In June, two food forest dinners took place as part of the Food from the Forest Association’s series: on June 16 in Amsterdam and on June 24 in Groesbeek. Both evenings brought together more than fifty guests around long tables, including a mix of members, newsletter subscribers, and first-time visitors. The long communal tables sparked conversations between people who didn’t know each other, united by their interest in food and food forests.
Before both dinners, some of the guests went on an excursion to a nearby food forest: in Amsterdam to Anna’s Tuin en Ruigte with Esther Krop, and in Groesbeek to Voedselbos Ketelbroek with Wouter van Eck. The tours tied directly into that evening’s menu, featuring ingredients such as Japanese butterbur, mulberries, and a wide variety of berries: josta, gooseberries, red currants, black currants, Worcester currants, and raspberries.
The dinners were created by De Voedselboskeuken, a collective that has been cooking with produce from food forests for years and has also published a cookbook on the subject. Everything served came from Dutch food forests, or consisted of ingredients that could thrive there in the future. Harvests took place at locations including the Lekker Landgoed Food Forest, the De Laar Food Forest, and the Ketelbroek Food Forest. The only exceptions were pepper, salt, and olive oil.
Before the dinners, participants could take a guided tour of a nearby food forest, such as Wouter van Eck’s here in Ketelbroek.
Summer from the food forest to the plate
The menu showcased early summer in layers of leaves, flowers, and berries. Chestnut-flour tempura-fried blossoms with elderberry ketchup and elderflower vinegar set the tone, followed by mulberry leaves stuffed with mulberries, nuts, fermented plums, and wild herbs. Next came rose petals with kombucha dressing and fuki with lemon.
A chestnut dish featured layers of sourdough chestnut pancakes with linden leaf and wild garlic pesto, young almond cheese, and shiitake mushrooms, served with almond yogurt and shiitake oil. Next came oak and fermentation: acorn purée with apple syrup, oak-smoked toadstools with fermented cherries, and a cherry-Calvados sauce with a nasturtium salad.
The finale was an almond-chestnut pudding inspired by biancomangiare, infused with Szechuan pepper and verbena, served with five varieties of berries from the food forest.
Between courses, guests were treated to a story about the origins and processing of the ingredients. Among other things, they learned that acorns can be used as an interesting source of carbohydrates, but only after the tannins have been rinsed out, followed by drying and grinding.
Amsterdam and Groesbeek
In Groesbeek, the dinner took place indoors at Dorpshuis De Slenk, where we opted for a cooler indoor venue due to the tropical temperatures outside. The drinks served at the community center consisted of syrups and vinegars made by Marly Bonten: magnolia with ginger, fig leaf with pear vinegar, and dogwood berries with red currants. With dessert, a syrup made from rosemary, apple, and pumpkin was served cold, as if it were a liqueur.
In Amsterdam, the dinner took place outdoors in the garden of Huize Frankendael, where an extra course was added featuring black currants in five variations: fresh, dried, and powdered; fermented; as an oil infusion; and as a sorbet made from young leaves. In this garden, set with long tables, the beverage selection focused on kombucha, kefir, and juices, all homemade by De Voedselboskeuken. Guests could also opt for a wine and cider pairing.
This Amsterdam edition was covered in a feature by Charlotte Klein in *Het Parool*.
Outlook
These two evenings are just the beginning. With its “Food Forest Dinners” series, the Food from the Forest Association will be venturing further into the countryside Food from the Forest coming months. Together with local food forests, kitchen teams, and members, we want to organize a dinner in every province—each at a different location and preceded by a guided tour of a nearby food forest. Do you know of a nice spot, or would you like to share your ideas? Please let us know.
