Berlin’s first Salmon Kebab
21-10-2015
The so called ‘Lachdöner’ from Rauch Zeichen consists of juicy salmon, cucumber, tomato, crispy fresh onion, well-seasoned with homemade honey-mustard-dill sauce and conveniently packed in traditional flatbread.
Salmon Kebab
Berlin’s new specialty, the ‘Lachdöner’ is invented by the self-made entrepreneur and amateur fisherman Ronny Unger. Often there are long lines waiting in front of the ‘Rauch-Zeichen’- food truck, that drives from market to market around Berlin. Beside the Salmon Kebab they also serve a salmonwrap, fish fries, fish buns and smoked fish. Most fish is bought at the company ‘Fischerei Angermünde’ in Uckermark but the salmon comes from antibiotic-free fish farms in Norway. The smoked fish is smoked over beech wood. For his fish ideas Ronny Unger has been awarded the ‘Seafood Star 2015’ as best starter in fish in Germany. Check out the Facebook page of ‘Rauch Zeichen’ for more information.
Inspiration
Check out other kebab concepts;
Like the robotic arm that slices the meat at restaurant ‘Super Kebab’ in London. Or the first European location of Baba Rafi that recently opened in Alkmaar. In Asia, the chain has more than 1,300 locations and the location in Alkmaar serves a kebab adapted to the European market, Kebab 2.0. And in Paris ‘Grillé’ serves a kebab that even the biggest snob can’t wait to be in line for! A Fancy Kebab or as the French say; ‘kebabs quasi gastronomiques’.
Croquettes made of 100% organic spelt
20-10-2015
An article about one of our Dutch prides, our ‘kroketten en bitterballen’ (croquettes and small croquettes). Royal Spelt created the first croquettes made of 100% organic spelt. Prepared with fresh herbs, vegetables and the best organic beef.
Royal Spelt makes croquettes made of 100% organic spelt
Royal Spelt wants to make the tastiest and best snacks in the Netherlands, made of 100% natural and organic ingredients and 100% spelt. Their slogan ‘Pure nature in a jacket of spelt’. Royal Spelt has chosen for the Eko-grain spelt, consisting of a mixture of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and fats. The Eko-grain spelt also has a high protein percentage and is rich in amino acids. In addition is the filling made of biological meat without artificial colors, flavors or fragrance and the salpicon is made with spelt flour.
Healthier snack
Okay, the croquette will still be fried, but for the group of people who consciously checks the ingredients of the products they eat, the croquette is a healthier alternative. The demand for organic and spelt products increases and as ‘organic snacks’, these croquettes are an addition for caterers, restaurants and snack bars.
Royal Spelt delivers their products to companies with a conscious mind for healthy but tasty food. The aim is to make the best and most responsible croquette of the Netherlands and develop more flavours.
Mini kiwi fruit: kiwi berries
19-10-2015
In Britain, supermarket Waitrose has started selling kiwi berries which are grown in Withers Farm in Ledbury, Herefordshire.
Kiwi berries
The berries have the size of a grape and can be eaten whole. It looks a lot like the original Kiwi fruit from New Zealand but is a fraction of the size and doesn’t have furry skin. It looks a bit like a gooseberry, but tastes sweeter. The kiwi berries are getting more and more popular, we already spotted the berries in America last year at specific high end food markets. Farmers around the world are now producing it commercially. Like the article in The Daily Mail tells, supermarket Waitrose even started selling them in its stores all over Great Britain. One of the sellers of the kiwi berries in the Netherlands is Nature’s Pride.
The kiwi berries are available during the months February, March, April, September, October and November. The berry grows wild in parts of China, north-eastern Siberia, Korea and Japan. The berries are high in antioxidants, Vitamin A, C and E as well as Potassium and Magnesium.
Another fruit at the breakfast buffet!
Robotic arm to slice kebab.
16-10-2015
Super Kebab in Stoke Newington, North London has introduced a new robotic arm to slice their döner meat. We noticed some technical improvements excluding a lot of manual labour.
At Super Kebab they’re working with a robotic arm
The user controls the robot with a remote control enabling him to adjust the speed and the thickness of the slices. If you watch the video, you will notice that the slices are very thin making your döner kebab more yummy!
The robotic arm is made by Atalay döner in Istanbul, Turkey. They installed the first Robotic arm in the United Kingdom at Super Kebab in London. The robotic arm glides up and down the tower of meat guided by sensors. The owner Hakan Gorenli is very happy with his investment (around 5.000 pounds) and thinks many kebab restaurants will follow. His customers are happy with the precise and hygienical way the meat is cut.
Robots in the hospitality industry
We recently wrote about the healthy fast food (lunch) restaurant ‘Eatsa’ in San Francisco that looks more like an electronics store than a restaurant. There is no staff to take orders and everything is fully automated. The founders of Eatsa promise faster, more nutritious, affordable and tastier meals. This is realized without staff at the front of the restaurant, like the robotic arm that reduces the manual labour. In the hotel section we spotted The Hen-na hotel that opened this summer and is staffed with robot receptionists, porters, cleaners and waitresses. Are robots slowly taking over? I hope that hospitality remains human. 😉 ^Marjolein
A breadstick crust at the pizza of Pizza Hut
14-10-2015
Pizza Hut created ‘The Twisted Crust Pizza’, this pizza combines pizza and breadsticks. The pizza features a tearable, dippable breadstick crust with a choice of 2 dipping sauces…
A breadstick crust?
Pizza Hut introduced the twisted crust pizza 21 September in the USA. The company loves to stretch the possibilities of the old-fashioned pizza. Like the hotdog pizza with a hotdog in the crust and their ‘doritos crunchy crust pizza’, we wrote about last year.
Jared Drinkwater, vice president of marketing at Pizza Hut: “We are not afraid to experiment with new and innovative flavor combinations for our food, but sometimes it’s the most obvious innovations that amaze us the most – and Twisted Crust is an example of an innovation that has done just that. We know America loves our pizza, but we have an enormous, loyal group of Pizza Hut breadstick lovers out there, too. We believe our new Twisted Crust Pizza is the ultimate flavor combination of these two popular items that consumers will absolutely love.”
Inspiration
We have seen some unusual pizza combinations in the Netherlands as well. Like last year, the sauerkraut pizza from Domino’s Pizza. Pizza Hut only serves a pizza with a crust stuffed with cheese in the Netherlands though. We wonder what pizza variations we will see this winter in the Netherlands! Anyway the ‘Twisted Crust Pizza’ can be added to the list of 10 times pizza inspiration.
Les Bols de Jean – the breadbowl is going French
13-10-2015
Leonie van Spronsen, lives and works in Paris and recently lunched at ‘Les Bols de Jean’ in Paris.
The bread bowl is centuries old and in the United States completely common as chili or clam chowder holder, but in Europe not so much. Well that’s all about to change if you ask internationally renowned baker Eric Kayser and ‘world-famous-in-France’ chef Jean Imbert!
Les Bols de Jean in Paris
Since 2 weeks Jean Imbert, former winner of Topchef France, has a new lunch place right in the city center of Paris where he serves only one type of meal and that is the ‘Bol de Jean’. A ‘Bol de Jean’ is an especially developed loaf of brioche (in collaboration with Eric Kayser) that’s hollowed and the top has been cut off as a type of lid. For in the loaf you choose the dish you would like to try that day, they usually have 5 choices and they change regularly.
A must-visit lunch spot in Paris
Guess what? Delicious! The brioche is amazingly balanced, has a great structure and doen’t taste to sweet. The dish is creatively thought out and seems to match perfectly with the bread each time. On top of that it looks beautiful and it’s a new lunch concept for all Parisians. ‘Les Bols de Jean’ – I say on it’s way to become a new classic!
From the Dutch editor: In the Netherlands the Bunny Chow foodtruck serves similar bread bowls based on recipes from South Africa. Check Jean Imbert’s Instagram account for more pictures.
Birthday Card biscuits; inspiration from Biscuiteers
7-10-2015
The bakery Biscuiteers in London makes birthday card biscuits. It’s something totally different than sending a regular birthday card or a bouquet of flowers.
Besides the normal assortment that most bakers have, Biscuiteers has an extra range with tins filled with biscuits for special events and birthday cards made of cookies. Besides the standard “cookies birthday cards”, you can personalize some birthday cards as well. They can put a name or a small text on it, for example. The bakery Biscuiteers has 2 shops in London and their biscuits are shipped worldwide.
Inspiration from Biscuiteers for the hospitality industry
Recently, we wrote about some great initiatives to bring attention to someone’s birthday, like the Refinery hotel in New York, which offers guests a birthday cake from the famous Magnolia Bakery if they celebrate their birthday at the hotel. By creating something special you can attract new guests, for instance a separate and festive ‘edible’ invitation for a dinner or lunch on a guests birthday! And when you do that, make sure your audience knows what you’re doing. Earlier we wrote that the use of local bloggers and youtube-bloggers can work. Check this video of Tanya Burr, she is one of those new stars known from Youtube. She especially appeals girls of 16+. In a more than 13 minutes long video, she shows all her birthday presents with at the end a birthday card made of biscuits by Biscuiteers. Until today this video has more than 873 000 views. That beats every ad!
Creating a healthier planet while having fun with the Scale Down Challenge
6-10-2015
The Scale Down Challenge allows you to play around with your habits and choices concerning food, energy, waste and water. Thirty simple and surprising challenges can be found on the giant interactive grocery scale that travels around to schools, festivals and public spaces. The device does not weigh people, nor products, but the choices made as a consumer.
The Scale Down Challenge
Small actions can make the world a better place. Here’s a selection of the sparkling challenges the Scale Down Challenge offers: Veggie on vacation, Peanut Butter Boost, WTFridge, Supermarket Selfie, Chili sin Carne, Bring a Bottle and Bye Bye Plastic. With the last you be challenged to buy nothing out of plastic for one whole week!
Merel Mirage designed the scale with the young designers of the Design Academy. As participant you have to step on the scale and push one of the buttons. On the output ticket is written what has to been done and a special code to login and upload pictures on Instagram. The HOLY foundation of Merel Mirage is travelling to schools, conferences and museums with the scale to challenge as many people as possible. You can even enter as participant to devise your own challenge and compete for the Scale Down Challenge trophy which will be announced on Earthday 2016.
It could work in our restaurants and hotels as well: small gestures to create less waste and having fun trying to achieve the challenge!
Foodpairing with olive oil ice cream
1-10-2015
Bertolli celebrated its 150 years with foodpairing on the store floor of Albert Heijn supermarket. Foodpairing with special preparations and surprising demo mobiles. Amongst others they served the first Italian caprese ice cream with Bertolli olive oil, tomato, mozzarella and basil prepared on a cold teppanyaki plate.
Caprese with olive oil ice cream
Recently we wrote an article about ice cream that tastes like Greek salad and ice cream with pizza flavor. In addition, many chefs are experimenting with preparation methods and savory flavors of ice cream, which often taste great! Patrick Peeters sent us a link to this video with a special method to make ice cream. At several Albert Heijn supermarkets this ice was made and people could watch the preparation and taste it ….
Kebab 2.0, the next big thing in food?
28-9-2015
The first European location of Baba Rafi opened in Alkmaar. In Asia, the chain has more than 1,300 locations. Kebab 2.0 adapted to the European market.
In June 2015 we wrote about plans for the initial European establishment of Baba Rafi in Alkmaar. We then wrote about how 176 private investors invested € 250.000,= in the company via Collin Crowdfund. On September 24, the entrepreneurs Sinan Gul, Hans Gradient, Baris Kürkcü and Herman de Haas opened the doors of their Baba Rafi at an AA location in the center of Alkmaar. We saw in Paris that Kebab, if adapted to local customs, can become hugely popular. There Grillé serves ‘un Kebab quasi Gastronomique‘!
Kebab for the modern, conscious consumer
Baba Rafi is the largest franchise chain in the world in the field of kebab products. With more than 1300 locations in Asia the concept is very popular. The Asian concept is fully adapted for the European market where respect for food, the customers and the environment play an important role. Baris Kürkcü: “Every niche in the food industry, from French fries-, hamburger- and chicken formulas to sandwiches, has seen a trend towards more sustainable and responsible food in the recent years. With Baba Rafi we introduce a kebab concept that is tailored entirely to the needs and desires of the modern, conscious consumer. The dishes are freshly prepared with a minimum of E-numbers and maximum sustainable and organic ingredients. In addition, we have worked closely in the development of the food with a culinary consultant and nutritionist. Thus, the dishes are suitable to eat for lunch. For everyone, even for women and children.”
With Kebab 2.0 they want to realize the largest kebab chain in Europe
Along with financial expert Hans Verloop and former McDonald’s CEO, Herman de Haas the Baba Rafi team want to realize the largest kebab chain in Europe. There is no comparable franchise concept in Europe and in total more than 10 billion euros is spend on kebab. Hans Verloop: “We can apply our experience in Alkmaar to future franchisees in many other comparable cities. From the North of Holland we want to expand Baba Rafi all over the Netherlands and after the start-up phase also start in other countries in Europe.”
