Delicacies from the region

Delicacies from the region

There are a lot of farmer shops to visit in Kaag & Braassem. As we are curious about them and where to find them, our editor Alice got on her bike herself. Together with her husband, she is in for a nice surprise. They cycled to Woubrugge, Hoogmade and Roelofarendsveen and discovered lots of delicacies from the region.

‘We started at the ‘Galgekade’ in Roelofarendsveen, close to the eel smokehouse Van Veen. A small shop with an artisanal smokehouse for eel from the Braassemermeer. The picnic table is inviting and makes a relaxing lunch very attractive, so two eel sandwiches please! For dessert we stop at restaurant Wagenaar on ‘Zuideinde’, where they make their own ice cream, using fresh milk from farmer Rotteveel from Rijpwetering’.

Asparagus and onions

‘We notice that we are not on a roll yet, as we are passing a stall with free range eggs on ‘Zuideinde’. But there is more to come. We take the small ferry (bicycles only) at ‘Paddegat’ to Woubrugge. Of course we know Aspergehof Noordam at the ‘Boddens Hosangweg’, but that’s not all this village has to offer. As it is in season, we start with a pound of asparagus. It is busy, but the traffic controllers, make sure it’s running smoothly. We decide to make things easy and buy asparagus from the vending machine, which has more farm produce to offer. From potatoes to onions, frozen homemade soup and even delicious ice-cream from farm milk’.

Complete greengrocer

‘On to our next stop on this route: Farm Van Rijn at the ‘Kruisweg’. We enter a cosy farmers shop, with lots of their own cultivated produce. In addition, they sell lots of other regional produce, it turns out to be a complete greengrocer! Lots of tourists know where to find them during the cycling season, tells the friendly lady behind the counter. But also local people like to shop here. We buy a bag of Elstar apples and get on our bike again, on the next shop of Farm Peters. We are also warmly welcomed here. With a bag of own cultivated onions, we continue our route’.

Farmhouse cheese and fresh milk

‘We cross the N446 straight ahead, where we turn onto a beautiful cycling track along the ‘Wijde Aa’. The weather is lovely, so it couldn’t get better than this. At ‘Ofwegen’, we park our bikes at the little milk house at ‘Mariahove logies’. Here there is a vending machine for a glass of fresh milk or a soft ice cream, but also a coffee machine. ‘Mariahoeve logies’ is an official resting point, where you can drink a cup of coffee for a small contribution. We continue our journey with a beautiful round along the Koudekerkse Lagewaardse mill and across the ‘Ruige Kade’ to turn onto the ‘Groenwegh’ in Hoogmade’.

Biological local supermarket

‘At the ‘Vlietkade’ we end up at Farm Buitenverwachting, with a shop full of biological produce. A large freezer with meat, dairy in the refrigerator and all sorts of cheese are for sale here, everything biological. We taste a piece of sausage and with a pot of biological yoghurt in our bag we cycle along, on our way to Roelofarendsveen again. Here we stop at the ‘Floraweg’ at nursery Eko-Logisch, where again we are surprised by a complete shop. A biological local supermarket, they call it themselves. With ingredients for a biological couscous salad, we cycle back home. With 29 kilometers on our odometer and lots of new addresses in our pocket to visit again’.