Herman Cooijmans

As an apprentice and cook Herman Cooijmans was able to learn a lot from the best chefs in the Netherlands, Gerard Wollerich, Dick Middelweerd, Koos van Noort and many more. They have shaped me into the chef I am now allowed to be. They taught me to recognize flavours, combine them and the layers you can create in a dish. Or always stimulating yourself, and if you don’t know something (yet), look it up. Because that’s how you keep broadening and improving yourself. Ever since my education I have chosen a path in which craft is important. This is therefore an important guideline in my own kitchen. Not only to give your own twist to everything, but also because you only really understand something when you know how to make it yourself.

Ice Solution

Ice Solution is an ice cream calculator that creates the perfect recipe with a few simple questions, so that anyone can make the most beautiful ice cream in any flavor without the know-how. Whether you go for basic flavors or for complex special flavors, there is something for everyone.

My connection to ice cream

Basically me and ice cream. Last year I made an ice cream calculator. This is a calculator that can generate a recipe for any taste you want. This way I can add crazy ingredients and flavorings. The calculator disassembles all parts of the flavors to ensure that the final result can always be calculated correctly. The only thing the calculator doesn’t know is the associated properties of specific ingredients. All this to calculate the perfect ice cream with the best texture, hardness and mouthfeel. This is because in my restaurant I’m always looking for new things that don’t exist yet, and combinations that aren’t obvious. For example, last winter we combined caramelized Brussels sprouts in a dessert with rutabaga ice cream. Rutabaga ice cream is not available anywhere and I have an ice cream machine, so I’m going to make my own rutabaga ice cream.

But if I want to be able to do that, I must have a very good and strong knowledge of ice cream preparation. And with the wishes that I have, this often only stops at the molecular level and a few mathematical calculations. I have further perfected this knowledge for myself in recent corona years. While I delved further into this, I incorporated all my knowledge into a calculation formula.

Due to the high demand for different applications, I made it so that you can make not only sweet ice cream, but also slightly sweet ice cream, savory ice cream and also low carb ice cream. These options are all available for ice cream, gelato (milk-based ice cream), ice cream made from dairy substitutes (vegan ice cream) and sorbet ice cream.

The ice cream calculator is always evolving. New flavors will be added over time. You cannot add your own flavorings for the time being. This is coming soon though, so if I haven’t added the flavoring you want yet, you can enter it yourself. Please note that this requires the product’s ingredient list and nutritional information. We will also always be on the lookout for new flavorings to add to the flavorings list. With the current flavor list, I hope you get a long way. With almost 700 different flavorings and 100 different sugars, sweeteners and sugar syrups with different flavors, the possibilities are already enormous.

Each sugar and sweetener (pac component) has its own unique properties. A short description of the unique properties of some species can be found on eden-shop.nl. Different properties of the pac components allow you to control the texture, structure, mouthfeel, sweetness, calorie content and much more. Trehalose is a good example. This prevents, among other things, the denaturalization of proteins, so that your ice cream remains stable for longer. And it only has a sweetening power of 45% compared to sucrose (table sugar).

In this way Herman Cooijmans wants to give everyone the opportunity to create what you want, and not just depend on the current local ice cream options. You can use your own flavors, or combine them with the most commonly used flavors in the hospitality industry such as; fruit and vegetable puree from the Boiron les vergers brand, or the chocolate from Barry Callebaut. But it also contains unprocessed vegetables, fruits, nuts, etc. and of course dairy substitutes. Best of all, you don’t need to have any knowledge of how to put together ice cream. The calculator calculates everything for you based on a few questions and does the rest. In this way everyone can make beautiful ice cream without having followed extensive studies and courses. And the ingredients, you will find them in our webshop.

Restaurant EDEN

“Exciting, innovative but above all contrary, that is our signature”

Restaurant Eden started by Herman Cooijmans & Robin Groos is located in beautiful Brabant. It stands for hospitality, gastronomy and experience. We excite our guests with distinct flavors and an unmistakable presentation of the dishes. Only the freshest products come from our kitchen. Prepared with attention, passion and love, and with respect for the product. Eating out in Valkenswaard at Restaurant Eden is an experience that will be both unique and unforgettable for the entire group.

Our concept is accessible, but we do aim for the best quality. We find it important that our guests feel comfortable and can dine in a relaxed manner.

The name of our restaurant in Valkenswaard is derived from Garden of Eden or Hof van Eden. Garden of Eden stands for opulence and a luxurious life. Paradise, hence the snake in our logo. Luxurious dining out, that’s what it’s all about for us. The service and products must be top notch, and guests must be completely pampered.

 

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“THE STANDARD IS BORING”

Herman Cooijmans always had a different take on the standard. How could this be otherwise? That is exactly the question I constantly ask myself. My cooking style is eccentric and experimental. This is due to my strong own vision of food, flavors and their impact. From my cooking vision I am always looking for the unknown, whether it concerns a product, flavor combination or serving location within the menu. It provides a quest to broaden the applications of products in pure form. Because I like to keep a product recognizable. Scandinavian cuisine is a perfect example of this, and this often inspires me. But we are influenced by many cuisines, our cooking style cannot be linked to any country. We are inspired by everything, and we also try to combine everything. Our world has so much to offer.

Our own country is also a source of unknown products. Think, for example, of the birch, which provides us with sap, bark and young leaves. Or oat root, previously eaten in abundance and now forgotten. The same goes for the purple dead nettle, a favorite product of mine. Great products from the pure nature of the Netherlands. Our vegetable garden is full of plants, herbs, vegetables and fruit that we grow ourselves. These are the most exclusive products that we can’t get anywhere else. Take purple dead nettle, water spinach, kiwi berry, catnip or licorice plant as an example. I continue to innovate and I am inspired by my passionate employees.

This is what Restaurant EDEN* has become known for and it has earned us a Michelin star less than a year after our start. That day Herman Cooijmans also got the biggest compliment I’ve ever received. And it was the Chief Inspector/Director of the Michelin Guide for the Benelux, Werner Loens, who mentioned me and my cooking style as the one he remembered most in that assessment year (2019) because of my vision on food and my way of combining flavours.

Ice Solution

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