If You Were an Expat...

[bleudauvergne]

These are all really good ideas.

Judy's idea of free talks to international expat groups, arranged through the consulate, local clubs, etc. for exposure is a really good idea.

I recently asked a new expat friend if I could use her as a guinea pig just to see how I would do on a paid market tour. I acted like she was paying me and packed a whole lot of information into one morning at the market. So much good information came out from the interchange and her questions, things I never even considered that could be part of a market tour. It's good to try and anticipate any questions, but also anticipate the unexpected, and be prepared to talk non-stop. Every day of the season brings out something new to teach. You can get an hours' talk at the fish stand. At the same time, it's really important to cover the bases, and learn how to pace yourself. Let your expertise be the commodity in question, no amount of dedicated prep aside from your experience can substitute. Understand history and local uses of produce in addition to general information, because there will be questions out of the blue about simple things as well.

Introducing your students to the best vendors and products is really key too, and knowing where to get the best of everything is really important. Learn everything there is to know about their product and convey it to your students, and then give them a chance to sample it and use it walking them through the important aspects: relavent history and general situation, identification, how to identify fakes, variations that might be found, qualities, general overview of its use in the local cooking, and then actually working with it.

Menu interpretation covering a historical aspect and an overview of the local specialties is a good way to start a class. It is also good way to get a reading on the education level of your students, and introduce a dish.

About the cooking classes, I like they way Judy lets her students decide what to learn. It's a good approach that ensures that people will be satsified with the experience. You should have a choice of things, maybe with pictures, to help them out if they're not sure after your talk & market visit.

New expats might have an interest in expat shopping - once. You could schedule a group outing once a month for newbies, and then give your pitch for more understanding of the local cuisine. Even if people do want to cook their own dishes at home, and want to know where to find imports and subsitutions, your expertise is Dutch food, so get them interested to come back for more. Develop a pastry class, and themed classes around various menus or ingredients, and keep offering.

You mght include in the ex-pat shopping tours a final Dutch food lecture and menu interpretation session that can spark their interest for the local food. Then all you have to do is make yourself seen in the community often enough to plant some seeds.

Spoken like a true expert.

[Swisskaese]

I forgot about the butcher terminology and cuts of meat. That is a big one.

Kosher cuts are in some cases very different from what you find in a regular butcher and the same goes with European cuts vs. American cuts.

My butcher here has a chart with a diagram of a cow, sheep, etc. that shows the names and places of the cuts and what the cuts are used for. It was very helpful for me.

Also, there are sausages, salamis, etc. that are specialty of a specific area in Holland, Germany, France, etc. that an ex-pat might not be familiar with and would not necessarily notice or in some cases may be afraid to ask what something is because it looks gross. However, it might taste fantastic.

Flour, vanilla sugar and other baking items are also important to know. For example, Americans do not use vanilla sugar in baking. They use vanilla extract and sugar separately in their baking. They also might not know what Guss (in German) is and how it is used for tarts.

Klary, a licorice lesson might also be helpful.

Edited November 13, 2006 by Swisskaese (log)

[Chufi]

4) Remember, new ex-pats (and here I mean new to living abroad at all, not new to Amsterdam), often don't know what they need to know. .

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That's very interesting. Also, that's why all your replies are so incredibly helpful, all of us together think of things I by myself could never think of.

[Nina C.]

4) Remember, new ex-pats (and here I mean new to living abroad at all, not new to Amsterdam), often don't know what they need to know. .

Perhaps themed classes would help people understand what they don't know.

Perhaps you could offer a class about this time that was An American Thanksgiving in Holland - showing them where to find all of the things they'll want for a proper Thanksgiving, what substitutions can be made, and maybe teaching one or two dutch dishes that would fit well with the theme.

Or, also, Throwing a Dutch cocktail party/ Entertaining the Dutch way.

This would not only be a cooking class, but might include etiquette or other customs if expats need to entertain Dutch clients or bosses.

[percyn]

Klary, its a great idea and I know you would be a natural at it.

As others have suggested, I would start by brainstorming and identifying your target clientel and services they would be interested in, e.g:

Ex-pats

- Visits to several local markets over the course of a few days

- Local restaurant lunches/dinners and how to order the food, customs, etc

- Series of hands on cooking classes

Tourists interested in food

- Market tour

- Afternoon cooking class (perhaps following the morning visit to a market). Perhaps this is only offered during peak tourist season.

Locals

- Dinner club where you supply the ingredients and recipes for a group of friends to come in and cook meals for a few days in advance and reheat at home. Price varies by dish.

- You mentioned an International school across from you. Perhaps not everyone is interested in cooking, but still like eating good food with their families. Seems like a pre-made meal which they could pick up with their kids would be ideal for them. They pay you by the week or month and you make 2-3 dishes per meal. Your margins increase as you get more clients and word-of-mouth (pun intended) spreads.

Forgive me if this seems condoscending, as it is not meant to be, but before starting any business I advise my friends to do a SWOT (strengths, weakness, opportunities, treats) analysis, to give you an objective view. Who are your competitors? Are others offering this? How will you target your desired demographic? etc

And if you need a manager to collect money, give me a call

[srhcb]

Oddly enough, just last month my Cousin was re-patriated to this Country, (and her Dutch husband expatriated), after living thirty years in The Netherlands.

Since she's interested in cooking, eating and food culture in general I took this opportunity to email her about this Topic and invite her to visit eGullet. She and her family have traveled extensively around the world for pleasure and business, and I hope she'll avail herself of the opportunity to share some of her experiences and insights.

SB (uni-patriated himself)

[nakji]

I think all of the ideas here are great. This is exactly the sort of service I'd love to have here in Hanoi. The UN school offers classes and tours like this, but only at night - exactly when I can't go, as I'm teaching.

A note about the international school parents - in many cases these people probably already have domestic help that navigate the local markets...they may not want it for themselves, but for their nanny, live-in cook, au pair, etc., if they're not local. But the wives might be really interested in Dutch cooking classes.

[Eden]

Hi Klary,

something you might also take into consideration is knowing good markets in different neighborhoods. Knowing where to find the best butcher in town is great, but knowing where to find a good butcher near one's home is often more important...

Also from Nina C's comment re ettiquette, I bet for the newer expats it would be helpful to know any little rules/norms for shopping. How are you supposed to greet the shopkeepers, can you touch the produce, etc. And yes a quick kitchen vocabulary they could take away would be helpful. Dictionaries almost never tell you the difference between a stock-pot and a saucier, or baking powder vs. baking soda etc....

PS I found packaged stroopwaffels recently and while I know they can't compare to the ones you get fresh, they were very tasty & made me think of you

[MelissaH]

Klary,

I'd walk through a market with you again any day!

MelissaH

[Judith Umbria]

Thank you, everybody, for your thoughtful replies.

I have been toying with this idea for some time. There is an International school right across the street from my house. Every morning I see the parents (mostly the mums) drop off their children and I was thinking thay would be a place to start! I could hang up flyers in the school or something.

There was no one like you here when I arrived in Umbria to live. What was hard to learn?

What familiar things were called and where to find them. Bicarb of soda is common, but is with anti-acid stomach remedies near bottled drinks and water, not in the baking section. Allspice is called pepe di Giamaica. Things like that.

What are reasonable substitutes?

What the different cuts of meat-- vastly different from the USA-- are good for.

What are the unfamiliar things on the shelves and how does one use them? I had to spend an hour reading labels to fix a single meal in those days, with my rusty Italian.

What are the day-to-day common dishes served in local homes? I timidly knocked on my neighbor's door every few days and asked what she was cooking. She would invite me to eat and I would say, no, just looking!

Expats are all the extra-community folk, not just wives along for the tour. Some of this information is good for the working partner as well, as it helps in restaurants and in understanding the culture, which is a goal I would like to see every expat have.

[Chris Amirault]

One quick point about tours of markets. I've taken a few friends and family on driving tours of Providence markets, but the one that was most interesting for both me and the person I was taking around (my MIL) was a walking tour of a particular neighborhood (Rolfe Square in Cranston RI, for those in New England) that included visits to a series of specific shops (Armenian shop, Chinese/Phillipino shop, halal butcher and Middle Eastern shop, Russian/Eastern European shop, "Asian" seafood shop) in which we'd go through and talk about what was there, what wasn't there, what you do with this and that, and the like. We spent about 20-30 minutes in each store, going for depth instead of breadth.

I have done the same myself when I have been visiting other countries, and I find I've learned more about Barcelona, Paris, Riyadh, London, Tokyo, and a few other places spending an hour in a specific store rather than trying to hit ten in the same time by car. Makes me think that selecting a particular store and focusing on that might be a good idea....

[Chufi]

Klary,

I'd walk through a market with you again any day!

MelissaH

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actually, that market trip with you was the first time I thought of doing this. I had so much fun that I thought : I wish I could do this for a living!

This thread is becoming what I hoped it would be: a source of encouragement and inspiration. The materialization of my plans might take a little while, but I will certainly report about my progress here.

Thank you, all!

Edited November 16, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[Chufi]

Update!

Before setting up my own business, which might take a while simply because I'm slow, I thought I'd join a local business that deals in tours for tourists Like a Local. To my surprise, they did not have any culinary activities yet, and were enthusiastic about my ideas. Sofar, I've done one tour (see my profile here ) and have another one booked next week.

I'll have to see how this goes (I have no idea in advance who I'll be dealing with, reservations go through the central office) but for now, this is a nice way to see if this is actually something I'd like to do more often.

[Dana]

That looks great!!!! How was your first tour? Where were they from? How many did you take on the tour? details, girl, details!!!

This sounds like a dream job for you. Does this company give you any indication as to how often you'll get a 'booking'?

[Rehovot]

Congratulations! I think the idea of freelancing before setting up business on your own is an excellent idea.

And meeting in a coffeehouse is a great way to begin the tour; I imagine that it gives you a chance to break the ice, and to find out what your guests are particularly interested in, food-wise.

There are two comments on your profile with Like a Local; have you already given tours? And, if so, how was the experience?

As an expat first in Israel and now in the Czech Republic, I only found markets and great hidden spots, the hard way...on my own...and by getting very lost. (Now, I know enough to ask local friends and shopkeepers for recommendations...and to enjoy getting lost.)

I wish I'd had someone like you, or like the mother in the family I stayed with, studying in Paris; she took one morning, shortly after I arrived, to take me on a tour of the neighborhood's markets, bakeries, coffeehouses, and restaurants. It was a great introduction, not only to the locations, but to the merchants, who had known and loved Mme. Juy for years.

Best wishes for success!

[Chufi]

I did one tour, with 20 year old trainees of the company, who were not necessarily interested in food, which was in a way a good experience. They were not from Amsterdam so everything was new to them. My tour next week will actually be the first 'real' one .

The people booking things with Like a Local are mainly tourists, not expats. So the tours are about experience, not so much knowledge that they will use for shopping/cooking etc. in Amsterdam. I'm still looking into the expat thing... I might do something together with a litle cooking studio/ cookbookstore, organize tours and maybe a Dutch Cooking class. But, like I said, I'm slooooow... and usually have more ideas and plans than will ever be executed. But that's one of the reasons I started this thread, to stay inspired to keep working on this

There is no guarantee whatsoever about how many bookings I'll get. We'll see!

[Chufi]

My tour next week will actually be the first 'real' one .

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well, my tour for tomorrow was cancelled so don't expect an update soon! I think it's becoming clear that I can't really rely on this company to promote me. It seems I have to start thinking of ways to do this myself...