The feminine hamburger
7-11-2013
The Japanese fast food chain ‘Freshness Burger’ has developed a special ‘Liberation Wrapper’ for the Japanese women. The fast food chain noticed that their large size burgers were only a hit with the men and not with the women. Most Japanese women have an ‘ochobo’ (a small and modest mouth) and see this a paragon of beauty. During dinner they cover their mouths and eating a giant burger is not appropriate. Freshness Burgers has developed a special burger packaging with an imprint of a face with an ‘ochobo’ mouth. So, Japanese women can unabashedly enjoy a double cheeseburger.
Foodpairing with cookies
6-11-2013
The Flemish cookie baker Jules Destrooper has taken its authentic cookies to ‘taste professors’ of the University of Leuven (Louvain) and ‘Foodpairing’. Just like famous chefs, foodies, mixologists and taste professors they are on the lookout for the ideal taste combinations. The University of Leuven (Louvain) has a specialized device for it, a gas chromatograph connected to a mass spectroscope that measures aroma molecules in food and beverage. Products that have similarities in scent appear to combine very well and are visualized in a Foodpairing tree. The taste analysis of the Almond bread, Natural butter waffle and Cinnamon cookie products are surprisingly connected to taste allies like mushrooms, ginger and caviar.
All about grapefruit
5-11-2013
I hadn’t seen it on the menu for a while; half a grapefruit. During a brunch at The Breslin Bar and Dining Room in the Ace Hotel in New York I ate a super yummy grapefruit with ginger sugar flakes and mint. But again the same problem as always, the cutting isn’t easy and is often not done well, with the effect that you have to do it yourself or miss parts. I don’t understand why it’s not served in ‘clean cut’ wedges, much easier to eat! Marjolein van Spronsen
These plates make your food food bigger
1-11-2013
These plates are fun to use in restaurants that serve small dishes such as sushi, pastries or amuses. There is a print made on the plate with the outlines of a plate, knife and fork. It creates an optical illusion that makes the dish looks larger than it actually is.
Information about pensions at the PensioenCafe
31-10-2013
The Dutch pension fund Hospitality & Catering has noticed that the obligatory pension information sent to the customers is barely read. That’s why they have developed an accessible way to communicate pension information to the customers. The dynamic PensionCafé website contains information and videos to inform employees in the hotel and catering sector about their pension. Relevant information about, for example the influence of divorce and death on the future of their pension is easily accessible at the site.
STIMULI during Dutch Design Week
30-10-2013
As infants, we begin to experience new tastes by exploring our tactical senses. It is, in a sense, our original obsession. As adults, we still have an appetite to trigger those latent senses with fresh and unexpected delights. This desire is the motivation for the STIMULI — a sensory dining experience presented during Dutch Design Week.
STIMULI was brought forth through a cooperation between design studio Jinhyun Jeon, renowned Michelin star restaurant Treeswijkhoeve, and Ravanello Food & Concepts. Connected by their mutual passion for stimulating taste, they created an enhanced dining event: a five-course haute cuisine sensory menu served with tactile tableware — such as silicone ‘nipple’ cups, glazed ball spoons, and spiked tasting palettes — that excite the tongue, trigger taste buds, and alter the perception of salty, acidic, sweet, and bitter tastes for a new experience.
The project focuses on the subject of joint perception — sensorial disturbance inspired by phenomenon of synesthesia. The main objective of the food design experience was to understand how the human brain intuitively responds to different stimuli during eating, and as such contributes to a different way of producing consumer energy. This will provide insights outside of the existing food culture in which societal, technological, and environmental influences play an important role.
Read the full article by Hortense Koster
Follow your pizza from dough ball to door
28-10-2013
Have you ordered a pizza and do you want to know the time of delivery exactly? Domino’s Pizza in the Netherlands has introduced a new online ordering system with a tracking system. You can follow the pizza from dough ball to door. Previously, when you ordered a pizza it could only be delivered, but now it is also possible to take away the pizza when ordering online.
Dishes with unusual ingredients
25-10-2013
Members of the New York’s Explorers Club get together once a year at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel for a special dinner. During this dinner, the most unusual dishes are served, from tarantulas and mealworms to cows eyes. The chefs of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel transform the most unusual ingredients in culinary art, like a mealworm that suddenly looks a lot tastier. A good example of how insects and other unusual ingredients can be used in the hospitality industry.
Biodegradable champagne packaging
24-10-2013
The French designer Cédric Ragot has designed an innovative packaging for Veuve Clicquot champagne. The packaging is completely biodegradable and made of potatoes and recycled paper. The packaging is elegant and can be carried by the integrated handle. It will keep the bottle of champagne chilled for two hours after it has been in the fridge.
Hans is hungry
22-10-2013
The vertical pop-up restaurant ‘Hans heeft Honger’ (translated as Hans is hungry) took place in the ‘Hans Struijk’ bicycle warehouse on 11 and 12 October. Organizer Milou Turpijn (Ourground) convinced Bastiaan Hagenouw (Owner ‘Hans Struijk bicycles) to open up the warehouse for this event and upcoming chef Edwin Sander created the dishes in a temporary kitchen on location and the guests were brought to their tables by fork-lift truck. A fully 5 course dinner was cooked with extraordinary tastes like ‘escabeche’ from lime leaf, Gillardeau oyster and red onion compote with vanilla. The grand dessert was served directly on the tables that were coated with a special canvas for this occasion.
