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Visit to the Crole Hoeve
This blog is entirely devoted to my visit to the Crole Hoeve. It turns out that this is a wonderful farm with an open concept and crystal-clear chain. My first meeting with farmer Leon was on World Food Day in Den Bosch. There he stood with a stall and let me taste a piece of brisket. Not just any piece of meat, but that of a Limousin cow. And then I was immediately very curious, because I know the Limousin cow mainly from France, where they live in wide fields and in almost total freedom. Leon told me that he has these cattle himself and lets them roam freely in Staatsbosbeheer areas. Well I really wanted to see that with my own eyes! And so we made an agreement that I would come and take a look at the Crole Hoeve with a whole bunch of food bloggers.
Controversy
My call to food bloggers to visit a farmer and experience the process from “cow to carpaccio” immediately generated a lot of negativity. There is a lot of buzz about eating meat at the moment.
The treatment of the animals, the slaughterhouses, and animal welfare. Also the fact that we first fed the animals that day, then received a lesson in deboning and finally tasted the meat seemed incomprehensible to many people. “Because how can you first cuddle and then just bone out a piece and eat it?” When I presented this to Leon, he also told me that this is simply the route of the chain. It must be slaughtered before we can eat it.
The taste room
We are welcomed by Leon in the tasting room of the farm. Cooking workshops are given here and you can learn everything about the company and the cattle that are kept here. When we look through the windows into the stable, there are a number of beautiful Limousins. Leon brought this in especially for us because normally they walk outside. They enjoy a nice massage with the large brush on the wall and look at us curiously.
The entire tasting room is beautifully decorated. There are warm sausage rolls, croquettes, pieces of fresh beef sausage and homemade filet americain ready for us to taste before we set off. A beautiful woolly cow skin hangs on the wall. This turns out to be from one of Leon's favorite cows that he had to have slaughtered after 19 years with him. The wood stove is already burning, but first we go out.
Nature cattle
Leon lets his cattle graze in these areas in collaboration with Staatsbosbeheer, Natuurmonumenten and other site managers. No dire conditions as with the Oostvaardersplassen, but small groups in gigantic areas. We leave with the covered wagon and a beautiful red antique tractor towards this area and it is so beautiful here! All around us the leaves are falling from the trees. Leon's in-laws have already gone before us to look for the cattle, because Leon says: “Sometimes we have to search for an hour and a half because they are grazing in total freedom on 30Ha. And so these animals eat exactly what they find in nature and antibiotics are out of the question!
cuddling cows
Arriving at the area Leon has a little trick to make it a little easier for us. He has cow sweets with him. And oh how they love that. We all get the opportunity to see the animals up close and thus also to pet and touch their woolly fur. They are super curious but also wary. The coats look really fantastic. Some caution is required because they can "prick" you with the horns and that is of course not the intention. Leon tells us about the area and that the animals here live outside with the calves almost all year round. If they then have to be fed in the winter, this is done with clippings from nature. Of course we all take the opportunity to take a selfie with a Highlander before heading back to the farm.
Boning and tasting
When we return, the greenEggs are already smoking and Chef Ralf from De Beleving and butcher Johan are waiting for us. Leon gets a back piece and with that butcher Johan gets to work. We can watch him closely as he removes a piece of tenderloin from the back for us. I myself have never seen a butcher so close to work, so I think it's great to have had this opportunity. Next to him, Ralf is already busy with a pumpkin soup and other ingredients for the tasting. And when the dish is ready, we all have to take a nice picture of it before we taste it. And I can rightly say that this is the best carpaccio I've ever eaten! The meat has a sweet taste, super soft it almost melts on your tongue, the room falls silent for a moment when the forks go into the mouth.
Visit to the Crole Hoeve
And after tasting some delicious pieces of matured meat, and a piece of brisket that Leon brings in especially for us, this fantastic afternoon came to an end. And now you are lucky that this is not just for food bloggers, because you can follow a workshop with Leon yourself with a group. What a passion and what a wonderful company this family has. A visit to the Crole Hoeve is one you will certainly not regret. And you can see with your own eyes that there is no mass production here. I would like to thank Leon and his family again for an interesting and wonderful afternoon at the Hoeve!