children. It was an obvious choice to approach a friend for the illustration. I have known Pavla Hronová for a long time. I was incredibly happy when she agreed to my offer. I knew that she could bring Rozárka and the entire fairy tale world to paper according to my ideas. Connect to the story and transfer it to the book with her beautiful illustrations.
I decided to publish the fairy tale book myself, so everything was and is more demanding and longer. The book is currently in the graphic design stage, then it will be priced and then I have the biggest challenge ahead of me, finding the money to publish it. Then it will go to print and market. I can't wait to hold it in my hands. For now, I'm sailing on a cloud that has come after me and I'm just letting myself be carried away. I'll hope that fairy tales will find their readers and that they will like them.

7. Where can we meet you during the spring and summer?

Last year was not very favorable for meetings. In the fall, I also lost all my pages to hackers, three years of my thoughts, photos, inspirations. I didn't know whether to continue at all. In the end, I let everything go and just waited for a cloud to come by again so that I could jump on board and let myself be carried wherever the wind took me. And those meetings came. People seek me out on their own and invite me to courses, lectures, Here in the Beskydy Mountains, in a small foothill village in Ostravice, I currently have a full herbal cooking weekend stay. On June 11, 2022, I am invited to the demonstration permaculture garden in Drozdov near Zábřeh, at workshop. I met the girls at the Aromatherapy Festival. Our first workshop took place last year. This meeting was wonderful. I was delighted to be invited to them this year and I gladly accepted. In June, I would like to hold a Midsummer all-day meeting with herbs and Midsummer talk. I am preparing new things with which I would like to enrich the courses, all of course in connection with nature and herbs. I am preparing a fermentation workshop at the beginning of September and at the end of September we are organizing again with Aromatherapy & herbs workshop "Autumn fruits with fermentation" in Brno. All events are available on my website www.zasipkovymkerem.cz

And to make matters worse, I am studying in the first year of the Herb School and I am looking forward to the second year. We are already planning other projects for the beginning of next year, but most of all I would like to publish a Fairy Tale Book by the end of the year, which will of course be called "Behind the Rosehip Bush" and hold a reading in our local library, introducing it to everyone who would be interested. This world really charges me, so I hope that I have transferred at least a little of my loving energy towards nature to you through this interview.

I wish all readers a beautiful spring and many fans for your site. Thank you for the invitation.

Thank you for the nice interview and I hope that you, Eva, and your project Behind the Rosehip Bush will continue to succeed and inspire us. Have a wonderful spring day!