Bejo Zaden is at the start of an entire supply chain in the fresh produce trade, and the agriculturalist also wants to make himself well-known as a partner within that chain. The Fruit Logistica was naturally a great time to invite supply chain partners from various countries. During the food event, Explore Bejo’s Taste, Bejo showed that traditional vegetables can be transformed into trendy concepts and surprising dishes. That is why, at the end of the first day of the fair, one hundred invited supply chain partners gathered to be surprised by flavour and images by Dutch master chef Angélique Schmeinck. The Bejo products were given an artistic and culinary twist.
Carrot lecture
If you know Angélique, you also know that she pushes the boundaries of the culinary world. One of her favourite ingredients turns out to be carrot. She gave a sort of lecture about it, and listeners learned much of the many possibilities of this vegetable. During the lecture, it turned out that the small slices of salami that had been eaten as part of the appetiser were not salami at all, but slices of purple carrot that had been in the oven for seven hours. “They were prepared as meat, causing the sugars in the carrot to caramelise very slowly, which results in a deep and intense flavour,” Angélique explained.
Mind map
That evening, Angélique also explained why Dutch croquettes have such a good taste. “In every dish, five elements have to be done justice: crunchiness, creaminess, and the correct mix of sweet, sour and bitter. A good croquette has all that.” In order to get to that mix into the surprising flavours in her recipes, Angélique makes mind maps, or flavour graphics. In those, she collects all kinds of associations of flavours that can be combined with the main ingredient and the various ways in which to prepare it. By combining elements of the mind map, it becomes easy to think of at least 50 different recipes with just carrot.
Painting
The carrot was also central to the most spectacular dish of the evening. An edible painting of various coloured spreads and fish. These ingredients were smeared and scattered over a long table with flat plates, creating a great number of edible paintings. Each part of the painting was then eaten by four guests at the same time, to also serve as a good way to get into contact with each other. The painting was finished with carrot powder, made from slowly dried and grated carrot peels. “I do not want to throw anything out from this product,” Angélique explained.
Concepts
The carrot was not central for nothing during the food event. Carrots in all sorts of colours were noticeable during the Fruit Logistica. In recent years, Bejo, in cooperation with the Wageningen University (WUR), worked on the flavour in carrots, and by now has various strains available. In order to also emphasise the trendy character of carrots, Bejo developed the Cool Carrot Candy concept, according to Danielle Bruin from Bejo. It is a selection of carrot strains with various colours and flavours, and is meant for the snack segment.
Flavour cannot be easily decided, because it is not just about sweetness, but also bite, juiciness, crunchiness, and aftertastes, for example. Both positive and negative parameters are decided with the developed method, by Bejo and the WUR. Besides the trendy carrot concept, Bejo also presented their onion concept Delicioni, the flat white cabbage Coolwrap and their lettuce assortment to the supply chain partners during the food event.