 From the 12th until the 15th of January the 53rd edition of the Horecava fair was organized in the Amsterdam Rai. This is the largest trade fair for hospitality, catering and main kitchen. This year, ‘Food and catering trends' was the main subject of the fair. Many colleagues of mine joined this year again and I, together with Dennis Huwaë (Junior Sous Chef-Ciel Bleu), participated in a debate. Other participants were Wim Klerks who participated in the Bocuse d’Or for The Netherlands, judge Wynand Vogel, coach of the regional team Peter Bakker and world champion in cooking Toine Smulders.
The talk show called "The world of cooking contest” was organized by ‘Misset Restaurant’ together with ‘De Kweker’. We were invited to give our opinion about several interesting theses about competition cooking. Because we have joined a few competitions, like Euro Skills in Rotterdam and the Olympics in Erfurt, it was nice to give our point of view. Examples of the quotes: 'Cooking Contests are not for cooks with Michelin stars',' The presentation is more important than the taste with cooking contests’ and ‘Cooking contests are old-fashioned’.
It was also exciting at the Horecava, because Dennis represented the booth of Koksgilde together with other members of the National Youth Team. Each member presented a cold buffet (on a mirror) with small terrines. These terrines were covered with a jelly which prevent the terrines from drying out and give them an attractive gloss in the meanwhile. You can imagine that this is done very carefully, which makes it more exciting but instructive. The terrines were not edible, but were presented as an exhibition for the public. The exhibition was a workout for international competitions. The Youth Team will participate the international competitions for the first time, so there are exciting events on the agenda this year.
 Even medals were won during the Horecava. Thibault Casasole, another ambitious young chef of Hotel Okura Amsterdam, became third during the National Championship for young chefs. Participating in contests is very beneficial for the personal development of young chefs. The winner of the contest was Dietmar Baars of restaurant Ron Blaauw, and the second position was for Nico Bouter of restaurant Librije’s Zusje. It is very inspiring for me to be surrounded by so many young passionate chefs at Hotel Okura Amsterdam.
It were beautiful, educational and culinary days at the Horecava and it is each year again a nice festive event. Of course, we keep you informed about the competitions we will join this year.
Q-linary greetings,
Onno Kokmeijer
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