Last year, croquette artist Rien Prinsen unexpectedly locked the door of his cafeteria in Nieuw-Weerdinge. His wife Edel became ill and Rien decided to fully focus on a new role as a caregiver. His croquette workshop is now open again one day a week and a book is on the way full of recipes, backgrounds and anecdotes. A look back at an eventful year.
Rien and Edel Prinsen ran their cafeteria for over forty years croquette art in Nieuw Weerdinge. A glance at the menu makes it clear to every visitor that their business is anything but your average diner. More than forty different types of croquettes adorn the menu. From eel to black pudding, from broccoli with cheese to Thai curry.
The Prinsen family’s business was visited from all over the Netherlands because of these special culinary creations.
Last year it was announced that Croquette art The Factory (see link at the bottom of the story) on the Nijkampenweg in Emmen was opened. The next generation, son Robby, took over the reins for this. Rien and Edel put their own business on the back burner. “I wanted to continue in this way for a few more years,” says Rien Prinsen. “I wanted to keep something to do. Moreover, it is a lot of fun work. Open the cafeteria for a few days, some tastings, a little play. That was the idea.”
But then suddenly an unexpected hitch occurred. “At a certain point it became clear to me and Robby that Edel was not doing well.” At first it was about small things.
No peanut sauce with a potato war. No onions with a frikandel special. A bag of fries that is forgotten with an order. “But it happened more and more.” An investigation follows and the result hits like a bomb: Alzheimer’s.
Prinsen doesn’t think twice and closes Krokettenkunst. “I’m a la minute stopped. From one day to the next I became a carer. I also did not inform anyone, I had decided purely on feeling. The customers were shocked, because they were suddenly dazed in front of a closed door.”
For Prinsen, the diagnosis itself also hits hard. “With Alzheimer’s I thought of people with memory problems. I didn’t know more about it. But it turns out to be one of the most deadly diseases after cancer. Yes, that’s a bit of a swallow.”
As time goes by, Edel’s condition requires more and more attention. “She became more and more in need of help. “It required so much attention that at a certain point the simplest things became too much for me. Mowing the grass, accounting or preparing a meal. It just didn’t want to anymore.” Edel has now been given a place in residential care center De Paasbergen in Odoorn.
Fortunately, Prinsen lives in a village where people still look after each other. “Not only the children, but also the neighbors jumped in. I also got all kinds of carers around me, you could say. Friends who cooked a pot for us. Or once walked the dog.”
Prinsen says he has received a lot of respect for everyone who jumped in the breach. “It does touch you. They really sympathized with the whole situation and I appreciate that very much.”
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