How taste Umami?
19-9-2013
The Danish professor Ole Mouritsen will give a presentation about Umami in the Future Food House, part of the World Food Festival on Sunday 22 September. Ole Mouritsen is specialist in the field of Umami, the fifth taste after sweet, sour, salty and bitter. He will show the audience what Umami is by explaining the theory, giving examples from the Japanese kitchen and from fast food. Three Dutch chefs, Remco van Erp and Pepijn Schmeink (Restaurant Eendracht) and Hiroaki Yamamoto (restaurant Huson), will cook small dishes during the presentation to show the taste of the mysterious flavor Umami.
World Food Festival
17-9-2013
Mr. Aboutaleb, the Mayor of Rotterdam opens ‘The World Food Festival’ on Thursday September 19th. More than five weeks hospitality, scientists, food producers and chefs will show and let you taste what Rotterdam has to offer. Festivals, markets, tastings and trips through the city will bring the visitor in contact with food. From a Maroccan food court to the Rotterdam meatball. In the Future Food House designers, scientists and artists give their predictions about the future of food. The Italian culinary movie ‘Pranzo di Ferragosto’ will be shown at the ‘Museumpark’.
Marks and Spencer Food pilot at BP gas station
12-9-2013
BP Netherlands (gas station) teamed up with Marks & Spencer to open the first Marks & Spencer Food pilot at the new BP gas station along the A12 in the Netherlands. The assortment of Marks & Spencer Food consists of 700 products, characterized by their freshness and high quality. The coffee and tea are Fairtrade, they only use free-range eggs in their products and the products do not contain saturated fats and artificial colors. The products of Marks & Spencer are an addition to the current assortment of BP. This pilot is the first of the in total six renovated gas station where the Marks & Spencer Food pilot will be introduced.
Crooked cucumbers
11-9-2013
Crooked cucumbers, tomatoes in weird shapes or roots with two legs… Research shows that about 5 to 10% of the vegetables in the Netherlands are wasted, because of their shape, color or size. The wholesale Zegro and ‘Kromkommer’ launched a pilot project where they sell four types of imperfect vegetables this month. The vegetables tastes as good as normal, despite of the weird shapes. During the pilot the current assortment of Zegro will be complemented with imperfect cucumbers, peppers, tomatoes and red peppers.
Smart Lid
9-9-2013
The ‘Smart Lid’ is a special disposable lid that indicates when a drink is too hot to drink. The Smart Lid slowly changes from a red color into a dark red color when the drink cools, so it is the right temperature to drink (under 48 Celsius degrees). The lid prevents people from burning their mouth and hands to the drink. Very useful for restaurants and cafés that sell take-away beverages.
Family fun all in one
4-9-2013
Our colleague Steven van ‘t Hart celebrated his holiday in America this summer. He went out to eat the ‘Pizza-burger‘ by ‘Boston Pizza’ at the Niagara Falls location. We did mention this burger on horecatrends in April (kind of a April the 1st joke) and the burger will be on the menu in September. But Steven got to taste one! Especially the Pepperoni version was considered very tasty! He also noticed that children received a mini pizza box by entering the restaurant, containing coloring pages, games and crayons. Nice small gesture… That of course can be taken home ….
Djemaa El Fna square in Rotterdam
3-9-2013
On September 20 and 21 the ‘Museumpark’ in Rotterdam will be transformed into a huge outdoor restaurant. Inspiration is the famous square in Marrakesh, Djemaa el Fna. This square will transform in the evening from a market into an outdoor restaurant where visitors can buy snacks at various stalls. During the first edition of the ‘Djemaa el Fna’ in Rotterdam, some entrepreneurs will make Moroccan snacks with the goal to make the diversity of cultures and nationalities visible. There will also be different Moroccan products for sale, musicians, dancers and camels. ‘Djemaa el Fna’ is part of the ‘World Food Festival’.
Taco Bell surprised impatient customers
30-8-2013
Taco Bell has held a fun stunt in collaboration with agency Grip Limited during the launch of the long-awaited arrival of Doritos Locos Tacos in Canada. Impatient customers were surprised during a special fan event. The exasperated tweets from the impatient customers were burned with a special laser on the first batch of shells and served to the specific customer. These customers ate literally their own words on the taco.
The Donut factory
27-8-2013
Frossja and Martijn are serving coffee with organic mini donuts from a 1974 caravan . The ‘Donut factory’ makes traditional mini donuts of organic flour and the toppings are adapted to the occasion. The ‘Donut factory’ also serves several fair trade coffees, teas and organic soft drinks and juices. You can find the ‘Donut factory’ at festivals, (organic) markets, fairs in the Netherlands but it is also available for rent for companies or individuals.
The Meatball Shop
16-8-2013
The Meatball Shop in New York. Upon entering you know you are in a cool place, everything looks a little crooked, a little worn out but is beautifully put together. The menu that is presented to you is no nonsense, its balls, balls on a sub or balls plus a salad. There are a few specials on the board but basically you choose what meat you want with what sauce and you are ready to go. The portion seems really small but don’t overestimate yourself, it is more than enough! This is not the place to have a nice evening filling dinner but it is definitely a cool alternative for other fast dinner options! My tip; take their specialty sauce ‘Parmigiano sauce’ it’s amazing! ^Leonie van Spronsen
