Interests, passions, dreams, tell us everything about you!
If everything was possible, Marlijn would be a “creator of event scenography with unlimited budget and where it’s also possible to eat.”
Other possibility: “Creating recipes, having my own restaurant and the staff that could give birth to all the things I have in mind, from the setting to the laying of the plates, which leads to what I’ve said earlier. In brief, I’d like to be a scenograph for unique meals.”
She is starting to fulfil her dreams: “I have a truck, a travelling inn and my cuisine begins to be renowned in the field. This a first step and now, the Cookening experience will be another, which is to receive strangers at my table.”
From the gastronomy to the decoration, Marlijn never gets bored: “When I have free time, I come up with new recipes, change the decoration in the living room or enjoy the sun on a deck-chair, depending on my mood.”
“I’ve tackled and achieved all my passions, whether it be in cooking, interior design or transforming space.” See, we can all achieve our ends!
What about your cooking experience?
Her first memory regarding food is the Sunday meal at her grandmother Ernestine (a “funny and generous Flemish woman”): “Her roast chicken she plucked in the morning, the green beans from the garden, the huge slices of bread that she cut against her chest and for dessert, the sharp rhubarb compote that we were eating while enjoying a vanila ice cream.”
Great news, Marlijn has everything within reach in her kitchen: “In my fridge, I’ve always many dishes that I’ve put under vacuum: a Flemish beef stew with fried potatoes and of course, a homemade mayonnaise, a Thai soup in which you just have to add noodles and grated combava, or even beer toasts (it’s even better with Chimay).”
Her greatest pride? “My trout ‘pâté’ from the Abbesses de Remiremont. It took me a while before being able to cook this ancestral recipe from the XVIth century.”
However, our host admits she has a weakness: “Hare ‘à la Royale’ and more globally, cooking small games (pheasants, partridges, etc.)
“If I remain at the table with my guests, if the plates are empty at the end, whether it be a simple or gastronomic meal, and most importantly, if we laughed a lot, I think the meal can be considered successful.”
How would you describe your place?
“It’s an old farm lost at the end of a mountain path. There’s a wood burner for winter and a nice terrasse overlooking the forest if the sun shines. So we can have drinks and nibbles in spring and a full meal in summer. Roes often come to graze the fresh weed on the edge of the forest.”
“Indoors, it looks like us: it is eclectic and reveals our many trips. We kept the soul of the farm, raw regarding its materials and very welcoming in the way it is fitted out. A table is always ready to be laid for our friends passing through.” Between tradition and eclectism, Marlijn’s farm seems to be a haven.
What do you think of Cookening?
The strengths of Cookening, as seen by Marlijn: “The fact that you exist! And how diverse the offers are, how simple it is to modify the informations on our profile and also, how extremely patient Sophie is, answering all my questions!”
Any weaknesses? “Browsing the website is not that easy. Also, it would be great to be able to search a table by department or region.”
If you want to meet Marlijn and attend a meal at her place, click right here!
Do you want to be part of Portraits or Stories on the Art of Cookening? Contact us!
