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The days are getting shorter and the evenings longer... time to make it cozy and tasty inside! 🍽️ This year, at Alvida, we're sharing some of our favorite winter recipes — dishes that anyone can easily make at home, but that still have that special festive one touch have. So pull out the cupboards, invite friends or family over, and create a delicious dinner that your guests will talk about for a long time to come. 🎄✨

Here are our Top 3 Winter Kitchen Secrets — recipes that are perfect for enjoying a warm winter evening together.

🦌 Winter Stag Fillet with Port Rosemary Sauce 🥂

For a luxurious winter dinner with friends and family
Bring the holidays home with this delicious venison fillet! With a soft port sauce and a hint of rosemary, you get a deliciously fragrant dish that is perfect for a cold evening. Easy to make and so luxurious, it looks like you're a star chef! 🌟

What do you need?

• 500 g venison breast
• Salt and Pepper 🧂
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 200 ml port wine 🍷
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp butter

Get started!

1. Prepare the fillet: Season the venison fillet thoroughly with salt and pepper and let it rest at room temperature for the best taste.
2. Sauce time: Fry the onion and garlic in a pan with a little oil until they are nice and soft. Add the port and rosemary and let it all reduce by half for a rich sauce. Take out the rosemary and stir in the butter. 🧈
3. Just bake: Heat a pan hot, add a little olive oil and sear the fillet quickly. Lower the heat and fry the fillet for another 8-10 minutes until it is nice and rosé. Let it rest for a while and then cut into slices.
4. At the table!: Place the deer slices on a nice plate, pour some of the fragrant sauce over them, and serve with roasted vegetables. Just enjoy! 🥂

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🍄 Creamy Truffle Risotto with Roasted Winter Mushrooms 🍄

Comfort food with a touch of luxury
This creamy risotto with truffle oil and roasted mushrooms is the perfect winter comfort food. The dish is simple but feels super luxurious — a hit for a fun evening! 🎩

What do you need?

• 300 g risotto rice
• 1 liter of vegetable stock 🍲
• 200 g mixed mushrooms (shiitake, oyster mushrooms)
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 50 g Parmesan cheese, grated 🧀
• 1 tbsp truffle oil
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and Pepper

Get started!

1. Roasting mushrooms: Heat the oven to 180°C. Mix the mushrooms with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and roast them for about 20 minutes until they are nice and crispy.
2. Start risotto: Fry the onion and garlic in a pan until soft, add the risotto rice and stir everything thoroughly.
3. Broth little by little: Add a spoonful of broth and keep stirring until absorbed. Repeat until the risotto is creamy and al dente — it takes about 20 minutes. Patience is rewarded! 🕰️
4. Last touch: Take the risotto off the heat, add the Parmesan and truffle oil and stir until completely absorbed.
5. Serving: Divide the risotto into deep plates, place the mushrooms on top and garnish with an extra dash of truffle oil. So good that it makes you silent! 🍽️

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🍎 Crunchy Pork Belly with Hot Apple Cinnamon Compote 🍏

Winter on a plate!
For those who love savory and sweet at the same time, this dish is an absolute must. The crispy pork belly and the warm apple and cinnamon compote are a perfect combination that really tastes like winter. It also smells great all over the house! 🍁

What do you need?

• 600 g pork belly with rind
• 2 tbsp sea salt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 apples, peeled and diced 🍏
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp honey 🍯
• 50 ml water

Get started!

1. Prepare pork belly: Preheat the oven to 160°C. Cut the rind crosswise and rub the pork belly thoroughly with salt and a little olive oil. Bake the bacon in the oven for about 90 minutes until crisp and golden brown.
2. How to make Apple Cinnamon Compote: Add the apples, cinnamon, honey and water to a pan and simmer gently until the apples are soft and fragrant. 🍎
3. Let it rest: Take the pork belly out of the oven and let it rest for a few minutes before cutting it into nice slices.
4. Serve and enjoy!: Serve the pork belly slices with a large spoonful of warm apple cinnamon compote. Perfect for a fun evening at the table! 🧡
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Happy cooking moments and a warm winter from the Alvida team!

Do you always write your barbecue wrong with a q? Then know that it was originally written that way. Indeed, the origin of the word is very French. The French loved roast boar a long time ago. They rained the beast “from beard to tail” on a roasting spit. In French, this is: barbe (beard) et (en) queue (tail), pronounced barbékjeu. The English found the French barbecue queue a difficult word and made a barbecue out of it. And even the French have now taken over. But in short, we write bbq again. Whichever way you write it, it's still a strange word. Who's coming in tonight's beard and tails?

Barbecuing is extremely popular on all continents. In some countries, whole pigs or sheep are traditionally still roasted on a spit over an open fire. In the Netherlands, we usually stick to a handy model of charcoal barbecue. Although the easier gas barbecue is gaining ground. People who swear by gas barbecues especially praise the shorter cooking time, the ability to control the temperature and the ease of cleaning. While coal lovers, of course, go for the authentic smoke taste and atmosphere. In addition, a charcoal barbecue is much cheaper to purchase than the gas variant. You can even have a disposable BBQ with coals for just a few euros.

If you want to make your beard and tail a success, make sure you are well prepared. And for nice weather, although unfortunately you can't order it. Here's what you need for a good game of barbecue:

• Steel brush for thorough cleaning of your grill. Heat the grill first, so it's easier to brush off the dirt.
• Long pliers, indispensable if you don't want to get burned fingers turning your meat, fish or vegetables.
• Tassel, preferably one with silicone bristles, to coat your meat, fish or vegetables with oil or marinade while grilling.
• Water sprayer to extinguish emerging flames quickly and thus prevent your food from burning.
• Apron and fireproof oven mitt to protect yourself from splashing fat. You have special long “oven gloves” for barbecuing.
• Bucket of water next to the barbecue, should the flame really go out of the cue. But it's also useful to rinse or cool your hands quickly after an unwanted touch with the grill.
  

Everything is ready. On to step 2: light up the barbecue and ensure a well-glowing barbecue. If you want to appear a bit adept at your bbq party, follow these tips:

• Briquettes or coal? Charcoal burns faster, blazes more and reaches a higher temperature than briquettes. Charcoal is therefore more suitable for direct grilling on an open barbecue. If you use a barbecue with a lid and you want to grill indirectly, briquettes are better. You can also slowly cook your meat on briquettes and then add some charcoal to finally sear the meat.
• Coconut briquettes are preferred. Not only are they durable, but they burn cleaner, ignite less quickly and can reach higher temperatures than conventional briquettes.
• Creation booklets are useful for getting a fire quickly, but use cubes made of natural material. Those containing paraffin are chemical and give off a foul smell.
• One Fire starter, a handy tool that you can have at home for less than ten euros. It is a round vessel with a handle, in which you light your coals or briquettes. When they glow, pour the coals into your barbecue.
• No spirit! Never light your flames with spirit or other flammable liquids. Dangerous!
• Spices provide a lovely scent, so feel free to throw herbs or scented wood chips between your glowing coals. Or let yourself be surprised by the aroma of dried ones.
• Grey is the color of your coals when they are ready to grill your delicious food. So be patient! Count on 20-30 minutes from lighting to grill-ready.
  

Okay, the coals are glowing and grey. Now comes the real work. With these tips, you'll become a real barbecue pro.

• Use flat metal skewers to string up your meat, fish and vegetables. With a round skewer, your meat does not rotate while turning. If you want to use wooden sticks, soak them overnight in cold water to prevent burning.
• Oil or marinade is not only good for the taste of your grill dish, it helps prevent it from drying out. So always marinate or coat your meat, fish and vegetables with oil. Also, keep brushing regularly while grilling.
• Cut one fat edge cook your meat before you put it on the barbecue to prevent it from curling up.
• One cool zone is a place on your barbecue where there is less coal. In this zone, you can keep things warm that are already ready without them continuing to fry.
• One grill clamp offers a solution for grilling fish, because it easily falls apart as cooking increases. Such a clamp is also useful for small sausages or vegetables that can fall through the grate.
• Packing is a fun way to prepare delicious dishes. For example, in aluminum foil or a banana leaf, but a cabbage leaf also works great. Especially suitable for fish and vegetables.
• blanch hard vegetables before you put them on the grill, so they stay nice and juicy on the inside.
• The regulate temperature is only possible with a bbq with a lid. The further you open the air supply, the hotter it gets inside.
• With a half a lemon you can quickly clean your grill between two dishes and prevent one from tasting like the other.
  

With these tips as a basis, nothing can actually fail. Stick with it for the best results, because burnt food is not only dirty, but also very unhealthy. Do you feel like you haven't got the hang of it despite all the tips, don't you have a barbecue or just don't feel like grilling for hours while the rest of the company is having a drink? Then a perfect barbecue is still possible: have your entire barbecue catered! It also saves dishes. Ideal for having your bbq catering arranged during your birthday, company party, wedding or other occasion.

Did you know that Alvida Catering & Events can provide you with a complete bbq with live cooking at your location? Complete with decor and staff. Feel free to request a quote call or call 023 822 3113.

Christmas is a time of joy, togetherness and good food. But organizing a festive Christmas dinner can be quite stressful, especially if you're also responsible for preparing and serving the food. Fortunately, there is a solution: Christmas catering on location. In this blog article, we'll discuss how on-site Christmas catering can help you enjoy a stress-free and tasty Christmas.

1. Convenience and stress-free
   Organizing a Christmas dinner takes a lot of planning, shopping, cooking and cleaning up. With Christmas catering on location, a professional team takes care of all these tasks. From menu planning to preparing and serving food, everything is taken care of. This means you can relax and enjoy the party without worrying about the details.
2. Choose from a variety of menus
   On-site Christmas catering offers a wide range of menu options, so you can choose what best suits your tastes and preferences. Whether you prefer traditional Christmas dishes like turkey and cranberry sauce, or prefer a more contemporary and creative menu choice, there's something for everyone. The catering team can also take dietary requirements or allergies into account, so that everyone can enjoy a delicious meal.
3. Professional service
   With Christmas catering on location, you not only get delicious food, but also professional and attentive service. The catering team ensures that the food is delivered on time and in perfect condition. They can also help set up the tables, serve the dishes, and clean up afterwards. This ensures a seamless and hassle-free experience for you and your guests.
4. Room for personal touch
   Although the catering team is primarily responsible for the food, that doesn't mean you can't add a personal touch to the party. Discuss your ideas and wishes with the catering team and they will do their best to accommodate them. Whether it's special decorations, a certain atmosphere or a special presentation of the food, your input can make the party even more special.

Conclusion:
On-site Christmas catering offers a great solution for anyone who wants to enjoy a delicious Christmas dinner without the stress and hassle of cooking and organizing themselves. With a professional catering team that takes care of everything from menu planning to service, you can relax and enjoy a hassle-free party. So why stress yourself out during the holidays? Opt for christmas catering on location and make your Christmas an unforgettable culinary experience!

The end of the year is fast approaching and what better than the festive atmosphere of Christmas to end the business year in style? Alvida Catering & Events is ready to make your Christmas company party unforgettable. With our dedicated team and a range of enchanting packages, we bring the magic of the holidays to your business. Read on and discover how we will transform your Christmas company party into a true winter wonderland!

POPULAR CHRISTMAS PARTY: A Toast to Success!

Our popular Christmas party packages provide a festive atmosphere where colleagues can toast to the past year and look forward to what the future holds. With tasty snacks, sparkling drinks and a festive atmosphere, the Christmas party will be an unforgettable occasion. Let us take care of the details so you and your team can fully enjoy the festivities!

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CHRISTMAS WINTER COOKIE AND ZOPIE: Warmth and Conviviality

Welcome your guests with a warm welcome during our Christmas Winter Cookie and Zopie package. Think of atmospheric fire pits, the scent of winter treats and delicious drinks to warm up. This package gives a cozy feeling, perfect for an informal get-together where colleagues can enjoy each other's company in a winter setting.

Watch here more information

WINTER WONDERLAND BBQ: Grill & Chill in the Cold!

Surprise your team with a unique experience by hosting a Winter Wonderland BBQ. Yes, you read that right, a BBQ in the winter! Let us convince you that this is possible with tasty dishes that are perfect for the winter season. Think grilled treats, hot sauces and fire pits that create a cozy atmosphere. A winter barbecue you'll never forget!

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CHRISTMAS WINTER FOOD MARKET: Culinary Delight!

Do you really want to unpack? Then choose our Christmas Winter Foodmarket package. A culinary journey through various stalls with delicious dishes and treats. Let your guests enjoy a unique taste experience and create a cozy market atmosphere at your company party. The Christmas Winter Food Market is the way to spoil the taste buds while creating a festive atmosphere.

Watch here the possibilities

Let Alvida Catering & Events guide you in organizing the perfect Christmas company party. Whether you opt for an atmospheric drink, a winter BBQ, or an extensive food market, we guarantee an unforgettable experience. Contact us today and give your company the Christmas party it deserves. Together, we'll make your company party a magical event! 🎄✨

Click here to get a quote right away!

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In Asia, it has been a normal street scene for centuries: street stalls selling all kinds of local delicacies. A colorful and fragrant collection of traders with mobile stalls from where they sell their homemade specialties. Bangkok alone has 20,000 street vendors.

Over the past 10 years, this phenomenon has undergone a global revolution and has spread to all continents. Previously, we only saw a chip shop, fish stand or hot dog truck on the street; nowadays, every self-respecting city has several food markets or festivals. Food trucks, food caravans, food stalls, food mopeds and, above all, many food lovers can now visit all over the Netherlands all year round. Street food has also become extremely popular here.

Mobile kitchen

The food festivals have been around in our country for about 10 years now. In America, they have been watching the art of hip street sales for a long time, where the idea of the hip mobile kitchen originated. In the Netherlands, it started at the many festivals, where visitors were no longer satisfied with the food on offer. More and more food trucks were coming to the festivals and they liked it so much that the idea arose to give this food culture its own festival.

The big advantage of a food market is that everyone gets their money's worth. One person wants a nice piece of meat and the other wants a light vegan snack. At a food market, everyone buys what they want, while you can still eat together. For that reason, the food market concept has also become popular in catering. After all, it is not easy to satisfy everyone with a large group. But with all kinds of different hip snacks at different stalls, you can keep everyone happy. And it also looks very festive.

Street food trends

Trends for 2020 are the cuisines of India and Japan. Indian finger food is a hit with light snacks such as scallops with sweet and sour ginger or puris with chutney. It's nothing like the Indian cuisine we know. From Japan, snacks come to share together on the street food menu, such as chicken skewers and fried tofu. The appreciation for plant-based protein is also rising. So expect products containing soy, grains, algae and beans on the menu. In London, the fluffy, filled pancake from Taiwan is a hit. Expect them at the Dutch festivals too soon.

Eating and traveling

Most street food trends come from the country of origin. It is therefore not surprising that half of the travelers want to visit a food market during their vacation. According to research by a major booking site, many travelers choose their destination based on local cuisine anyway. A whopping 41% of travelers want to discover new destinations in 2018 because of local cuisine. That's an increase of more than 10 percent compared to 2017: a quarter of travelers don't see anything in a destination without a foodie culture at all.

For street food lovers, the top of the list are Bangkok in Thailand, Taipei in Taiwan, Hanoi in Vietnam, Istanbul in Turkey and George Town in Malaysia. Here, too, you can still see that the real street food culture comes from Asia.

‍‍Food markets
‍You can find the best food markets and festivals in the Randstad this summer here:

Rolling Kitchens, Amsterdam
During the Ascension weekend from May 20 to 24, the Rolling Kitchens will park on the grounds of the Westergasfabriek in Amsterdam for the 11th time. As they say, here you'll find everything “from gourmet food trucks to rolling kitchen princesses”. And of course, the whole thing is graced by mobile music. Free entry. Watch on www.rollendekeukens.nl

Pure market, Amsterdam
An Amsterdam monthly, Sunday food market that is held alternately in the Amstelpark, Park Frankendael and the Amsterdamse Bos. Producers sell their own artisanal products here, which you can enjoy on the spot at one of the tables. Free admission, Sunday, March 29, 2020. www.puremarkt.nl

Toost Food Truck Festival, Multiple locations
Throughout the summer, you will find Toost at various locations (to be announced soon), where you can find delicious snacks prepared in authentic food trucks. www.toostfoodtruckfestival.nl‍

The Parade, Multiple locations
The traveling festival where food and culture go hand in hand. You can see over 60 shows here, but some people only come here for delicious snacks. From May 29 to August 30 in Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht and Amsterdam. Admission €7.50. www.deparade.nl‍

Haarlem Experimental Park
From August 28 to 30 in the Kenaupark in Haarlem with a nice food line up, music, theater and entertainment for young and old. Free entry. www.proefparkhaarlem.nl

De Hallen, Amsterdam
A permanent indoor food market in Amsterdam in an old tram depot with food trucks, restaurants and a cinema. www.foodhallen.nl

The Market Hall, Rotterdam
A daily Rotterdam indoor market and food market with food from all over the world. www.markthal.nl

If you have something to celebrate from 30 people, Alvida Catering & Events can offer a complete food market provide on-site food stands with scaffolding wooden food stands. Fully provided with catering, decoration and staff. For individuals and companies. Request a free quote or call 023 822 3113.

Safe party in times of the corona pandemic

How can you organize a party safely and yet successfully in times of the corona pandemic? We get this question regularly and our answer is, yes, you can, but of course with some minor adjustments (coronaproof).

We have listed 10 tips below.

1) Make sure there is adequate ventilation
- Organize outdoors as much as possible. In cold weather, for example, use a tent and make sure the tent is not completely closed.
- You can also organize a party inside, but in that case, open windows and doors facing each other. This includes a large overhead door that you partially open. Fresh air is always nice but indispensable these days.

2) Communicate the measures clearly to the guests
- Send a personal invitation (by mail or even better, just by regular mail)
- Hang up nice posters with the measures

3) Fixed sitting and/or standing positions
- You send a nice invitation and immediately make an overview of the fixed seats and standing places. By means of beautiful table numbers, everyone knows what their permanent place is. Of course, you don't have to sit or stand at it all evening, but this prevents everyone from constantly getting mixed up and changing places.

4) Disinfectant
Place disinfectant at the entrance, on the bar and possibly on all tables. You will notice that people like to disinfect their hands from time to time.

5) Registering invitees
- Let the guests register in advance, we use an online registration tool for this where people can indicate whether they have had a cold in the past 24 hours. This data gives you insight into the health of the attendees. If it turns out afterwards that something has happened, you have all the data ready to use for a possible source and contact investigation.

6) Sufficient distance
Distance between tables, the bar and any other objects. Space is always nice, but at this time, we want our environment to be and stay healthy. That is why it is certainly nice now that the layout of the location is more spacious. You have less risk of being too close to someone unnoticed.

7) The music and dancing
Turn the music down a bit. The advantage of this is that you can really chat with the others without having to shout because the background music allows this very well. An additional advantage is that people are not going to sing and dance along. We're dancing again after the corona!

8) Gloves
Use gloves not only in preparation but also at the bar and change them regularly. Just wearing gloves doesn't help because, of course, we do just as much with our gloves on as we do without gloves. That is why it is the rule that they are changed every 15 minutes anyway and are changed after contact with contaminated surfaces or, for example, money. Apart from corona, personal hygiene and the use of gloves is always an important point when working with food and drinks.

9) Shake hands
Do not shake hands, do not hand over objects. Just saying hello without shaking hands or without the three famous kisses takes some getting used to, but trust us, it gets used to itself. Don't give a drink this time, just put it in front of someone. That works just as well and no one is bothered by it.

10) Last but not least, use your common sense. Every day, a lot of questions still come in about sometimes very small things, and that's a good thing. But often you know the answer yourself. Take, for example, the question about the one and a half meters. Of course, you can accidentally forget the 1.5 meter mark while walking by, but that is of course different than dancing the salsa together for 5 minutes or half an hour sitting at the table and chatting together. The chance of something happening may be very small and maybe you won't be bothered by it yourself and you won't notice that you might have been infected after all and the next day you'll be with your lovely grandmother or grandfather.

With these 10 tips, we hope to have given you the tools to still organize a successful party. Do you want more information about how we can organize your party or do you have other questions? Feel free to call or email. You can reach us 7 days a week between 10:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. on 023 822 31 13.