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The annual food event that you can't and should not miss as a foodie… De Horecava! He topped January's to-do list. The event lasts four days and I think I could certainly enjoy myself all those four days but we went there for one day. The playground? The Rai in Amsterdam. So I jumped in my car again and drove towards our capital. You can read what we have seen, tasted and experienced in the blog "a day at the Horecava".
The Rai Amsterdam
I write “we” and by that I mean Luuk and I of course. Always nice to be out and about with your foodie friend. We both had a number of suppliers in mind that we definitely wanted to visit. To give you an idea of how big it is there: we walked more than seven km at the end of the day. The step counter of my Iwatch indicated that we had passed the 9500 steps.
Wine professional 2019
We started the day at the Wine professional. We received the tickets for this event through Melman Communications. This company is run by Ghislaine Melman. She welcomed us at a number of German wineries. I myself am not very familiar with German wine, so it was certainly very tasty and fun to learn more about this. But a lot of wine on an empty stomach is not a good combination, so it was about time to fill our stomachs.
A day at the Horecava The fairgrounds
The entire Horecava is divided over various halls in which all kinds of food-related companies have their stands. And boy oh boy you can taste and eat a lot here. We just happened to walk past Mora and who is standing there? That's right, the only Cora from Mora. Juliëtte de Wijn, because that's her real name, has been the face of the well-known bitterballen and all kinds of snacks since 1984. A photo with this lady could not be missed! But neither a snack, so we ate it and continued on our way.
Gertjan-Kiers the Demoslager
In my blog about beef stew have you already seen him pass by, but Gertjan could also be found at the Horecava. He had just judged a hamburger competition and had 12 hamburgers under his belt. But it's always nice to have a chat. Now I'm going to do something myself in the spring with a workshop with meat preparation, so let's hope he can come too!
Food and drink
There is something to eat and drink at just about every stand. Everything freshly prepared in front of you and all kinds of new products or innovative ways to prepare this food. For example, we tasted crickets from the Kreekerij that were processed in pasta, Luuk slurped fresh oysters at the Makro and we drank a gin and tonic at Hermit gin. We ate an ice cream from Ola, and we tasted ribs from the Mibrasa oven. You get the idea, though we have been short of eyes and ears to get something from everything and visit.
Start up lab
Now there is also a hall where startups can get a stand. Here you will often find young entrepreneurs with great ideas and cool products. Like Boonbonen, for them I was recently allowed to do a nice assignment. But one in particular I want to highlight because this guy was so funny. A bit like the Ciske de Rat of the Horecava. They made a delicious arancini ball. That's a kind of bitterbal but made of risotto. And good he was! They can pitch this week to the wholesalers and I sincerely hope that their product will be picked up there.
Tired legs
And then after a day at the Horecava, walking around all day, gaining impressions, networking, talking, tasting and enjoying it was high time to go home again. With a bag full of business cards, and a phone full of beautiful photos, we took the bus to the parking lot and went home. I'll be back next year for sure!
The Horecava is an annual fair in the Netherlands for the hospitality industry. It is a platform for companies and suppliers to present new products and services and to network with peers.
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