Chef invents liquid bolus, and the idea behind it is brilliant
Okay, I admit that ‘liquid bolus’ doesn’t sound very appealing. Anyone with a slightly vivid imagination sees entirely different things when they hear it. But it tastes great, this creation by chef Martijn van Gemst. And the idea behind it is bittersweet.
Zeeland is my favorite province, and I simply can’t leave Zeeland without eating a Zeeland bolus. Whoever invented that sticky, saccharine pastry is, as far as I’m concerned, ‘the Zeeland native of the century’. I love the texture of a bolus. Soft, buttery dough covered in such a deliciously gooey layer of sugar: wonderful. Just imagine not being able to taste and experience this. You’d really be missing something in life, wouldn’t you?
‘Spoon bread’ or ‘Spoon cake’
Chef Martijn van Gemst thought so too. He is a chef gastro-engineer and makes sure that ”people with taste impairments can enjoy good food again”, as he once explained to AD. For example, he develops products for people with swallowing difficulties. For them, tasting such a delicious Zeeland bolus is by no means a given. His idea originated when his grandmother was living in a care home. That was when Van Gemst discovered that the food there was genuinely inedible. Sad, isn’t it? Older people deserve a tasty meal too.
Among other things, he developed liquid cake, tompouce, fruit pastry and — what I find most interesting — liquid pizza. The products are also referred to as ‘spoon cake’ or ‘spoon bread’. When I look at his Gastromeals website, I see that the liquid pizza comes in a shaker containing all kinds of ingredients. They’re genuinely good, natural ingredients too; I can see wheat flour, extra virgin olive oil, carrots and cauliflower among them. You prepare the shaker with a liquid of your choice. Think milk or passata. With milk, you end up with a kind of pizza bianca; with passata, a pizza rossa.
So, what does a liquid bolus actually taste like?
The texture has been adapted for people with swallowing difficulties. You get that texture by mixing the liquid product and then letting it rest for 15 minutes. What do you taste when you take a bite of your liquid bolus or pizza? It looks like custard, but the texture is clearly different. It has more consistency. A peculiar mouthfeel, but thanks to the textures and flavors, you genuinely feel as though you’re eating a bolus or pizza.
The liquid bolus is Van Gemst’s latest creation. Omroep Zeeland visited the Cederhof residential care center in Kapelle and had three residents taste the liquid Zeeland delicacy. Marie and Arjan are enthusiastic and think it’s really delicious; Adrie finds it too sweet. ”Sweeter than a regular bolus”, she says. But they agree that the liquid bolus is very tasty ”every now and then”. That’s a perfectly acceptable verdict, because you wouldn’t eat a regular bolus every day either. Although…
Also read:
- 6x lesser-known local delicacies you’ll want to try now
- Poffert is Groningen’s best-kept secret: you’ll want to try this
- Recipe: Zeeland oysters (with tequila!)
Sources: Omroep Zeeland, Foodholland, AD
