Dutch Days Beijing 2018: Dutch Food for Thought

Nieuwsbericht | 31-05-2018 | 04:19

Sustainable, innovative and creative. These three aspects exemplify the Netherlands, its food and its culture. Therefore, the Dutch Days Beijing are celebrating their five-year anniversary with a diverse program on food and the Dutch approach to it.

To really put the Netherlands on the map, you can taste a special menu created by Executive Chef Albert Kooy together with Chef Marco Lexmond and Chef Eelco Bleeker from Stenden Hotel at Hilton Beijing’s One East Restaurant from 5 to 10 June. Additionally, we have organized a packed program with interactive lectures and workshops.

In this week, we also present a selection of Dutch Design tableware. The Dutch creative industries excels in cross-overs, so we are bringing Dutch food and Dutch Design together. Objects of some of the most talented Dutch designers are curated by Dutch Cuisine and Cor Unum for a special mini expo in the One East Restaurant. Unique products will be on display, designed by the avant-garde of the Dutch Designers such as Mae Engelgeer, Floris Hovers, Alex de Witte, Bas van Beek, Kranen/Gille and RENS.

The Dutch Days aim to bring cultural exchange, business opportunities and political engagement to a large Chinese audience. The festival is organized in many cities spread throughout China, at different times during the year. Earlier this year, the Dutch Days were hosted in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Every edition has its own theme, showcasing the diversity of strong Dutch disciplines.

WORKSHOP: Sustainable pizza class for the whole family!

• Date: June 7
• Time: 16:00 – 19:00
• Venue: Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, 4 Liangmahe Nanlu
• Admission: 120 RMB – max. 20 pax / register via PEK-VISITORS@minbuza.nl

Who does not like pizza? Make one of your own together with your family at this Gung Ho! Pizza class. Everyone will get to make their very own mini pizza – and eat it too! Make a healthier pizza with some Dutch touches or designs during this workshop. Gung Ho! Pizza is the first and only BCorp-certified food and beverage company in China. Whether through offering healthier pizza choices, the use of biodegradable packaging, its Great Wall clean-up hikes or people development programs, Gung Ho! uses food as a vehicle to positively impact the environment and its community.

TALK: Sustainability and green agriculture

• Date:  June 8
• Time: 15:00 – 16:00
• Venue: Hilton Beijing Hotel, 1 Dong Fang Rd, North Dongsanhuan Road
• Admission: free of charge  / register via PEK-VISITORS@minbuza.nl

Alex Scilla and Daniel D’urso from Fresh Farm Plus Agricultural Technology will conduct a talk on sustainability and green agriculture. They will give an overview of their experiences in the industry, the developments in the field during the past ten years and their thoughts on the future directions. Fresh Farm Plus Agricultural Technology is a multi-nationally managed organic lifestyle provider. Operated by a management team with 30 years of in-country China experience. Sharing quality natural food – their in-house produce is carefully grown by their team – as well as premium locally sourced products through a direct ‘land-to-hand’ delivery service.

WORKSHOP: Make a home planter from recycled waste

• Date: June 8
• Time: 16:30 – 18:00
• Venue: Hilton Beijing Hotel, 1 Dong Fang Road, North Dongsanhuan Road
• Admission: free of charge – max. 20 pax / register via PEK-VISITORS@minbuza.nl

Participate in a workshop on building a home planter with materials reclaimed from the hotel waste stream! The Fresh Farm Plus team will teach participants how to use recyclables and food waste to build a home planter/herb garden and the compost that will be used for the plants. Using water bottles reclaimed from guests, a few simple components and kitchen prep waste, a sustainable and effective planting system can be built. They will also show you how to use other recyclable objects to create a compost container, and how to prepare parts of the kitchen prep waste for breakdown. You can then take these projects home and establish your own closed-loop home garden!

WORKSHOP: Build your own micro-greenhouse (FULL)

• Date: June 9
• Time: 11:00 – 12:30
• Venue: Hilton Beijing Hotel, 1 Dong Fang Rd, North Dongsanhuan Road
• Admission: FULL

On Saturday morning, Fresh Farm Plus will show you how to make a micro-greenhouse with sustainably sourced recycled materials. Using recovered recyclable materials and basic tools, you will learn how to utilize these to build their own personal micro-greenhouse, for indoor or outdoor use. While building these greenhouses, the Fresh Farm Plus team will discuss the properties of materials used and their recycling properties and values. The workshop will conclude with a primer on suitable crops to be raised in the greenhouses, and tips for successful home gardening.

LECTURE: From your plates to the plains – creating a closed food loop

• Date: June 9
• Time: 15:00 – 17:00
• Venue: Hilton Beijing Hotel, 1 Dong Fang Road, North Dongsanhuan Road
• Admission: free of charge / register via PEK-VISITORS@minbuza.nl

For this lecture, we invite Shi Yan from Shared Harvest, Executive Chef Albert Kooy and Liu Xin, Associate Professor at Tsinghua University Academy of Arts & Design for an interactive lecture. With this trio, we cover the entire food loop! Shi Yan is a pioneering force and active promoter behind the Chinese organic Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement. She will talk about sustainable farming and food production to inspire more people to reconnect to the land. Albert Kooy believes in promoting tasty, healthy and responsible cuisine and will tell us how the Dutch have a creative and sustainable food culture. Professor Liu focuses on sustainable design, which he feels will be one of the most important directions for future design education, research and design practice. He will close the loop by talking about waste management, linking this with urban design and planning as well as sustainability.