Author: Marente van der Valk

Culinary Artist & Chef. Currently coordinating the Jan van Eyck Food Lab (Maastricht, NL).
Food

Cursus ‘Wildplukken in alle Seizoenen’

De cursus ‘Wildplukken in alle Seizoenen’ biedt een serie van vier workshops gedurende verschillende seizoenen van 2022. Zo leer je tijdens deze workshops wat de natuur jou per seizoen te bieden heeft en ervaar je in een natuurlijke omgeving hoe je eetbare planten kan herkennen en hoe en wanneer te plukken. Ook zullen we meer informatie geven over bijvoorbeeld de oorsprong van de plant, medicinale of historische feiten en ook eventuele toxische details. Ondervind wat de natuur jou te bieden heeft en proef, ruik en ervaar de originele smaak van wilde groenten, vruchten, kruiden, noten en zaden. Vervolgens zullen we deze ingrediënten samen bereiden tot heerlijke maaltijden door middel van het koken en grillen op vuur, fermentatie en maceratie processen en zullen we samen bijvoorbeeld brood bakken, pasta met wilde planten lamineren, lekkere salades en dips creëren en eigen gemaakte boter tot wilde kruidenboter verwerken.

Deze cursus wordt gegeven door Mark Franck en Marente van der Valk. Samen bundelen zij hun krachten en kennis om jou te laten ervaren wanneer en hoe te foerageren, wat je kunt eten en hoe deze wilde ingrediënten te bereiden met oude en nieuwe kooktechnieken en recepten. Dit alles speelt zich af in een schitterende omgeving; landgoed Mariënwaard te Maastricht. Op deze locatie mogen we naar hartenlust de kwaliteiten van elk seizoen ervaren, foerageren, koken en genieten van al het moois dat de natuur ons te bieden heeft.

Ben jij geïnteresseerd en wil je meer leren over de eetbaarheid van onze natuurlijke leefomgeving, schrijf je dan in voor deze 4-daagse cursus!

Data: 9 april, 9 juli, 1 oktober, 19 november 2022

Tijden: 10:00-20:00

Kosten: €342,- per persoon voor vier dagen, inclusief lunches, veel kennis en diners

Er zijn 2 plaatsen beschikbaar à €226,-, voor mensen met een kleine beurs.

Voor aanmeldingen en verdere vragen stuur je een e-mail met naam, woonadres, telefoonnummer, e-mail adres te sturen naar marentevandervalk@gmail.com. Door je aan te melden ga je akkoord met het verstrekken van de gevraagde persoonsgegevens.

Allergie/Dieet: Indien je een allergie of specifiek dieet hebt dan vernemen we dat graag zodat we daar rekening mee kunnen houden.

Design Food

Tabulatopia at Château de la Borie

By invitation of Château de la Borie / Galerie d’Art Contemporain. June 2020. Tabulatopia Collective (Jonmar van Vlijmen and Ronald Boer (together De Onkruidenier), Céline Pelcé and myself).

Tabulatopia was invited for a weeklong residency late June 2020 in order to explore the four different gardens of Château de la Borie. La Borie’s gardens consist of the traditional jardin à la française, a jardin en mouvement to the philosophy of Gilles Clément, a permaculture garden and a forest garden currently undergoing a rewilding process. The results of our research and findings of our residency were shared during two edible exploration walks and a workshop.

During our stay we have focused on the hyper local and have prepared little tasters found in 2m² across the four different gardens. These hyper local tasters were shared during edible exploration walks with visitors. Some elements we have worked with were; dried clovers to become part of a tempura, toasted dandelion root as a slightly bittersweet garnish, fern tops served sautéed as base for a canapé and sticky weed seeds as a coffee-like dust to garnish another little edible garden taster. The plant narratives, the local experiences and recipes we produced during this week will become a small publication.

Styling

CONSIDERED Magazine

CONSIDERED Magazine Volume Three, Summer 2020. Photography by Kim Lightbody. Food styling and recipes by me.

CONSIDERED Magazine is an independently published, bi-annual print magazine featuring sustainable and mindful lifestyle and travel articles. For Volume Three Kim and I created a series of vegan recipes with a focus on seasonality, cleanliness, serenity and nutrition and used a selection of locally foraged and fermented ingredients.

In the photos; A simple vegetable broth with rock samphire, wild chervil, green asparagus, British peas, shallots, radishes & radish leaves; Grilled apricots & Mirabelle plums with elderflower drizzle and bay leaf dust; Wholemeal Khorasan bread with tarragon, aniseed and sunflowers seeds; Start of summer salad with purple potatoes, pickled rhubarb, wild Alexander buds, wild pink sorrel, fennel tops and rhubarb vinaigrette.

Design

Kleureyck Exhibition, Design Museum Gent (BE)

Re-table(au), performative installation, Design Museum Gent (BE) 2020

2020 was the year Ghent and Flanders were honouring the Flemish painter ‘Jan van Eyck’ and I was pleased to be invited by The Design Museum in Ghent to create content for two experience rooms for their large scale exhibition named ‘Kleureyck’. In collaboration with the Jan van Eyck academie’s Food Lab, I assembled a fantastic team of artists to develop a concept deeply rooted in the colourful landscapes of the ‘Ghent Altarpiece’ by Jan van Eyck. His unique use of colour was the genesis of our explorations as Céline Pelcé, De Onkruidenier (Jonmar van Vlijmen and Ronald Boer) and myself set about devising a new piece which we named ‘Re-table(au)’.

The realistically depicted scene in this particular painting is an imaginary one, where locations and seasons are innovatively blended. This concept of imagined reality provoked thoughts amongst us relative to our current global food system in which the fiction of van Eyck’s depiction of exotic produce is now very much a non-fictitious reality where almost all edible produce (at least from the Ghent Alterpiece) is possible to source all year round regardless of its natural season.

Re-Table(au) is an endlessly evolving foodscape reminiscent of seasonality; where both established and fledgling exploration/preservation techniques and poetic rituals are presented in a tangible way. Activation moments occur throughout the exhibition in which the evolving tableau is shared physically and internally through a ritualistic experience of colour and flavour in a multi sensory environment including edible objects and other concoctions allowing you to literally digest the landscape.

http://www.designmuseumgent.be/

Photos © Design Museum Gent, Filip Dujardin


Food

Mazi Mas

I was so lucky to have worked with the social enterprise Mazi Mas, and more importantly, a wonderful group of women, as Culinary Director and coach between December 2016 and August 2018. Mazi Mas offers training and work for immigrant and refugee women who have a passion for food. Mazi Mas gives these women an opportunity to make a living while showing London their colourful culinary heritage.

Far from being unskilled, these women possess skills which are highly marketable in an increasingly food-inspired London . What they lack are the means, knowledge, and networks to turn these skills into economic opportunity. Mazi Mas gives these women the opportunity to engage with a public which is – quite literally – hungry for their talent.

Mazi Mas works in partnership with small businesses and many fellow social enterprises, and sources their produce from local farms. Mazi Mas is passionate about contributing to strengthen local economies and to support other businesses that are dedicated to providing meaningful, fulfilling, and justly paid work.

Mazi Mas was named one of Britain’s 50 New Radicals by Nesta and The Observer in 2014. This has allowed Mazi Mas to connect with a wonderful group of people who are contributing to positive social change in inspiring and innovative ways, and addressing global problems at a local level. 

A few of the women have started their own businesses; please get in touch if you wish to contact and book them for an event and enjoy their incredible dishes yourself.

  • Mazi Mas