The ___ Knows Everything Tasting at #EURegionsWeek

On 14 October 2025,  The ___ Knows Everything tasting was presented by Dutch designer and Bauhaus of the Seas Sails partner Katinka Versendaal at the European Week of Regions and Cities (EWRC) in Brussels.

The EWRC is the European Union’s largest annual event on regional and urban development, bringing together policymakers, researchers, and citizens to explore how regions and cities can build a more sustainable, inclusive, and beautiful Europe. Within this framework, The ___ Knows Everything offered a distinctive gastronomic experience that stood out for its artistic approach and storytelling.

The tasting introduced a Rotterdam-developed pilot of the Regenerative Menu, exploring how food can reconnect people with aquatic ecosystems and multispecies communities.

The ongoing project examines the changing relationships between humans and more-than-human beings in amphibian localities — the Elbe River (Hamburg), Merwede (Rotterdam), and the Venetian lagoon. Using speculative gastronomy, Katinka Versendaal addresses climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss, turning eating into a reflective act of ecological care.

At the EWRC tasting in Brussels, participants experienced a three-course menu that embodied the project’s commitment to regeneration, circularity, and aesthetics. Each dish carried a story of ecosystem health, forgotten ingredients, and creative adaptation in the face of environmental change.

Eel Broth

The tasting began with a deep and smoky eel broth, made using fats and remnants from the smoking process rather than the fish itself. In Northern Europe, smoked eel is more than a flavor — it’s a cultural memory. By evoking this taste without the animal’s presence, the dish served as both remembrance and warning, reminding diners of the eel’s endangered status and the fragility of its riverine habitats. The broth, in its restorative warmth, symbolically nourished not only the human body but also the body of the eel and the ecosystems it inhabits.

Crayfish Croquette (Bitterbal)

Next came a crayfish croquette, a reinterpretation of the Dutch bitterbal, made from the invasive American crayfish now abundant in Dutch waters. By transforming an ecological problem into a culinary resource, the dish proposed a sustainable and delicious way to manage invasive species. Using the peels for broth and a small amount of meat for filling, it demonstrated how thoughtful gastronomy could align with ecological balance — a call to “eat the invasive” with awareness and creativity.

Salmon Head Terrine with Tarragon and Pickled Beetroot

The final dish, salmon head terrine, drew inspiration from the traditional Dutch dish Kopkaas (head-cheese). Instead of prime salmon cuts, the recipe used what is typically discarded — heads, tails, and spines — to create a refined pâté-like terrine. Served with bruschetta with pickled beetroot, it encouraged diners to reconsider the unseen parts of their food and to confront the reality of their consumption. The preparation required direct engagement with the fish, inviting cooks and eaters alike to develop new respect for the life behind the dish.

The EWRC participants showed great interest in this special tasting, which stood out for its form and storytelling a thoughtful, multisensory experience.  The evening invited participants not just to eat, but to listen: to the sea, to the rivers, and to the quiet knowledge of the ___ that knows everything.