die Wilderin spielte mal auswärts…

Keine Ahnung welcher Gaul uns zur Zusage geritten hat, bei der Antwerpen Proeft unseren brutal regionalen, brutal saisonalen und wie immer schwer verrückten Zugang zur Kulinarik aufzukochen.

Aber was solls, natürlich wie immer ganz einfach bei uns: Dutzende Telefonate, hunderte Nachrichten und millionen – Dank Onlineübersetzer sogar auf holländisch – Mails später sollten wir bei den etlichen Hoeven rund um Antwerpen einiges an regionalen Produkten einsammeln können. So zumindest der Plan.

And what a hell of a ride it was. What a journey. What a experience in meeting so many, many, many, many finest producers in the region of Antwerp. So we:

we proudly present Stien & Koen…
Doing what we like the most we wander around the fields and farms and always meet immens interesting producers of food. Our food. Your food.
 
This time around Antwerp, where we are going to try to cook our kitchen style at the Antwerpen Proeft. Alright, lets see what happens…
 
And what a start at Groenlof with Stien and Koen. Since four years they plant and harvest their biological vegetables near to Boechout.
Potatoes. Fennel. Salad. Pak Choi. Celery. Kohlrabi. Rhubarb. Radishes- boyakasha fresh veggie for us, our kitchen. And most important: a funky fresh welcome-smile to start our small adventure. Merci beaucoup pour ça…
 
we proudly present Wim…
What a find. What a Dude. Entering the Oogstappel fields in Lier is really special. Lots of fine placed fruit-trees mixed with all the charming veggie-patches – pure but still cultivated nature…
 
And then next to the hedge: the caravan. With the big smile of former physiotherapist (ooooouch, my shoulder!!!) Wim in it. More or less Mickey O‘Neil living his next live as veggiefarmer. Niiiiiiice. Really nice.
 
Wim was, still is one of our first who we contacted when we started our project Antwerpen Proeft.
 
Wim was and still is while harvesting his vegetables an immens helpful partner of us here in the north. Organising the veggie-cooperative which supplyies us with all the fresh food, being always there for us for yet another hint where we might find more honest producers in the region, is quite lost in supermarkets and is having – and thats the truth – the finest caravan since Snatch.
we proudly present Stijn…
„You don‘t have to call Stijn, he lives on his field“ – what an explanation, guess how interesting our expectations have been.
 
And then Stijn raised from his field and what an experience he is.
 
Yes, he is really living on his field in Lier – altough his „house“ is a small trailer, his sauna next to it is nearly bigger and his hot tub is just immense. As is he and his pet-chicken, which follows you everywhere you go.
Bur even more inpressive is his field. All kind of vegetables, herbs, fruits, flowers grow there or as Stijn states clear online Nooit geweten dat je dit kon eten. Nuff said for us.
 
we proudly present Wendy…
You have to trust your inspiration.
 
When the navigation-system tells you the way and suddenly your co-driver, big-boss of the Wilderin and since always having a personal enmity with modern technic Claudia tells you that the navi is wrong and she is right: Trust her!
 
Otherwise we would have passed by the Keysershoeve Zoersel, we wouldn‘t have met Wendy and we woutldn‘t be able to use, cook and enjoy her delicious buffalo mozzarella at the Antwerpen Proeft.
Thank you so much again for not beeing upset with us as we distureb you at noon, thanks again for opening up your farm shop on your day off and thanks a lot for the tour on your farm. Thanks Wendy.
 
we proudly present Paulien & Sandro…
Not every egg is the same.
 
Go into any supermarket you choose and buy some eggs from somewhere – and then you go to a good farmer and buy some freerange eggs there: Those who can‘t spot a difference in taste, taste, taste first and then in price, animal welfare and sustainability is quite wrong on our site, in our kulinary network.
 
Those who do spot the immens differences: Welcome to the phantastic world of phantasic eggs, welcome to De Paardebloemhoeve which we are more than proud to cook at the Antwerpen Proeft.
On their farm in Malle Paulien & Sandro are not only producing – obviously biological free-range mobile-home chicken – eggs, they also offer biological milk and fruit- and veggiefields for a cooperative self-harvesting.
 
 
we proudly present Johan…
Meat is always a challenge. Good meat even more. Very good meat the most…
 
As we always buy one animal and cook it nose to tail it was quite a interessting task for some lads from Innsbruck to find, get, buy a proper calf in the region of Antwerp.
 
 
Thanks to the precious hint of Johnatan from cafe remouillage we found Johan from Carnivale.shop who himself found an amazing Pathenaise calf from Manuel Swaeges. All together just about 68 phone calls, 483 emails als 2.381 messages. Easy…
 
Beeing still amazed how impressive the quality of the 150 kilogram calf is and really enjoying it to cook and from today on grill all the steaks the most excited fact is, that with Johan we have now added another amazing producer of finest food in our culinary network in Antwerp.
Not just only for us Johan is searching and finding the best meat in the region, in Europe – and what he is really a master is in, is meat from old cows. Perfectly picked, perfectly aged, perfectly choped up. If you want to get real meat in Antwerp: Call Johan. What a butcher, what a person.
 
we proudly present Sara and Chris…
Milk is easy. You just go to the nearest supermarket and buy the cheapest milk possible. Right?
Wrong, wrong as you can get.
 
If you want to cook proper, good and honest dishes you need proper, good and honest products from proper, good and honest farmers.
For all our dairy products we found exactly what we were looking for with Sara and Chris at the De Schutter Hoevezuivel in Kapellen. Great rawmilk, boom-boom-boom butter and excellent cream – we are so proud we found all that and are so looking forward to cook at the Antwerpen Proeft the classic austrian desserts like #Palatschinken and #Schmarrn with local, belgian ingedients.
 
we proudly present Ilsa…
Never, really never let me enter a backery slightly hungry. Please don‘t.
 
„I‘ll take two of that one. The other one as well. The baguette looks georgeous – I‘ll have two. Whats that? I don‘t care, I‘ll take it. And a couple of the small ones for the road. That‘s it… Uuuuh: you‘ve got pastry as well??? Alright: listen carefully…“
So imagine my, our pleasure to go bread-shopping for our visit at the Antwerpen Proeft in Ilsas finest and small bakery, the Broodboetiek Verlooy in downtown Antwerp. A beautiful small bakery filled with astonishing breads, sour-dough masterpieces and a fine selection of sweetest sweet pastrys.
 
And it was in the morning.
And I was hungry.
And my sister Claudia – the big boss of die Wilderin – paid the check.
Jackpot!
 
we proudly present Stefan…
We know that not everybody is or could be as stupid as we are. Searching, finding and especially visiting different farmers while collecting different products in the region. You gotta be very stupid for that. We like it, but…
 
All the others don‘t have to skip regional food-shopping and go to the supermarket – there is everywhere a solution: it‘s called farmers markets.
We‘ve found one just around the corner of the Antwerpen Proeft at the Bar Paniek where the so helpful Stefan organizes a regular farmers market in the community center. Lots of different farmers, lots of different products – all at one place, easy to stop by and shop your food there.
 
And this is only one. There are lots, lots more.
In Antwerp.
In Innsbruck.
In every city.
Everywhere.
 
we proudly present Joost…
So it was time to visit our dudes at the Oogstappel again.
 
First to pick up all the funky-fresh vegetables we‘ve ordered for our visit at the Antwerpen Proeft and they harvested and collected in their network.
 
But even more important to meet Joost, the partner of our caravan-guy Wim at their field in Lier.
And boy is he a perfect match to Wim, to us, to all the people who think and care about the origin of their food. Within a second he got us all to philosophize about the importance of small regional food-production, the rise of new regional but also international networks of producers and consumers and all the best ways for knowledge transfer.
 
Joost is a Rebel.
As are we.
As are all the others we got to know up here.
As are all back home in the Alps.
 
The revolution is not starting.
The revolution has already started.
Be part of it!