Cookbook

The DCFM Cookbook is here! Celebrating 50-plus years of one of the country’s most renowned farmers market with recipes that feature local ingredients with an international spin, it’s also a gorgeous, warm-hearted salute to the vendors, shoppers and chefs who make the market a community. All proceeds benefit the DCFM!

Get the Cookbook

Purchase it at the Dane County Farmers’ Market Cookbook Booth on Saturdays at the Capitol Square (7 am – noon; see map at bottom of page) OR on Wednesdays on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, at the Info Booth (8:30 am – noon).

To order ahead for pickup at the Dane County Farmers’ Market, click here.

To order for shipment, click here.

You can also find the cookbook at many bookstores and other retail outlets—scroll down to the bottom of this page for a list of locations.

For wholesale orders, contact Little Creek Press at 608.987.3370 or info@littlecreekpress.com.

For questions or inquiries, contact cookbook@DCFM.org.

Click on the book cover to take a look inside the cookbook.

About the Book

Hundreds of Wisconsin growers and thousands of shoppers gathering weekly around the white-domed State Capitol in Madison. Heartfelt stories and dishes from the people who build cultural and community bonds at the largest producers-only farmers market in the nation. An ever-growing diversity of farm-fresh crops, world-class cheeses, pastured meats and specialty products. It all comes together in this collection by veteran cookbook author Terese Allen.

Build your pantry contents and recipe repertoire with everything from purple daikon radishes and harissa paste to bandaged cheddar and black currants. Prepare both contemporary and heritage dishes such as Hungarian Tomato and Pepper Stew, Tacos de Carnitas, Garlic Scape Feta Pesto Salad, and Red Kabocha Squash Soup with Ginger, Lemongrass, and Thai Eggplant.

In addition to some 125 recipes that give a global spin to local ingredients, the cookbook includes a history of the DCFM, a foreword by award-winning chef Tory Miller of L’Etoile, and many pages of colorful market shots by photo editor Bill Lubing, his team of talented photographers and others from the DCFM community.

The book “shines as a beacon for those wishing to experience Wisconsin's nuanced agricultural heritage, our culinary prowess and our diversity,” says Luke Zahm, host of PBS’s “Wisconsin Foodie.” Author and editor Lindsay Christians writes, “The recipes are surprising and accessible, sourced from vendors, chefs and market-goers alike. For anyone who wants to cook more seasonally, this book is a treasure—and a vivid love letter to Madison, too.”

The hardcover, full-color, 258-page cookbook was published by Little Creek Press (Mineral Point, WI). For inquiries or more information, write to cookbook@DCFM.org.

About the Author

Terese Allen has been called Wisconsin’s “premier food writer” and “the keeper of its culinary heritage.” Her columns have run in Edible Madison, Edible Door, Isthmus, Wisconsin Trails, and elsewhere, and her books include The Flavor of Wisconsin, The Flavor of Wisconsin for Kids, Fresh Market Wisconsin, Wisconsin Local Foods Journal, and The Ovens of Brittany Cookbook. Terese is a co-founder and longtime leader of the Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin (CHEW) and past president of REAP Food Group.

Volunteers needed!

The DCFM Cookbook Committee seeks your help to get the book into the hands of market-lovers everywhere. Interested in joining the team? (It’ll be fun, we promise!) Please contact Joan Ballweg at chilies1@outlook.com.

Terese Allen (right) at an event at Republic of Letters Bookstore in Mineral Point, WI (on 9/2/23).

Upcoming Free Book Events

Sat., Sept. 23, 8:15-10:15 am. Author book signing, Dane County Farmers’ Market/Cookbook Booth, Capitol Square, Madison.

Tues., Sept. 26, 5:30 pm. Room of One's Own, 2717 Atwood Ave., Madison. Terese Allen in conversation with Barb Pratzel, author of The Manna Cafe Cookbook. Food samples from the DCFM Cookbook will be available.

Tues., Oct. 3, 7-8 pm. Leopold's Bookstore, Bar & Caffe, 1301 Regent St, Madison. Short talk by Terese Allen with Q & A and book signing.

Sat., Oct. 7, 8:15 – 10:15 am. Author book signing, Dane County Farmers’ Market/Cookbook Booth, Capitol Square, Madison.

Sun., Oct. 8, 12-2 pm. Author book signing, Fall Festival at Branch and Daughter market, Windsor.

Sat., Oct 28, 8:15-10:15 am. Author book signing, Dane County Farmers’ Market/Cookbook Booth, Capitol Square, Madison.

Tues., Nov. 7, 6:30 pm. Verona Public Library. Author presentation and book signing, Verona.

Wed., Dec. 6, 7 pm. Culinary History Enthusiasts of Wisconsin (CHEW), “Madison’s Magical Market: History, Recipes and Community Flavor,” presented by Terese Allen, Goodman Community Center, 149 Waubesa, Madison. Food samples from the DCFM Cookbook will be available.

Check back again for additional events.