CROQUÉTJE! a pulled pork-croquette
3-12-2015
Sausage-maker Paul van den Hooven from Wild Vleesch in Rotterdam, has developed his own croquette under the name of CROQUÉTJE! The first CROQUÉTJE is a croquette with pulled pork containing meat low & slow smoked on a barbecue. The artisanal products Paul sells are based on his obsession of the American Style barbecue.
CROQUÉTJE!
Pulled pork which Paul prefers to call ‘rafelvarken’, as they say it in his hometown Rotterdam, is one of the most well-known dishes in the American world of barbecue. Paul makes his handmade croquette with real pulled pork, smoked slow & low on the barbecue. This really brings out the taste of the smoked pulled pork. For the croquette he developed a rub for the meat and a mix of spices for the salpicon. The meat originates from Dutch bred pigs. The pulled pork croquette is the first in the series of CROQUÉTJE!
Availability
CROQUÉTJE! is for sale on the website of Wild Vleesch for the hospitality industry, commerce and consumers. Wild Vleesch can also be found at the ‘Oogstmarkt’ in Rotterdam, the croquettes are part of the assortment. In Brasserie STROOM in Rotterdam guests can already enjoy a pulled pork-croquette. We look forward to taste them and we will let you know once we did!
DWDD pop-up restaurant
3-12-2015
Yesterday was the official opening of the DWDD pop-up restaurant and the presentation of the accompanying cookbook ‘DWDD cooks with Kranenborg’. Horecatrends attended the presentation and took the following pictures of the presentation, food and restaurant.
DWDD pop-up restaurant
Right in front of the studio of the successful Dutch TV-show ‘De Wereld Draait Door’ (The World Keeps Turning), on the Westergasterrein in Amsterdam, the DWDD pop-up-restaurant is now officially open. The pop-up restaurant is in cooperation with famous Dutch chef Robert Kranenborg. During the next three weeks a five course dinner will be served here for € 79,95. The profit of this project will be donated to the ‘Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Foundation’. On the menu is a selection of forgotten classics that were discussed at the TV-show DWDD in the last four years. Chef Robert Kranenborg is a regular guest who presented, almost forgotten, classical dishes in cooperation with famous chefs from The Netherlands, Belgium and France. Guests can choose between three main courses during their lunch or dinner.
I already tasted a few dishes during the opening and really enjoyed the bastilla with pigeon and the cervelas de fruits de mer (sausage made of fish and seafood).
DWDD cooks with Kranenborg
Do you prefer to cook at home? The cookbook ‘DWDD cooks with Kranenborg’ will be available (€ 24,99) starting today, unfortunately only in Dutch. The cookbook contains all the recipes that Robert Kranenborg presented in the ‘De Wereld Draait Door’. Like Matthijs van Nieuwkerk said, ‘a history book and a cookbook’. The book, in honour of DWDD’s 10 year anniversary, contains exclusive ‘forgotten’ dishes like grilled woodcock, haggis and timpano. Including an easier recipe to prepare at home. ^Bram Kosterink
HomeBiogas – turn your waste into energy
2-12-2015
Turn your kitchen leftovers into 3 hours of cooking per day. HomeBiogas is a family-sized affordable biogas system. It converts any organic waste into clean cooking gas and a high quality liquid fertilizer for the garden.
How to use the system
On average, one kilogram of food waste produces about 200 litres of gas, which generates around one hour of cooking over a high flame. Therefore, one can generate 1 up to 3 hours of cooking gas each day with six kilogram of food waste – the perfect amount for three meals.
HomeBiogas is easy to use, doesn’t need any electricity and can be connected to your stove. You will need to place the system outdoors or in a barn, it works optimally in places with an average day/night temperature above 17 °C.
Successful crowdfunding
HomeBiogas is a crowdfunding project on the website Indiegogo. Their target was to fund at least $ 100,000.=. They already reached 130% of their target within 7 days and still have 24 days left. If you would like to support this project you can choose between several perks. One of the perks contributes to the HomeBioGas-Arava Institute to support peace-building, social justice, and environmental leadership and research in the Middle East. It is also possible to support the project and at the same time order the HomeBiogas system.
HomeBiogas within the hospitality?
For now the HomeBiogas is perfect for families. It’s not meant for industrial use such as hotels or big restaurants. The big amount waste they produce, can’t be handled at this stage, by the system. It can convert a maximum of six kilogram of food waste. For smaller restaurants and cafés the system could be an option to become more sustainable.
Global warming and carbon footprints are from major importance to the world’s future. Using HomeBiogas will certainly contribute to your sustainable image.
The system also fertilizes your herbs and vegetables. A lot of people already make their own compost at home and with this innovation we think that many more people will follow.
Process wine into…
1-12-2015
Bram Kosterink likes to drink or serve a fine wine! In this article he will give a few examples of how wine is used in an entirely different manner. He writes about Pinot Noir Sea Salt and Wine Ice Tea.
The fact that wine and the hospitality industry are friends is well known! Processing wine and using or selling it as an entirely different product is not well-known. In what ways can you use wine other than to support a dish or to use it in sauces? For inspiration he collected some examples:
Process wine into Pinot Noir Sea Salt
Prepare your own sea salt with the taste and colour of Pinot Noir. Creating your own Pinot Noir sea salt is easier than baking an egg. Use 5 till 10 ml Pinot Noir for every 50 grams of coarse sea salt. Let the Pinot Noir reduce to a syrup (will take about 15 to 20 minutes). Add the salt to the wine once it’s reduced, blend it well with a spatula and let it dry on a plate for at least 12 hours. The result: Your own Pinot Noir Salt! The salt tastes great on a sirloin or tenderloin! Read Brain Sullivan’s article in The Huffington Post for more details.
Tip: Prepare the sea salt with the same bottle of Pinot Noir you’ll serve during dinner.
Process wine into Wine Iced Tea
An iced tea made of wine grapes. The tealeaves are completely replaced by freshly harvested grape skins which gives the tea the sophisticated taste of wine. The Wine Iced Tea is available in the flavours Chardonnay, Cabernet or Pinot Noir. Each iced tea has its own ideal ‘wine’–food combination. For example, the Chardonnay goes great with salads and white meat. The Cabernet does taste great with hard cheeses, pâtés and stews and the Pinot Noir is perfect with baked salmon, lobster and paella’s. The iced tea doesn’t contain any alcohol, which makes it child friendly.
Tip: It would be nice to serve parents a real glass of wine, and their kids a Wine Iced Tea!
Other examples of products that relate to wine are The Real Wine Gum and Writing with wine.
Zorri Cress
30-11-2015
Koppert Cress introduces a new cress, the Zorri Cress. Healthy, tasteful and beautiful in compositions on the plate.
The Zorri Cress
On a regular basis Koppert Cress introduces a new cress, this time the Zorri Cress. Zorri Cress is the sprout of the Nasturtium. This is a spicy decorative plant which has been growing in our gardens for centuries. The plant originates from the Andes and arrived in Europe in the sixteenth century via Peru. The leaf is shaped like a shield, and the spicy taste of the product combines well with refreshing dishes both warm and cold. Zorri Cress is available year round. The optimum temperature at which the quality is the best maintained, is between 2 and 4 ° C.
Besides the cresses Koppert Cress regularly introduces flowers that can be used in the kitchen, such as the BlinQ Blossom® in 2013. With the introduction of the BlinQ Blossem® the focus was still on storytelling around the product. Nowadays the cresses of Koppert Cress are so popular with chefs that a single introduction of the cress is sufficient.
Meals That Get You Laid
27-11-2015
A cookbook as inspiration for restaurants. Not only because of the recipes, but due to the idea behind it. Meals That Get You Laid, in the Netherlands awarded with the title ‘best gift for men in 2015’. Unfortunately so far only available in Dutch.
Meals That Get You Laid
Writing about a cookbook isn’t something we often do, but the idea behind this cookbook could well inspire a number of hospitality entrepreneurs to offer dishes with a sexual, humorous touch. Meals That Get You Laid, a manual in the style of a cookbook, describing all the tricks to make a woman completely defenceless. Explaining the combination of the right ingredients, atmosphere, music, and beverage choices. One of the writers is working in the hospitality business, it is therefore most likely that this theme will get attention in the hospitality industry as well.
What can a man learn from it?
According to the writers, the man will learn how to seduce a woman with the use of astrology presented over 12 different chapters. They indicate that astrology is total nonsense, but they are convinced that women believe in astrology. Who are these writers/friends? The compilers of the book are a photographer, a graphic designer, an architect, an advertising executive and an hospitality entrepreneur who regularly come together to go through things in life. Of course also to eat and drink. The cookbook with beautiful pictures made by Jaap Vliegenthart, contains 12 chapters. One for each zodiac sign. Each chapter has a starter, main course and dessert and a wine suggestion for every dish, focusing on the characteristics of the star in question. The dishes are easy to make, but look amazing. The book is full of tips and tricks to make good use of the characteristics of the particular lady. Such as a playlist at the end of each chapter, for maximum impact. Of course there are shopping lists, anything to make it as easy as possible.
The first edition was funded by crowdfunding. The book is published by the friends themselves. Their website has been transformed to the webshop, to order the book. A book with a sexy trailer.
Christmas decorations: the exterior of your building illuminated with a laser show
26-11-2015
Easy to use laser show for the Christmas season at the exterior of your restaurant or hotel.
Laser Show: Easy Christmas lights
Although the video at the article on toxel.com looks like an advertisement of a sales channel on TV (which it probably is), we still want to mention this awesome Christmas decoration.
Because it is a distinctive way to put your property in thousands of stars and the reseller tells you it’s more sustainable than the old fashioned Christmas lights we use today. Beside that we all know how long we are busy arranging those lights! The Star Shower laser projector covers the entire building with thousands of stars. See the photos in the video above and in the article on toxel.com. Online you will find different models and reviews. It’s a real eye-catcher for the exterior of your restaurant or hotel.
Experience retail
25-11-2015
Clothing retailer Urban Outfitters is getting more and more into the ‘experience retail’ with the acquisition of Philadelphia-based Vetri Family restaurant group.
Experience retail
As the writer of the article at Eater.com states: “Experience retail” swaps dinner-and-a-show for dinner-and-some-shopping. As a mother of a daughter who loves to shop at Urban Outfitters, I have to admit that it would be great to be able to say; “take your time while you’re shopping, I will be at the restaurant or at the nail studio”. Imagine all that within one shop.
As a response on their stock decline of 6,94% over the past three months they started as a clothing and home goods retailer. It expanded into a more general lifestyle arena, with concept stores including in-house nail bars and performance stages as well as restaurants from great American chefs, like Marc Vetri, Michael Symon and Ilan hall since spring 2014. In April 2014 Space Ninety 8 opened, the Williamsburg Urban Outfitters concept store that includes an auxiliary branche of The Gorbals, the restaurant of Ilan Hall’s.
Urban Outfitters has been experimenting with the ‘experience retail’ since 2008, at that moment their store in Los Angeles, Space 15 Twenty, including a nail art studio, a skateboard shop, a performance stage and an Umami Burger outpost.
Read the full article on Eater if you want to know more.
Inspiration
Is co-creating an experience with local restaurants, a benefit your shoppers can’t buy with a click on their mouse? Is it perhaps one of the answers to the growing e-retail business? In the Netherlands we currently have multiple chefs who fit the current retail concepts. However if we change it around and imagine that restaurant chains start selling clothing or other goods via shop-in-shop formulas is prohibited according to the Dutch government. With all the current developments in today’s world it is necessary to review the legislation as a response to the competition of the retail with respect to the hospitality industry. ^Marjolein
A pop-up space next to Osteria Vicini
24-11-2015
Osteria Vinchi has always been open for innovation, the space next to the restaurant will be the place to carry out new ideas from now on. They will start with Bar Vicini, a new pop-up cocktail bar.
Pop-up cocktail bar in Osteria Vicini
There appeared to be demand for a bar in Kralingen (Rotterdam) where you can drink good whisky’s, gin & tonics and cocktails in a stylish atmosphere. This atmosphere is created with a carefully selected interior with lots of velvet, shining elements, mirrors and a few special eye-catchers. For example, they use bar stools from an old Belgian casino and one can’t miss the giant bronze tusks from Spain. In a big box there are records from the sixties to the eighties, which will be played upon request. Another important aspect to the atmosphere is the barman, a professional who makes the finest cocktails without seemingly much effort. The bartender will occasionally make a round with olives, bruschetta’s, aged pecorino, prosciutto or oysters. Bar Vicini is accessible via the Osteria through heavy, red velvet curtains and has its own entrance.
Bar Vicini is part of the Dudok Group which is a leading company since 1991 in the hospitality, event and hospitality industry in the Netherlands.
Inspiration
Do you have a vacant building next to your restaurant and is it possible to make a good price and agreement with the landlord? The example of the Dudok Group to experiment with new ideas in a pop-up formula, is a pretty good idea.
Brew your own beer with Brewie
23-11-2015
With the Brewie machine you can brew different types of beer at home or in your own bar.
Brewie the brewing machine
Brewie started as a crowdfunding project. In January 2015 the company raised more than twice their target amount, goal accomplished! The Brewie machine will now be taken into production. The machine is standardly delivered with the ingredients necessary. It’s also possible to make your own mix of ingredients, or use different proportions. In this way you can personalize your beer even more.
Brew your own beer
Brewie works together with your smartphone using an app specifically developed to make brewing your own beer with Brewie even easier. The app can be used to save your own recipes and discover new ones. Brewie also made a video in which you can see how beer is made by using the machine. Beginners should be able to easily do it on their own. The machine cleans itself with one push on a button and can be connected to your own water system.
Serving your home made beer
It’s already a trend to serve your own beer in your bar. It creates an unique selling point as a company and makes a good impression on your guests. Maybe it’s an idea to develop a new beer together with your guests!
