Dennis van den Beld

Great weather: what are you looking forward to?

‘Now summer is coming, everything is fresher and happier: that’s how we cook too. We don’t serve asparagus in a traditional way, but in different structures: from ice cream to fried. We also use turnip greens in all different ways. We make oil from it and they’re shortly stewed or used raw, like in yoghurt, à la tzatziki. Wild garlic is also amazing and i love Poivrade artichokes, the little ones. It’s a bit early for fruit. But there are tasty blackberries. We marinate them and serve them with a white chocolate parfait and pistachio ganache.’

That alliterates beautifully!

Laughs: ‘We pay more attention the the other things: what’s in season, strong flavors and what goes well together. Structures are also important. A good example is our pumpkin mousse with miso, crispy soy beans, super thin sliced snow peas, prawn crackers of soy and a vinaigrette of apple and snow peas. We give it an oriental touch with tapioca based prawn crackers. You can add all kinds of flavors to them: soy, but also beetroot, for example. It’s a dish i developed together with my sous. Brainstorming and creating is typical of our kitchen.’

Beets are central in one of your main dishes…

‘There are always three or four vegetarian dishes on the menu. The tarte tatin is one of our classics. Every season i change the main ingredient; this time we roast the beetroots and make little balls out of them. They are then baked in caramel, just like the famous tarte tatin with apple. Then the dish is baked a la minute with super nice, high rising puff pastry. From the leftover beetroots we make a cream and the other flavors in the dish comes from mushrooms, red onion, blueberries, pistachio and vegetable gravy with shiso purple.’

You’re a competition chef: what’s cooking this year?

‘Things came to a standstill for a while after winning the Golden Chef’s Hat in 2020 and after the IKA Culinary Olympics in Stuttgart, in which more than thirty countries participated. We will go for it again in December during the World Cup in Luxemburg. The world stands still when your cooking for a competition. I sometimes compare it with meditating, because you get in a certain flow. It’s top sport. Including the mise en place and cleaning up, you’re up and on your feet for ten to fourteen hours, but i get a lot of energy from it. It brings out the best in you!’

That also applies for cooking on an estate?

‘Nature here, deep in the Veluwe woods, is incredibly inspiring. This also applies to the hotel and the associated villas, which attract both hotel and business guests. The hotel is classic, a bit English. The poolhouse at our heated outdoor pool is in Scandinavian style, sleek and hip with a menu in the same style. On the terrace you can eat oysters as well as homemade pizzas on focaccia dough.’

Why does Het Roode Koper choose Rungis?

‘From a local farmer we get our edible flowers and small tubers, from Rungis comes everything else. What we receive is always fresh. Rungis is also always ahead when it comes to new and slightly different things. I think i’m not a standard person myself. That means” i do not follow trends and stick to my own ideas. That’s also expected of me in this place.’

Text: ellenscholtens.nl