Jozua Jaring of Ratatouille becomes an SVH Master Chef
The Michelin-starred chef of Ratatouille Food & Wine in Haarlem passed his master's exam in his own kitchen on 11 November. He becomes the 156th SVH Meesterkok in the Netherlands.
Jozua Jaring (48) can now call himself an SVH Meesterkok, the Dutch master chef title. The chef of Ratatouille Food & Wine on the Spaarne in Haarlem took the Meesterproef in his own kitchen on 11 November and, after his inauguration, becomes the 156th SVH master chef in the Netherlands, SVH and De RestaurantKrant report.
The exam took a full working day. Two fellow master chefs, Erik van Loo of the two-star Parkheuvel in Rotterdam and Jarno Eggen of Le Epifaan in Veeningen, assessed him together with secretary Hanneke Westland on a company presentation, an à la carte lunch, the so-called masterly menu and two technical assignments. Dishes included pikeperch with blood sausage, fennel and young carrots, and turbot with risotto, cockles and shellfish. The committee praised the cooking points, the tight organisation and the way the team worked together.
‘For me the title is not an end point but a new starting point,’ Jaring says in the SVH announcement. He wants to pass on the best of the craft to the cooks who come after him. ‘Cooking has always been more than just work for me,’ he told De RestaurantKrant.
For me the title is not an end point but a new starting point.
What the SVH master title means for Jozua Jaring
The SVH Meestertitel is regarded as the highest level of professional competence you can reach in Dutch hospitality. The Stichting Vakbekwaamheid Hospitality manages the titles on behalf of the industry; the first master chefs passed in 1980. The Netherlands now has more than 320 SVH Masters across six titles. The committee, made up entirely of SVH Masters, works through an assessment list of more than one hundred points: the quality of the food, but also communication, organisation and hygiene. Jarno Eggen, who now sat on the other side of the table, earned the title himself in 2015. Read also how Jarno Eggen is starting again with Le Epifaan in Veeningen.
Thirteen years of Ratatouille on the Spaarne
Before opening Ratatouille Food & Wine in 2013, Jaring cooked at De Hoop op d'Swarte Walvis in Zaandam, Vis & Ko in Haarlem and Chapeau! in Bloemendaal. A Michelin star followed shortly after the opening, and the restaurant has held it without interruption since 2014. The Michelin Guide calls the cooking modern: according to the inspectors, Jaring gives classic flavours a personal, compelling twist, with unexpected techniques and strong vegetarian dishes. An open Molteni kitchen sits at the heart of the eclectic dining room, and when you book you can ask for a table on the waterside terrace.
With the master title in hand, Jaring joins a small club: 156 master chefs in 46 years, on average just over three a year.
