Out and about with Heidi
We had a very special guest with us at this year’s customer events in Stuttgart, Munich and Berlin, which were held under the heading of “Gespräch rund ums Buch” (Discussion about books). On the three evenings Heidi from Switzerland, the adult version of the character from Johanna Spyri’s book for children, presented her cookery book, Heidi and Friends, to our guests. This book, which offers a mixture of cookery, art, philosophy and poetry, contains simple recipes that Heidi has compiled on her travels, and which anyone can follow, even if they don’t have much in the fridge or they have to use leftovers. Between the pages are not just hints and notes but also miscellaneous items that go with the recipes or their back stories. For example vacuum-packed Bündnerfleisch (air-dried meat from Switzerland), sandpaper, wild herb seeds, a photo of her grandfather and much more ... so much that it looks like the cover might burst. Each of the 4,444 copies was put together by hand by Swiss artist Piroska Szönye (Heidi’s real name) and her helpers.
Refreshing Swissness with cover material from Peyer
The project came about with the help, inspiration and commitment of many participants. A sort of “networking book”. Somebody knows somebody who can do something to help. Piroska was assisted in her endeavour by a number of companies, chefs (with and without stars) and friends. Peyer, too was able to make its contribution: the material for the cover, which holds all the ideas, recipes, stories and items together. It is available either in hot pink synthetic leather (CRYLUXE) or in a tactile paper version (SURBALIN linea).
We really enjoyed our evenings with Heidi. She was able to inspire a number of guests to think about new projects and ideas, and she shared a little of her refreshing feeling of Swissness with all of us.