The Chef Demonstration Theatre at The Amsterdam Produce Show and Conference 2016 takes place at the heart of the international trade exhibition on November 2, 2016, in the middle of the show floor at the Westergasfabriek. Find out more about the opportunities to raise the profile of your products in this exciting arena
Innovation before your eyes
The Amsterdam Produce Show and Conference team has carefully selected an inspiring group of leading Netherlands chefs to lead the exhibition in #celebratingFRESH by showcasing a variety of cooking styles and trends and using many of the products that attendees can go and source on the show floor.
There will be demonstrations by seven of the country’s top chefs, hosted throughout by Masterchef Holland’s very own Naresh Ramdjas.
Food & Design
Naresh Ramdjas
Is he a graphic designer or a culinary chef? It’s hard to say and why would we make the distinction? Bias doesn’t fit in the vocabulary of chef Naresh Ramdjas and neither does an official title.
Ramdjas studied at the Design Academy in Eindhoven and has always had a great passion for food. During his studies he cooked and combined the world of food and design. Continually fascinated by food, he was enrolled as an intern at Sergio Herman’s restaurant, Pure-C. His dissertation had to be done whilst he was there so he started Nareshtaurant. This pop-up restaurant served “plate-composer dinners” meaning that the guest chooses all the ingredients to be used beforehand, resulting in a complete and unique design of their own. This resulted in Ramdjas being nominated for several awards. After he graduated, it was clear Ramdjas had to be in the food industry and signed-up for the TV programme, MasterChef Holland. He came third as his bright vision, innovating food, creativity and outstanding flavour was recognised. Currently hitting the high notes and being our favourite upcoming chef, at only 27 years old, Ramdjas can’t wait to surprise and indulge the public at The Amsterdam Produce Show and Conference with his fanciful food offerings.
Creative Chef – Creative
Jasper Udink ten Cate
Creative Chef, Jasper Udink ten Cate, blurs the lines between food and art. He believes barriers between art forms and standards within art forms should be eradicated. As there are archetypal buildings in architecture, Udink ten Cate thinks of the classic dining table as a conservative archetype. Questioning this archetype is how you can define the source of the stories he likes to serve his guests. His food is about the best ingredients from his own garden The Museum of Taste and his presentations are rooted in art, design and music. His mission is to serve delicious knowledge that speaks to your heart.
80 – 20 Green Cuisine
Ruben Cammeraat (l) and Willem ten Teje (r)
Willem ten Teije is both a cook and political scientist. After two years working in an office, he decided to become a chef. Having completed various courses at a cooking school and completing internships in several restaurants, he met Ruben Cammeraat and started to build 80-20 Green Cuisine. His aim is to bring good food to good people.
Ruben Cammeraat is a seasoned professional within the hospitality industry; being a graduate of the Hotel Management School Maastricht and having completed internships in Malaysia and Madrid. He is crazy about Basque gastronomy, and strives to bring the sophistication and the food culture of Basque cuisine to the Netherlands.
Together they launched a pop-up kitchen to serve their specials at several events and festivals under the name Willem & Cammeraat.
“We cook according to the 80-20 vision,” explains Cammeraat, “80% natural/vegetable produce from local sources (non-dairy/fish/meats) paired with a maximum of 20% animal produce.” This way of cooking has really taken the lead in the Netherlands, with the movement earning the title of New Dutch Cuisine.
“So far, it has been an exciting development of rediscovering forgotten produce, reinventing meals and dishes mostly based on vegetables. We want to show our guests, and let them taste, how nice and tasteful healthy regional food is. We want to reduce the gap between farmer, food, producer and consumer and make a real connection with food. We believe food is the future and especially how we, as consumers, relate and connect to food. We choose to work only with small, local suppliers and always put quality first instead of quantity. We always let the season decide and lead what will be on the menu.”
No Waste
Dionne van Zijl
Dionne van Zijl initially studied to be a food and cookery teacher, but after graduating went in a different direction and organised the YFM Academy. She has since produced events for the Youth Food Movement, managed the Pop-Up restaurant at the Food Film Festival 2014 and led the production of the Food Film Festival on Tour in 2015. She has also worked as a chef in sustainable restaurants such as Merkelbach, Foyer, As, Instock and most recently, Wilde Zwijnen. And to feed her mind, Dionne works one day a week at the Ookboekhandel in Amsterdam.
Salty (veggie) Specials
Anneke Pahlevy
After 27 years’ experience, Anneke Pahlevy came to realise that there are three common problems within the food industry.
First, a lot of people haven’t yet experienced a wide range of flavours meaning that they don’t have much experience of complementary ingredients.
Second, there is a lack of knowledge regarding different types of spices and flavours.
Third, they often lack the knowledge, skills and expertise to put this to work and play with spices to make dishes fit their palate or someone else’s.
Pahlevy specialises in these three areas because she has found is that if people become more acquainted in these areas, a whole new world of food, flavours, possibilities, passion for cooking, inspiration and more opens up for them.
Her ambition is to serve real food experiences – which she terms “foodgasms” – and to give Eastern cuisine the recognition that it deserves.
Having spent the first 20 years of her life in Asia and the last seven in Western countries, she has gained so much knowledge that her mind is open to new kinds of flavours and ideas and it is these that she would love to share.
She lives on the Dutch island of Texel, which is very rich in fresh and seasonal produce, and is mostly organic. On the island she produces her own salty green produce from vegetables to zeekraal, roots, lamsoren and many more. During her chef demo this type of produce will be taking the lead role.
Bieterbal
Jonathan Karpathios
Jonathan Karpathios opened his restaurant in late 2007, which coincided with the birth of his son. Having become a father, he started asking himself essential questions about life. The main questions were around the state we leave the earth in for future generations and particularly, “what will be left for my children?” he says. “How can I take responsibility for this?”
The answer proved to be a lot simpler than the implementation; Karpathios no longer gained satisfaction from cooking with ingredients if he didn’t know about their origin. So he decided to go directly to source, which turned out to be a great way for him to understand his products, their lifecycle and benefits.
Karpathios started working solely with local quality products and stayed away from artificial additives. Thus began his quest for “real food”. However, finding organic vegetables and herbs proved to be more difficult than expected. This led him to start growing his own crops.
The process unexpectedly brought strong awareness and Karpathio himself became a part of this important cycle. “Through observing the growth of the crops up close, I developed a new view on the products that we work with in the kitchen,” he says. “The harvest determines the menu, not the other way round and it stimulates my creativity like I never could have imagined before. Sometimes I come up with ideas during sowing season, whilst at other times I accidentally harvest the crops a little later and I see something sprout where least expected.”
For him, working with nature feels like an amazing journey full of surprises and beautiful lessons. “Each day is different from the next, because you never know what to expect,” says Karpathios. “I truly hope we can recover our working relationship with nature and find ways to go back to eating real food again. Our food system now relies on mass industry and most are overly processed. Nature has so much to offer and I hope to show people how they can regain responsibility in eating healthy, natural food again.”
As a great advocate for growing your own and/or finding reliable suppliers, we’re honoured to be hosting Jonathan Karpathios at The Amsterdam Produce Show and Conference.
Veggie Desserts
Hidde de Brabande
At only 14 years old Hidde de Brabande already knew his destiny lay within the world of desserts and patisserie, thanks to a neighbour owning a bakery across the street.
So, aged 17, he started working at one of the most famous patisseries in the Netherlands; Huize van Wely, in Noordwijk. This adventure led him deeper into fine gastronomy and to his role as chef patissier at Landgoed Duin & Kruidberg in Santpoort and later, to three Michelin star restaurant Parkheuvel en de Librije.
He has since gone on to launch his own brand; Dreams of Magnolia and he is one of the most famous dessert chefs in the Netherlands. Writing pure and exciting recipes for Delicious magazine, guest hosting the TV programme Bake My Day and working on his own television programme, de Brabander Bakt at 24 Kitchen. During the show, de Brabande will seduce delegates with his fine taste for desserts using mostly vegetables and flowers.
Raise your profile in the live kitchen
“Why not launch a new product or promote your brand at one of our chef demonstrations” says Hannah Gorvin, marketing manager for show organiser Phoenix Media Network UK. “Your chosen premier chef would take to the stage and incorporate your produce items into their preparations as they explain the recipe and your product’s unique attributes. Showcase your product to more than 50 international attending trade, consumer and national media, food and lifestyle bloggers.”
Benefits include two attendee passes, with access to the opening Cocktail Reception and the Thought Leaders Breakfast Panel, as well as your corporate brochure in the show and conference attendee bag and media pack.
Join us for The Amsterdam Produce Show and Conference by registering here. You can book a hotel in the official headquarters hotel right here.
Or to find out more about exhibiting or sponsoring contact us.
Read our show brochure here.
