ALL ANTWERP. “The Dutch and the French sell themselves better, but we also have tasty cheeses” (Antwerp)
Every weekday our reporter and photographer pick a casual passer-by off the street for a nice conversation. Want everyone has a story. And certainly in Antwerp. Today: Karen Smeyers (48).
Elien Van Wynsberghe
“I will open a cheese shop during the full corona period. Kazerie De Kaasbrug is called here, after the name of the street. I have always worked in the food industry. Before that I had a butcher shop. My husband and I live in Kapellen, but Antwerp has been beckoning for a long time. I love the city very much.”
“My husband is on the market with cheese and now I have this shop. We work together yet apart. Cheese is in my eyes a very rewarding and peaceful product. We sell a wide range of Belgian cheeses here. Which in my opinion are a bit underrated. Dutch and French themselves better. We Belgians are too calm, too modest. While, it may be known, your very tasty Belgian cheeses. The nice thing is that you know where they come from. We get them all from nice, local farms and abbeys.”
“Do I eat a lot of cheese myself? A little every day. I just read another study that eating cheese is good for your liver. When I go to friends of family, I often bring cheese as well. That way I don’t arrive empty-handed and it’s something different than drunk.”
“My shop has been open for a year. In the beginning, customers did not like us very much, but that is gradually changing. Before the holidays, I receive full orders.”