Comwell’s ambition to put more dishes with vegetables and pulses on the menu came through clearly at Madens Folkemøde. With plenty of visitors, tastings, engaging conversations, debates and workshops, Comwell’s participation in the festival was a great success.
Madens Folkemøde is currently hosting discussions about the food habits of the future in Nykøbing Falster.
Comwell took part in collaboration with Coor Denmark. Together, the two companies serve around 400,000 meals each month in almost 100 canteens and hotels. At the festival, they focused on plant-based cooking with vegetables and pulses.
The two companies have also entered into a three-year collaboration on developing and presenting dishes with vegetables and pulses on the buffet. The project was launched with support from the Danish Plant-Based Food Grant.
For Comwell, taking part in Madens Folkemøde was an opportunity both to share experiences from its hotel kitchens and to find fresh inspiration for plant-based cooking with vegetables and pulses.
Masterclass: Winning guests over with flavour
How do we encourage guests to choose dishes with vegetables and pulses at the buffet? Flavour and presentation took centre stage when Comwell and Coor held a well-attended masterclass at Madens Folkemøde.
Drawing on their joint project supported by the Danish Plant-Based Food Grant, the chefs demonstrated how different cooking techniques can create depth and umami in dishes with vegetables and pulses.
On stage, Thomas Hedegaard, Head Chef at Comwell Rebild Bakker, and Rasmus Rasmussen, Head of Sustainable Gastronomy at Comwell, worked closely with Coor’s experts.
They prepared dishes using ingredients including pulses from Aurion, vegetables from Axel Månsson, plant-based products from DAVA and grains from Mejnerts Mølle, which attendees had the opportunity to taste.
“We should not wag our fingers. We should elevate the flavour. When we work professionally with sensory techniques and an understanding of ingredients, we can prepare dishes with vegetables and pulses that guests choose for their taste,” says Rasmus Rasmussen.
Dilemmas in a “Monopoly”-style debate
Alongside the practical cooking techniques, everyday food habits were explored in a lively “Monopoly”-style debate. Why do we so often reach for familiar foods, even when we would like to eat more vegetables and pulses?
Moderated by Helle Lohmann Rasmussen from Dansk Facility Management, Rasmus Rasmussen from Comwell and BU President Anne Mette Knudsen from Coor joined representatives from organisations including Madkulturen, Norion and the Danish Food, Agriculture and Fisheries Agency.
The debate focused on habits, flavour and presentation, and on how dishes with vegetables and pulses can form part of everyday meals.
Inspiration for the hotel kitchens
Taking part in Madens Folkemøde gave Comwell an opportunity to share experiences of preparing and presenting dishes with vegetables and pulses. Participants also gained inspiration for recipes and buffet arrangements at the hotels.
“When we adjust a recipe or present a buffet in a new and inviting way at the hotels, we give guests an opportunity to experience ingredients in different contexts. The practical approaches, ingredient combinations and sensory techniques demonstrated at the festival can be applied directly in our day-to-day kitchen operations. We look forward to bringing that inspiration back with us and continuing our work with dishes featuring vegetables and pulses,” says Rasmus Rasmussen.
About Comwell Hotels
Comwell is a Danish family-owned, nationwide hotel chain with hotels throughout Denmark, as well as ODEON in Odense and Centralværkstedet in Aarhus. For over 55 years, Comwell has been operating meeting and conference hotels and has won numerous awards over the years for its meeting, service and dining concepts.
Comwell was the first to introduce Danes to the modern meeting package back in 1969. Today, this remains Comwell’s core business. Comwell also caters for training and course programmes, workshops, job interviews, board meetings, exhibitions and events, and has 2,500 rooms and 320 meeting and conference rooms at its disposal.
The three-year project, supported by Plantefonden, is now well under way. Chefs from Comwell Hotels and Coor have just embarked on a series of masterclasses and visits to producers, where knowledge-sharing and an interest in Danish produce take centre stage.
Eight event coordinator and receptionist trainees from Comwell have been on a joint trainee trip to gain fresh inspiration for their day-to-day work and build strong relationships across the hotels.
See, taste, experience, learn, understand – and network. That is the essence of Comwell Hotels’ trainee trips, when trainees visit some of the suppliers. The aim is to help trainees understand the ingredients and instil in them a respect for the journey the products take from farm to table.
