At Michelin-starred restaurant EDEN in Valkenswaard there’s crow on the menu
Kraai op het menu bij sterrestaurant EDEN in Valkenswaard
Michelin-starred chef Herman Cooijmans has a dish with crow on the menu at his restaurant EDEN in Valkenswaard, The Netherlands. He serves the animal’s breast paired with braised green lentils with bacon and orange, cream of parsnip and pine nuts, and a powerful poultry gravy with cardamom.
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Crow on the menu | Zero waste, local, organic and great taste
‘Crows are abundant and despite being a protected species, there is national exemption to control the population,’ explains star chef Herman Cooijmans. ‘This is also done a lot because the birds cause irritation and damage. But once they are shot, nothing happens to them.’
Countering waste has been a reason for the chef to start working with it. Besides the fact that he thinks they taste great. ‘When I use the crows, not only is it a zero waste product, but I am also working with an animal that is local and organic. In fact, the shot crows come from Valkenswaard and Eersel. The flavour is very similar to wild wood pigeon, but with a slightly more gamey flavour.’
Experimenting
Herman Cooijmans serves a tasting menu, in which he seeks the culinary limits and dares to experiment with new products and new flavours or preparations. Of course, the starting and ending points are always the same; the dish has to be tasty. Naturally, there is no question of changing that.
‘Why am I serving a dish with crow? Well, why not! I have had the idea for about five years and it came about after I heard from a Scottish woman that they eat crow more regularly in Scotland. After many years of searching for the right way to be able to cook with crow, I finally managed to get the meat the right way – inspected and all – and create a dish with it.’
This is a course, consisting of the crow’s breast fillet, braised green lentils with (a little bit) bacon and orange, a cream of parsnip and pine nuts, and a powerful poultry gravy with cardamom.
About Herman Cooijmans
Herman Cooijmans is the owner of restaurant EDEN since 2019. He cooks “exciting, unpredictable and contrarian”. As a chef, he is constantly looking for new flavours and combinations that have not been used in restaurants before. He succeeds in this, according to Michelin; the culinary guide rewarded him with a star within a year of opening.
Restaurant EDEN is open for dinner from Wednesday to Sunday and serves lunch on Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
We have written about eating crows before, back in 2014 it was in the name of the unwanted animals dinner, which included Schiphol goose, crayfish and muskrat in addition to crow. This was organised by the ‘Kitchen of the Unwanted Animal’.
Website: Restaurant EDEN
