I had just recently bought my first ever apartment in the heart of a beautiful village called Vleuten in the Netherlands, and I had invited my neighbor for dinner. As nervous as I was, and with her watching me cook, I not only managed to make the most bland meal ever, but in my excitement, I also managed to set the mittens on fire when taking the pot off the gas stove haha.

Janine, my neighbor, invited me for dinner at her place. Little did I know before accepting the invite that she intended to have me cook the meal. I mean... didn't she see the disaster that happened just a few days earlier?? Well, apparently, she had a recipe with step-by-step instructions that I should follow. Not one to shy away from a challenge, I went ahead with this woman's demands and just prayed we didn't have to call the fire department because I would set fire to the building. Something interesting happened, though, as I was following this recipe, cutting the onions, dicing tomatoes, etc. It was like something clicked in my head, and I was like, "Oh! So this is cooking...."

So, after the dinner at my neighbor's place, I was suddenly very interested in finding out more about cooking and how different ingredients could complement each other. Up until this point in my life, I had not really seen myself standing in the kitchen for longer than it would take to either boil or fry eggs, haha. Here I was, suddenly spending hours in the kitchen. Not everything, of course, was a success, and oh boy, did I make some disasters. Everything from finding out that cooking times are very important unless you want the duck you've been cooking to be so elastic that when cutting it up, a slip of the hand would send it flying off the table and splattering all over the wall... Oh, and most definitely, banana, chicken, and peanut butter do NOT go well together. It wasn't all bad, of course. There were a lot of successes that led to a lot of amazing experiences.

For my birthday, my girlfriend (Janine, my neighbor next door) and her family got me a present, which was a masterclass cooking lesson. It was a lot of fun to attend. I learned a few new techniques and recipes. This led me to message the head chef, Niven Kunz, and ask if I could work for him in the kitchen for a week. That request was granted, and it was the beginning of so much more! FYI, I only managed to last one single day because my feet were KILLING me. All respect to the chefs who work in the kitchen day in and day out. Not only do you need to be a good chef, but you also need to be very physically fit.

By now, my cooking skills had improved, and I really wanted to get a chance to take part in the TV show MasterChef. I had applied to join the show but never got the chance to participate. The next best thing was to be able to take a masterclass from none other than Monsieur Alain Caron! This was a chef I had grown fond of due to his mild-mannered nature and incredible cooking. So getting a chance to learn a thing or two from the master himself was a dream come true.

Fast forward a few years, my wife (my then girlfriend, Janine) and I were in Middelburg on a mini vacation, and we were deciding on a place to eat. I suggested we eat at a restaurant I had found online called Morille. This is where I met the owner, Dennis Willems. After enjoying Mr. Dennis's artful cooking, I had the opportunity to meet the chef, and we just started chatting. This chance meeting turned into a friendship that I cherish. This is also where my mold-making journey started, as I collaborated with Chef Dennis to make molds for his restaurant. He encouraged me to take this from just a hobby and turn it into a business.

Chef Dennis called me up and asked if I would like to join him for lunch. He was going to be close by Utrecht and thought it would be nice to meet up. He didn't tell me that this was a big event and least of all that it was for monsieur Alain Caron! I by the way didn't find out about the inauguration until I turned up at the event. Safe to say I was on cloud 9. It was a momentous day and this was another big step towards the creation of SilentMolds

In may 2024 I officially became a partner of Euro-Toques. I was now going to take my hobby and turn it into a business.

As you can imagine, from becoming a partner of Euro-Toques and then having to prepare for the event in such a short time was no small under taking. I had to make sure that I had a new entity that I could trade under, namely SilentMolds. Then there was the issue of having to build a new website in time for the event. Which sadly wasn't live the day of the event. All things considered. I am very happy that it is now live and ready for business!