echte italiaanse smaak

Lunch break

2011-11-27T15:12:00.001+01:00

I was a bit wary about moving to a new office at first, it's 40 minutes by bike from where we leave, so not really super convenient, especially in winter and in days like this one, when the wind blows against you and trying to pedal feels like doing a spinning class sometimes.

However, there are some benefits especially when it comes to things to do during your compulsory lunch break.

There's for instance the Gember, the cafe of the GEM museum, which serves yummi club sandwiches (with the Mediterranean _ ham and manchego_being my favourite).

There are a lot of shops on De Fred, among them some good independents ones, such as XL decorations for lovely and not pricey little presents, the independent bookshop a bit further, whose name I have forgotten, and Offers & Offers, the strangely named delicatessen shop where you can buy a delicious warm ham sandwich for lunch.

Lately we tried The Little Kitsch Inn: good food but a bit too cold for winter even if you order a nice hot chocolate kitsch mug like the one pictured here. But definitely, we will be back this summer.

R.'s fingers gave permission to be portrayed on this blog

Another welcome addition is the beauty salon Bamboo, managed by a lovely girl called Stephanie, who used to work for Bibou. I went there on Thursday for a pedicure and I can't wait to go back tomorrow for an hot-stone massage.

With all these things to do around the office, there's hardly any time available to work!

Spot the odd one out. Autumn in the kitchen.

2011-11-21T20:07:00.001+01:00

Lately I have been experimenting with unusual ingredients' combinations, inspired by a recipe I found in a book I recently read: " Trieste, the city of wind" by the German writer Veit Henichen and his girlfriend, the chef Ami Scabar.

She suggested a recipe that I loved from the moment I read it and it turns out that my mum has it already in her "menu". Since this lady is a distant relative from my maternal side, it may be a family thing...

It's a chestnuts and mushrooms creamy soup and it turned out really delicious. It's so easy to make that could almost be considered fast food...

500 grams pre-boiled chestnuts
200 gram of chanterelles
vegetable or meat broth
2 garlic cloves
parsley
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Make the broth with 2 potatoes, 1 tomato, 1 onion, a celery stick, a couple of carrots, a bay leave (and a good piece of meat, if you want) and salt.

In the meantime, gently clean the mushrooms with cold water and leave them aside to dry.

Once the broth is done, take the veggies out, discard the celery stick and the bay leave and pour the liquid in a jug.

Keeping the same pan on the fire, add some olive oil and then the boiled vegetables, stir for 3 minutes then add the chestnuts. Cover with the broth, bring it to boil and then let it simmer for around 20 minutes.

In the meantime, chop the larger mushrooms in chunks and leave the smaller ones in one piece.
In a pan (any pan, both flat bottomed or wok will do) pour a spoon of oil, then the chopped garlic, then when it's softening, the mushrooms and stir gently but thoroughly so that they are completely covered in oil. Season to taste. Let it go till they lose most of their water. One minute before turning the heat off, add the chopped parsley.

Back to the soup. Purée the boiling chestnuts and vegetables with the immersion blender till you get a smooth creamy consistence. Turn the heat off. Add the mushrooms and stir well. Check if well seasoned and serve it till nicely warm.

Another "spot the odd one" recipe I loved (and was a huge success with family and friends), is this luscious chocolate and red beetroot cake, courtesy of Nigel Slater.

Halloween soup

2011-10-30T20:43:00.002+01:00

New weekend, different soup: it's a nice way to trick myself into eating more vegetables without noticing too much! Autumn is my favourite season for soups: lovely ingredients and longer, colder evenings definitely are calling for soup.

Last week I prepared a pumpkin soup: very simple to make, the most annoying bit being de-seeding and cleaning it.
Anyway, after that is done,all you need to do cut the pulp in large chunks.
Toss the pumpkin, 2 medium potatoes, 2 large carrots, 1 onion and whatever vegetable rests you may have collected during the week (leek's leaves for instance) in a pressure pan, cover with water, add salt and a couple of bay leaves, seal, put on the fire and cook for 30 minutes after the whistle.

When it's done, take the veggies out and put the vegetable broth in a jug that you will set aside. Discard the bay leaves.

Put the pan back on the fire, add some olive oil, throw in the boiled onion for a couple of minutes and then rest of the vegetables, add salt, stir well.

Finally, after 2 more minutes, add some of the broth from the jug, stir and purée the whole thing with the immersion blender till creamy. Add extra broth if you don't like it too thick.

Season to taste. I normally add a generous amount of freshly grated nutmeg and serve with some self made croutons.

Happy Halloween y'all!

Our 2011 pumpkin, currently spooking the neighbours from the balcony

Leek & Port savoury tart

2011-10-23T11:33:00.001+02:00

Days are getting shorter and colder and coming home in the evening \is a real pleasure (also because in the darkness I cannot see how dirty my windows are...).

Here's a recipe I tried on Wednesday

In a pan with a little olive oil, sauté the leek and some bacon (I still had some Sudtiroler speck so I used that one). Once the leek has halved its size, add a glass of Port wine and let it evaporate till it looks like a creamy sauce.

Pre-warm the dish at 200 degrees.

Lie the pastry at the bottom of an oven dish (I bought the ready made pastry on Saturday in Cologne, but every decent supermarket sells them nowadays, for when you are short of time - or willpower - to make your own), make some little holes with a fork then add the leek-Port mixture. Spread soft goat cheese, walnuts and thyme and put in the oven for 30 minutes.

We ate with some potato/pumpkin purée and salad.

Pie Minister

2011-10-18T21:20:00.001+02:00

Whenever I am in London for the weekend, I check the Marylebone Sunday's farmers market, and buy some unpasteurised cheddar, bread and pies. Gorgeous pies from the Pie Minister : delicious pastry and savoury fillings...can't wait to go to London in November!

Autumn days

2011-10-16T20:54:00.002+02:00

It is indeed very difficult to keep the blog updated...I keep promising myself to bring it up to date, but I seem to never find the time...

However, we just spent a wonderful weekend in Germany and here, ate some nice food and took some nice pics.

Yesterday we went to Cologne and met Super Sue, chilled in her new cool crib, went shopping in posh places, ate a gigantic lunch and bought some proper bread.

This morning instead, I dragged J. out of bed and convinced him to follow me in the nearby park for some Autumn foraging....

Finally, I baked a savoury tart with phyllo dough, feta and spinach. I was inspired by a recipe I've found here. Compared to the original, I put only 3 eggs and substituted the beans and raisins with fresh tomatoes. It came out really nicely and hopefully will survive J's late night cravings, so I can bring some at work for lunch tomorrow....

Bio Boer recipe. Week #1: bread crumble broccoli quiche

2011-05-22T20:22:00.004+02:00

So here it comes, the first recipe with the vegetables from the Bio Boer Bag.

What you need:

- broccoli (from the Bio Boer Bag)
- red beetroot leaves (from the Bio Boer Bag)
- 1 stengelui (from the Bio Boer Bag)
- 4 shallots
- some medium tasty tom tomatoes
- old bread, 5 large slices
- 1 cup of hazelnuts and walnuts
- an handful of parsley and basil
- 50 g butter
- 4 eggs
- AH cooking yoghurt
- salt&pepper
- rosemary powder
- thyme

How you do it:

Set the oven to 220 degrees.

Crumble the old bread and the nuts in the food processor, add the chopped parsley and basil, salt and pepper. Mix well with the melted butter and 2 eggs. Distribute it evenly on the bottom of an oven dish. I used my squared ceramic one, but a round form in any other material can also be used. Make sure to cover well the bottom and the side of the recipient with the bread crumble mixture. Put in the oven for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, boil the broccoli and the leaves of the red beetroot for around 5 minutes. Chop the shallots finely.

In an already warm pan, add a table spoon of olive oil and then the shallots a few seconds later. When they become soft, add the broccoli and the leaves, that by now you have drained and chopped in uneven bits. Season to taste. I used salt, pepper, rosemary powder and thyme. Stir well and let it go for approximately 5-8 minutes.

Once ready, put in a large bowl and allow it cool down.

Break 2 eggs and whisk them well till foamy. Add the beaten eggs and the yoghurt and stir well. Add the tomatoes chopped in 4.

Pour the mix on the baked crumble bread-bed, make it even and top it with one chopped stengelui (or Welsh onion...apparently).

Bake in the oven for 30 minutes, let it cool and serve with some salad.

Really tasty and almost guilt-free!

Bio Boer Giel

2011-05-22T19:54:00.001+02:00

I am super happy that the supermarket chain Coop has now an agreement with an organic farmer.
I subscribed to the weekly abonnement and will receive the bag every Thursday at my Coop.

There are other farms delivering bags of fruits and vegetables (I mentioned them a previous post) but this is the most convenient for me so far.

There are, as always, various combination and I opted for the groentetas klein (for 2 people, 7.50 Euro per week).

More information available on the website. Once per week you receive a newsletter with the latest updates from the farm and another email with a recipe suggestion.

This is a picture of what I got this week.

So far I am very satisfied with the quality of what I have received. I like the fact that you receive every week something different that maybe you wouldn't have bought: it's a very good boost for the creativity in the kitchen!

Hopefully, time permitting, I will be able to post a picture every week. I am also planning to describe, again at least once per week, a recipe made with the ingredients I receive.

Fragole e mascarpone

2011-05-22T18:53:00.000+02:00

It's strawberry time and the Coop nearby, which, after a rather disappointing start after the renovation, is back to its past veggie&fruit bargain splendor, offers to large bakkjes of Dutch strawberries for 3.50.

J's brother finally visited us in the "new" home (after just 3 years we have been living here!) so I though a nice springy dessert would have been a good idea.

It was: he loved it.

What you need:
- strawberries
- mascarpone (250 g from Ballarini, I think)
- 1 egg
- 1 spoon of sugar
- cocoa powder
- a tea spoon of rum

How you do it:

Clean, wash and chop the strawberries and set them aside. Leave 4 whole for decoration.

Mix the egg and the sugar till it's a nice, foamy zabaglione. Add the mascarpone and stir well with the hand mixer (you can of course use the food process, if you have one). When it's well mixed and creamy add the rhum and give it another stir.

Put an handful of strawberries at the bottom of a glass, cover with a generous dollop of cream, sprinkle with cocoa powder, decorate with a strawberry.

Put in the fridge and serve cold.

Who's tired of London...

2011-05-05T10:01:00.002+02:00

It happens sometimes that friends and colleagues ask me tips about places they are going to visit. What follow are some ideas I emailed to a colleague who was planning a trip to London:

*****************************************************************************

There is an area behind Oxford Street called Marylebone that, despite being few hundred meters from the most touristic part, is still very cosy and has a village-like main street feeling.

In particular, on Marylebone High Street, they are really nice shops and my favourite is a bookshop which mantains the original Edwardian features called Daunt Books: http://www.dauntbooks.co.uk/

You can have lunch at the Canteen (http://www.canteen.co.uk/ ) on Baker street, one of the parrallels road (map here http://www.canteen.co.uk/index.php?restaurant=BakerStreet&page=Intro&m=Home ).

Then of course, once you get to Oxford street, walk towards Marbe Arch: you cannot miss a trip to Primark. You can find really quirky, funny and original clothes and accessories here, for very cheap prices…

If you have to visit one of the department stores, go to Fortum&Mason on Picadilly…they have cream and parfum in the ladies' toilet! And gorgeous teas and cakes…quite pricey, but looking costs nothing and the building itself is very nice…along Picadilly there are also several Victoria arcades worth exploring (the Burlington arcade or Royal arcade for instance)....again, quite pricey shops but the architecture in itself is quite interesting

On Trafalgar sqaure, if you don't have time for the National Gallery, go to the Portrait Gallery just behind it (http://www.npg.org.uk/ . If you are planning to be there around lunch, you should book a table (better do that in advance, you can do it online http://www.npg.org.uk/visit/food/restaurant.php ) at the restaurant on the last floor: it has a great view of Trafalgar square all the way to Westminster.

If you prefer to stay flexible, and don't want to book, then a simpler and cheaper option is the self service in the crypt of the church S. Martin in Fields, just next to the National gallery. Their apple crumble and custard pudding is one of my favourites! :)

Another idea is to visit the Museum of London at the Barbican, walk to S. Paul's cathedral, cross the Millennium bridge and go over to the Tate Modern: it's contemporary art, which is not everybody's taste, but the buidling is very interesting and the café on the ground floor is nice and not pricey!

From there you can even take a boat and go to the Tate Britain. Info about the 2 Tate and the boat here: http://www.tate.org.uk/

There's one thing I haven't done yet but I would like to do in August when we go back to London: a canal Trip from Paddington to Camden: http://www.londonwaterbus.com/

And btw, Camden lock and markets are also worth exploring (only best done not in the weekend and possibly earlier in the morning (too many Italian tourists otherwise :o)…

Not far from there, near St Pancras - King's Cross station, it's the British Library, which has an interesting small permanent exhibition (Magna Carta, Alice in Wonderland, etc) plus very good temporary exhibitions: http://www.bl.uk/index2.shtml

And another museum I liked is the Imperial War Museum http://www.iwm.org.uk/ but it's on the South Bank

An interesting day out, especially when sunny, is to the Royal Observatory in Greenwhich http://www.nmm.ac.uk/places/royal-observatory/

And then of course, if it's nice weather you can just go to one of the parks…. Kensington gardens are nice and there is an Orangerie where you can have High tea: http://www.afternoontea.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=36&Itemid=3 Posh isn't it? ;o)

I also like the Hampsted Heath in the Hampstead (http://www.hampsteadheath.net/ ) : when the weather is nice you can see a nice panorama of London. You can get there with bus number 24 from King's Cross…and also other busses and trains.

This is just what come up to my mind during lunch…but of course there are many more!

As Samuel Johnson said: who's tired of London, is tired of life! ;O)))

Salmone al cartoccio

2011-03-09T14:20:00.002+01:00

This is an easy and very "choreographic" way to bake salmon. It's an excellent, healthy dish with the added bonus of sparing you some dish washing!

All you need (for 2) is:

- any fleshy part of a salmon
- 4 small boiled potatoes
- 2 slices of lemon
- salt and salmon herbs (you can find them on Saturdays at the market in Delft)
- 1 glass of wine
- lemon olive oil

Prepare 2 "beds" for your salmon fillet with aluminium foil and baking paper.

Put the sliced potatoes at the bottom, cover with the salmon and add all the ingredients.

Wrap in a not too tight parcel.

Bake at 180 for 30/35 minutes depending on the part of salmon you have chosen.

Serve in the parcel and...surprise!

Pseudo - Salade Nicoise with truffel-mozzarella toasts

2011-03-09T13:55:00.002+01:00

Jezz...I am so bad in keeping up with regular posts!

Anyway, here's a quick dinner idea from last Thursday (I have Dutch on Thursdays, so I get home at around 21.00...no time to make anything elaborate).

For the salad:

- salad
- tomatoes
- one can of MSC certified tuna
- olives
- 2 boiled eggs
- lemon oil
- salt

Just in case, here's the recipe for the real thing.

For the toasts:

- 4 slices of wholegrain bread from a real baker
- 1 mozzarella, sliced
- a couple of tablespoons of truffle-porcini mushroom mix, which I got from my mum

Quelle surprise!

2011-02-21T20:46:00.002+01:00

The main culinary highlights of my 3-day blitz to Trieste, were surely the scallops with truffle sauce and the steak tartare I had at the "Trattoria dei No" and the cold cuts (prosciutto crudo, pancetta, prosciutto cotto arrosto) and a ripe cheese I had in the osmica Milic in Repen.

Zuppa di pomodori e polpette (Tomato and meatballs soup)

2011-02-15T11:12:00.000+01:00

Super easy recipe for soup which is in fact a complete meal.

I got 2 kg of tomatoes from Ozan Supermarkt, the excellent Turkish grocer of Leidsenhage boiled them with a Dutch parnsip originating from the Eko Plaza (you can also use a potato, it's just that I had this parnisp hanging around the whole week).

When the tomatoes are soft and their skin is broken, take them out and save the water.

Fry a leek cutted in rings with a spoon of olive oil, until soft. Take the pan away from the fire.

Place the "vegetables'mill" on the pan and reduce the tomatoes and parnsip to a puree. Put back on the fire.

Add a celery stick cut into rings and some spring onion as well (if you have it) plus some of the "tomato water". As J. likes "chunks" in his soup, I also added a red paprika chopped in short strings.

Finally: the meatballs. On Saturday I had enough confidence in my Dutch-speaking skills to go to the butcher in the local winkelcentrum (Het Kleine Loo) and I was not disappointed.

I mixed the meat with a pinch of salt&herbs, pepper, 1 egg, 2 spoons of breadcrumbs and a frozen mix of herbs (mint, basil, rosemary, sage) which my mom prepared when she was here last October. With the mix I formed small balls (sligltly smaller than a ping pong's size) and dropped them into the (by now) boiling soup.

It should take approx 5 minutes for the meatballs to cook, but anyway, I just let it go for a little more.

Enjoy with some toasted ciabatta bread or fried sigara buregi (courtesy of the Turkish supermarket as well)

Chocolate fondants

2011-02-11T20:20:00.001+01:00

If there is one pudding that I love above all the others, this must be chocolate fondants, maybe served with a tiny dollop of clotted cream on the top.

If these beauties are on the menu, there is no way I am not going to order them.

So you can imagine my joy when the other day when I found this article on the Guardian.

I followed Felicity Cloake's recipes at the bottom of the article and the results were...spectacular!
(Even in J's opinion, who is normally not such a big fan of puddings...)

It was such a satisfaction to see them growing in the oven and to discover their melted heart, that I felt almost sorry about eating them. Well, almost.

The social event of the year...

2011-02-10T17:57:00.000+01:00

...in our neighbourhood (Mariahoeve) was surely the renovation and grand reopening of the Coop supermaket.

Grannies from all over the landen came over to marvel and the flashy new fridges and bakery counter. Some lucky ones even got flowers and cake (if they spent more that 25€ of course...).

Unfortunately it seems to me that the most valuable feature of the old one has been lost.

All those nice, cheap and sligtly-worn-out-but-tasty-and-local fruits and vegetable have been replaced but the usual small selection of wax looking, taste-free F&Vs wrapped in plastic.

In addition to this, employees have to wear a uniform, furthermore in a very sad shade of orange.

I understand the health and safety blah blah blah, but the local market feeling has unfortunately been lost.

And they don't even sell ricotta anymore!

Daily Tips

2011-02-06T22:06:00.001+01:00

As long as you are not a Z-list wannabe celebrity looking for advice on plastic surgery or a xenophobic white power sympathizer, you don't really look for tips in the Daily Mail, however, here are some good ones published this week:

HOW DO YOU STOP FRUIT SINKING TO THE BOTTOM OF CAKES?

Dusting raisins with flour keeps them from sinking in cake batter. Before adding raisins to a batter, simply toss them in a couple of tablespoons of flour until they’re coated. This technique also works for chocolate chips.

HOW CAN I SOFTEN BUTTER STRAIGHT FROM THE FRIDGE WITHOUT MELTING IT?

Fill a water glass with very hot tap water and let it sit for a few seconds to warm the glass. Empty the water and turn the glass upside down over the amount of butter needed. The butter will soften in less than a minute.

WHAT’S A HANDY WAY TO FREEZE FRESH HERBS?

Chop herbs and place them in an ice-cube tray with a little chicken broth. Then freeze. The cubes will give a flavour lift to vegetable sautés, rice pilafs and soups. You can also do this with mint, using water instead of chicken broth, to add to iced tea.

HOW DO I CRUMBLE GOAT’S CHEESE WITHOUT IT ALL STICKING TOGETHER?

Put it in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes — when you take it out, it will crumble like feta.

The full list here:

How to stop an avocado going brown... and other top kitchen secrets the celebrity chefs don't tell us

Valencia

2011-02-02T20:35:00.002+01:00

We spent the weekend in Valencia and obviously we visited the market and ate a paella at El Rall.

I remembered both places from my first visit and was not disappointed.

The market is a genuine feast for the eyes and the mouth. Cheese, serrano and longaniza are always the best souvenirs and this time we also bought a small paella pan and a kilo of oranges!

The city is definitely worth a visit.

One day can be dedicated to the the old city, with its Gothic churches and palaces. Every morning at 09.30, except Mondays, at the church of the Colegio del Patriarca, a Gregorian chorus can be heard.

On the second day, the newest development should be on the program. The old riverbed is now a verdant sunken park that allows cyclists and pedestrians to traverse much of the city without the use of roads. The park, called the 'Garden of the Turia' boasts numerous ponds, paths, fountains, football pitches, cafés, artworks, climbing walls, an athletics track, a zen garden, a playground shaped like Gulliver and more.

Calatrava's stunning buildings and bridges can be found here as well.

Hema News

2011-02-02T20:10:00.001+01:00

Hema rocks, everybody knows that.

Hema restaurant now offers also a cheeseburger. Apparently made with organic meat and prepared on the spot by the very cheerful Hema employees (at least on the Grote Markt in Den Haag).

Hema also launched their own minimarket. In addition to the bread, cold cuts and cheese that they were already selling, now they offer a small selection of meats, fruit&weg and ready made meals.

Maybe a bit small with little choice, but any competitor to Ah is welcome, really.

Michael Roux's Service

2011-01-28T11:56:00.001+01:00

It's not really easy to keep up with the blog, but I will do my best and try to make a couple of entries per week, at least, maybe (and aptly) during my compulsory lunch break!

This doesn't however mean that I stopped enjoying cooking food, or reading about food, or eating food or watching TV shows on food.

Lately, for instance, we are following the BBC 2 show "Michael Roux's Service" and in his entry on the BBC Food blog, this pluri-awareded Michelin stars chef gives his opinion about good service, which I fully agree with.

I’m sure it’s about respect, both for the people you are serving, but ultimately for yourself. If you have a stronger sense of self-worth, you’ll provide service, not servitude, and that’s something that we’ve had to work on with our trainees. If they learn to take pride and pleasure in serving, and are passionate about their career, they’ll go far. It’s a tough industry, and without passion it will be very hard to reach the top. With it you can do almost anything.

It takes a very special kind of person to work in front-of-house. A good waiter has to be so many things all at once; efficient and speedy, but also precise; attentive, but not overbearing; presentable, with excellent personal hygiene and posture; and, of greatest importance, you have to be able to communicate well. Being able to listen properly is a key communication skill. There’s nothing more frustrating for a diner than having to repeat their requests.

And it’s not good enough for a waiter simply to take an order and bring the food to the table. They should be knowledgeable about what they’re serving, know their menu inside out, and work as a team player with the kitchen. They need to be able to sell - with confidence - the full dining experience the restaurant has to offer.

Cauliflower gorgonzola soup

2010-11-30T21:49:00.001+01:00

A bag of cauliflower bits and pieces worth 0.64
Half a gorgonzola mascarponato (gormas)
A pastinaca
A carrot, small one
2 small potatoes
An over-riped tomato
2 shallots
1 speklapje

Make a broth with the vegetables, the meat and a pinch of salt (sale grosso).
Leave it in the pressure pan for one hour after it "whistles" .
Take the vegetables and the meat out, put the broth in a jug.

In the same pressure pan, now empty, put some butter and 2 small onions. When they are soft add the vegetables (chopped roughly in small/medium bits) and a bit of the broth (not too much, 1 glass would do). Add salt.

Reduce it to a puree with the immersion blender, then add half glass of broth. At this point you can add the gorgonzola and stir until it's melt. Turn the gas off and add the meat that you have previously sliced in dices of approximately 1 cm.

Serve with some bread that you have roasted in a teflon pan with some olive oil and rosemary.

Erwtensoup

2010-10-25T19:09:00.002+02:00

Now that the days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder, it's definitely time for soup.

One of the highlights of the Dutch cuisine is the erwtensoup (split-pea soup).

I found a book at the Kringloop two weeks ago: " From Holland with love - Delicious Dutch Recipes" and followed (more or less) this recipe:

Serves 4 to 6.

500g skip peas
2 1/4 litres water
3 cloves
1 bay leaf
1 whole onion
250 g bacon
salt
pepper
thyme
3 leeks
1 celeriac or 2 sticks of celery
3 medium potatoes
350g smoked sausage (I bought mine at HEMA)

Rinse the peas and soak them overnight in the water, (some brands are specially treated and do not need to be soaked - follow the manufacturer's instructions). Bring the peas to the boil in the water in which they have been soaked (plus add a couple of glasses more). Stick the cloves and the bay leaf and add it to the peas, together with the bacon, salt, pepper and thyme. Cover the pan and simmer for about 2 hours, until the peas are tender. Remove the onion, clove and bay leaf.

Clean and slice the leeks and celeriac or celery, peel and chop the potatoes and add them to the soup, together with the sausage. Bring the soup back to boil (at this point I added 2 more glasses of warm water) and simmer for a further 45 minutes.

Slice the sausage and return it to the pan. Adjust seasoning and serve with rye bread or any dark bread you have available.

New Turkish cafe in town

2010-10-24T20:02:00.001+02:00

Pleasant discovery today after the cinema: Simit Saray. It takes its name from the round breads sold everywhere in Istanbul.

Not your average greasy kebab joint, but a proper stylish yummi cafe with sweet and salty treats and real Turkish coffe.

Too bad I cannot read the future in the cup's leftovers...

Sunday Stew

2010-10-17T20:11:00.001+02:00

There are few things more appropriate for a chilly mid-Autumn evening than a glass of red wine, candle-light and and earthy stew.

I had a nice bit of Irish beef in the freezer for some months, ready for occasions such as this one.

Chopp one big onion, 2 small carrots and some bits of lardo (= Italian fully fat bacon) and put them in my stew pan together with 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Add salt.

Once the vegetables were soft, add the meat (with salt and pepper) and let it become brown. Once it's uniformly brown, add a glass of red wine. Let it evaporate till it's almost all gone. In the meantime you can add a bouquet garni with sage and rosemary, a garlic clove, 6 finely chopped sun dried tomatoes, 2 small diced potatoes and a bowlful of dried porcini mushrooms that you softened for approximately 30 minutes in warm water.

Now you can throw in the tomato sauce: I put 2 of those pots that you get when you buy the pizza kit at AH. I never use them on the pizza, I always use my mum's homemade salsa, so I have plenty of them in the cupboard for sauces and so on.

Now, this is not fast food, so be prepared to wait before enjoying it. When it boils, you turn down the gas to the minimum and let it simmer for about 3 hours. You don't have to stay in the kitchen, I (being hyperactive) had a lot of stuff done in the meantime, while checking the pan from time to time. If the sauce becomes too thick and it starts sticking to the pan, just add a glass of water and stir.

When ready, check if salt and pepper need to be adjusted.

I served it with some potato noodles (knoedels) I bought yesterday at the ALDI in Germany. In general, the sauce is good with bread, pasta or polenta, but it's perfect with any kind of gnocchi.

I have to apologise, but I forgot to take a picture of the finished dish as both John and I were too eager to try it ...

Stockholm

2010-09-10T20:57:00.002+02:00

I just spent a long weekend in Stockholm with my sister and we loved it. It's very picturesque and edgy at the same time and has possibly the best city sunsets of all Europe (at least, from what I have seen so far).

We stayed at the Park Inn Hammarby Sjostad, a newly opened hotel in the up and coming neighbourhood of Sodra Hammarbyhamnen .

The cultural part included the stunning Vasa museum, the Nordic museum, with its beautiful art & crafts section and the Skansen open air museum, with its pleasant mix of old Swedish wooden and mortar building with real people " living" in them, Nordic animals and a natural park. We bought the best freshly made vanilla pastry ever at the village shop, from a baker dressed in period costume and grumpiness.

The tribute to shopping was also paid with visits to KappaAhl, H&M;M, Indiska and the newly discovered Gina Tricot, great design stores, some souvenir shops to make Arianna happy and the museums shops.

As for the food, we had to try the local sushi (at Sushi Devil we possibly had the best sushi in Europe). We also had Chinese food and hamburger (or hamburgare), but Swedish cuisine was not overlooked!

Filling kottbullar (with nothing to share with those yellowish looking moose droppings you get at IKEA) were our choice at Skansen, and shockingly Arianna finished them before me!

I also tried the pitt i panna: a mix of sausage, potato, onions and meat, served with red beetroot and pickled cucumber, topped by a fried egg....which was delicious but probably more suitable for a dinner after 2/3 hours of ice skating...

The restaurant (Bla Dorren) was nevertheless very nice, warm, with a smiling waitress and a huge selection of colourful aquavit.

Crimes against pizza

2010-09-09T20:52:00.001+02:00

Are perpetrated in Stockholm as well.

Bibbidi-bobbidi-Bibou

2010-08-27T17:03:00.001+02:00

Not stricly related to food, not at all in fact, but in The Hague there is an excellent city spa (Bibou) which makes an excellent alternative to the (in my opinion of course) overestimated Aveda.

Since when I landed on my new, faboulously paid, flashy job (…) I treat myself to a pedicure once per month and a massage once in a while.

I started with Aveda, as it was recommended by several colleagues (expats and non) and I must say that the treatment was excellent. It wasn't cheap - at 39.50€ (plus 12€ if you wanted the nail polish) - but the quality was good.

What bothered me the most was the fact that each time they were trying to sell me their overpriced products and that the shop was too crowded, bright and messy…that's probably because it is also an hairdresser salon (their pre-hairdo massage is quite popular).

The moment I discovered Bibou, I dumped Aveda immediately.

A picture of their shop in Leiden

Nice white&wood interior with soft lights, friendly and not insistent stuff, cheaper treatments including a wonderful hot stone back massage, nicely parfumed natural salts, oil and balms. Their "Pedicure Chic" costs 45€ including nail polish.

They started in Leiden and they are about to open a new city spa in Rotterdam.

Quoting their website: "Bibou started in Leiden 7 years ago as a small shop with natural cosmetics. The products were (and still are) free of parabenes, mineral oils and artificial colorings. They are handmade in small batches in our Dutch based laboratory and are not tested on animals."

The website doesn't stand up to the quality of the services they offer, but it has an English version. And btw, expats get 10% discount!

Cristina's Mexican bean soup

2010-08-25T19:36:00.010+02:00

My Mexican friend Cristina sent me the recipe of her fantastic bean soup.
I copy and paste here the instructions she sent me. (I made just a change: instead of half liter milk, to make it creamier, I added just 1 glass of it and two boiled potatoes.)

In any case, it is a simple yet delicious recipe which cannot practically go wrong.

**************************************************

1 can of black beans (you can buy it in this place)

half onion (chopped in small pieces)

2 small pieces of butter (for fry the onios with)

1/2 liter of milk (or as much you want, it depends which texture you want to give to the soup)

1 chopped (in cubes) mozzarella

Chopped fresh coriander

Cream fresh. Salt and pepper.

Fry the onion with the butter ('til it looks transparent) then add the beans and mix together (the fire should be in medium-low, it will jump out a little bit, but don't worry) After a couple of minutes, add the milk (in this moment you will need a hand blender for mix in everything and give to the soup a fine and creamy consistence) Season with salt and pepper as you prefer. Simmer the soup, mixing all the time.
Once it is done, serve in a bowl. Add as a topping a spoon of cream fresh, some cubes of mozzarella and the chopped coriander!

Restaurant Week

2010-08-25T19:25:00.000+02:00

It's the Restaurant Week, during which several restaurants offer a proef menu for 25 Euro. All the best ones were fully booked, so we reserved a table at the newly opened De Boucherie.

Unfortunately when we got there there was a little note on the door saying that we should have gone a bit further, to the Bistro Mer.

According to the waiter, they thought they would be ready with the renovation of De Boucherie in time for the Restaurant Week but they miscalculated. To be fair, they tried to call and tell about it but could not reach us.

The special menu included 3 courses with 2 possible choices each. Oysters could be ordered separately at a special price of 12.50. The oysters were nice as was the mustard/dill sauce accompanying the carpaccio and the salmon.

IKEA salad

The main courses (halibut and entrecôte) were nothing particularly remarkable and actually, especially the fish, reminded me of the food we get in the canteen at work, with too much saffron sauce and some sad looking smashed potatoes on the side. All this served with tiny fries and a salad that belonged more in an IKEA restaurant than in a pricey bistro.

The dessert: crepe suzette (which is itself was OK) with whipped cream (clearly from one of those Campina tubes) and ice cream. Again, nothing outstanding and with an amateurish outlook to it.

On the positive side, the atmosphere was quite nice and the waiters very friendly and well mannered.

On the very negative side, John was sick all night long because (we figured out) he is intolerant to oysters. Good for me: next time I get to eat them all!

Borrel

2010-08-24T18:10:00.000+02:00

borrel m (plural borrels, diminutive borreltje, diminutive plural borreltjes)

a shot of an alcoholic drink such as rum or gin; a tot
an informal welcome, an impromptu reception

These are two new places where we have recently been for the traditional Saturday's borrel with John's mum.

Cafe Du Midi (Delfgauw)

A cosy cafe with a nice leafy garden where you can rest after a bicycle trip. They serve meat from cows who were farmed on the nearby polders, home made bread, a 10-centimetre high applecake and a nice bitter garnituur. For bigger groups it is also possible to order a boeren lunch (= farmers' lunch) prepared mostly with locally grown products.

It is also an ideal destination for families with children I guess, as the kids can run around and play with the very friendly goats and chickens.

I count on going there for dinner when Arianna visits us.

Griff

We tried this cafe in Voorburg as we wanted to sit al fresco and this restaurant/cafe' along the canal looked just perfect (even though there is a car parking just behind the terrace).

They didn't (jammer!) had bitterballen so we tried their borrelhap: a selection of very well cooked and presented aperitif items: filet de canard, home made shrimps kroketten, a salmon tartare, cheeses, olives and chicken. It didn't come cheap (14 Euro) but it was really tasty and well presented.

It maybe be worth trying their mouth watering - at least, on paper - menu once, even though on iens.nl the opinions are quite mixed (but then again, Pizzeria Isola Sardegna got very high marks on Iens ...)...

Markets - Part 1 - Amsterdam

2010-08-19T19:41:00.000+02:00

Albert Cuyp Markt

The best know Dutch market is surely the Albert Cuyp Markt. As several other markets, it claims to be the longest, largest and busiest of Europe, but I guess it's an exaggeration. It has however a fair number of stalls, running from Ferdinand Bolstraat to Van Woustraat, selling cheap clothes, bags and shoes, vegetables, cheese and fish. You can also buy flowers and Dutch delicacies such as harrings, stroopwafels and poffertjes. It's so typically Dutch that I even met Sinterklaas on the Albert Cuyp once .

Unmissable is the statue of the deceased Dutch working class most popular singer, Andre Hazes.

Behind the stalls there are also some shops worth exploring, such as a very funky clothes shop, of which I unfortunately forgotten the name but it's not far from the Bazaar, just on the opposite side.

The Bazaar itself should not be missed. Hosted in what looks like a former synagogue, it serves Mediterranean dishes in a very oriental setting, with big Moroccan tiles, chandeliers and even a mock fruit and vegs bazaar stall.

A bit further, almost at the end of the Albert Cuyp Straat there is another Bazaar, the Bazaar Sfeer en Meer, selling reasonably priced chabby chic furniture, lamp caps and pottery.

Behind the Albert Cuyp, running parallel to it, there's the Gerard Doustraat with other cosy cafes and shops, among them the new flagship store from the Blond Amsterdam, a bit pricey but full of the crockery, bath stuff and decoration that made this designers duo popular. I particularly like their revisited version of Delft Blue, including a set of forks with little canal huisjes on the top, which is always a very much appreciated gift, especially among my Italian friends or Dutch expats living abroad.

If after all this shopping you need an energy boost, my advise would be to stop at the fabulously tarty cake shop De Taart van m'n Tante on Ferdinand Bolstraat (corner with Eerste Jacob van Campenstraat). It really cannot be missed when you walk past it, as its windows host a display of cakes like you probably would have never seen before (at least in Europe) and they do have a delicious taste.

Saturday markets in the Jordaan

As an alternative, to avoid too many tourists and make you shopping trip even more fulfilling you can instead follow this route.

At your arrival at Central Station get out on the Dam side and go right, towards the mighty bicycle stall that all the tourists are taking pictures of. Cross the bridge and walk along the Prins Hendrikkade till you reach the Singel. At that point, turn left, cross the bridge and you will be in Harlemmerstraat, one of my favourite shopping spots in Amsterdam. Design shops, cool clothes, some coffeshops and cafes, a nice prints and postcard shops, and Indian bazaar...it is almost impossible to leave empty handed

If you manage that, at least get something to eat: at the number 79a, you will find Il Tramezzino.
Tramezzini are sandwiches made with white bread without crust and filled with several delicious combinations of cold cuts, cheese and vegetables. The selection is inexpensive and really tasty (they import the special tramezzino bread from Italy) and they also make a decent espresso.

From here you are not far from the Lindengrachtmarkt and the adjacent farmers market on the Noordermarkt. Both are open on Saturday and you will find plenty of good quality food and vegetables, pretty flowers, cosmetics, second hand books and clothes and other useful objects you may (or may not) need at home.

After the market you can take a walk in the Jordaan, one of the prettiest, most typically Dutch neighbourhood of Amsterdam.

When I reach the Rosengracht, I never miss the chance to pay a a visit to the Kitsch Kitchen flagship store. Colorful canvas bags, psychedelic tableware and a wide selection of toys, make this shop a must see, also from a anthropological point of view, I would say. I bought here my medicines chest, which feature a big red cross and something written in Indi (I guess), and a very flashy selection of little baskets, currently used as " pocket-emptiers".

Cross the street from there and you will be on the Prinsegracht. Two not to miss are surely the shop selling clothes and decoration from the former Russian Caucasian Republics (and Mongolia) and Juffrouw Splinter.

Pay a visit to the statue of Johnnny Jordaan, the popular Dutch folk singer, and from there start your tour of the Negen Straatjes (Nine Little Streets) which, in my opinion, feature the coolest design items and shops that Amsterdam has to offer.

Greek lasagna

2010-08-16T18:27:00.004+02:00

After checking 3 different recipes on line and debating the topic with R. and A. during lunch, I decided to test my moussaka's skills.

The moussaka is defined as the Greek lasagna by the Italians and probably the lasagna is called Greek moussaka by the Greeks.

Ingredients:

250 gr of minced beef

1 teaspoon of dill

1 white onion

1 glass of red wine

salt&pepper

tomato sauce

herbs bouquet (sage, rosemary, laurel)

1 aubergine

1 bag of pre-sliced and pre-boiled potatoes (I was being lazy and I was hungry)

1 pot of ready made besciamella sause (see above)

1 bag grated cheese (ehm...see above)

bread crumbs

salt&herb mix from my mum

I prepared the meat as I would do with a regular ragu'. The recipes advise to use lamb meat, but I only had beef so that's what I used.

Put some olive oil in a pan, chop an onion and trow it in. Stir till the onion becomes soft then add the meat, seasoned with salt and pepper. When the meat looks cooked, add the red wine and let it evaporates. Add a teaspoon of dried dill. When the wine is almost all gone, add the tomato sauce and let it simmer.

In the meantime, cut the aubergine in thick slices and grill it in a teflon pan. When you are done, you can use the same pan (John is always complaining that I am using too many tools when cooking!...) to bake the potatoes for about 5 to 7 minutes.

At this point, the meat sauce should be ready: you can start composing your lookalike moussaka but first switch on the oven at 180 degrees.

First layer: potatoes. Second layer: meat sauce. Third layer: aubergines.

Cover it all with the besciamella sauce, grated cheese and a sprinkle of bread crumbs.

Put it in the oven at 180 degrees for 1 hour, allow to cool 10 minutes before serving.

I am sure any Greek person would scream in horror at the sight of what I did, but the result was pretty tasty even though I managed to eat just one portion. I was hoping to bring some for lunch at work, but my main customer finished the rest before going to bed.

Two in Scheveningen

2010-08-15T20:09:00.001+02:00

We have been twice in Scheveningen for dinner this week with very different results.

On Thursday we had dinner in the Spijs, the sfeervolle restaurant on the Wassenarsestraat in Scheveningen. It's the colonial-style building that features also in the Panorama Mesdag.

John, the birthday boy, booked the Ocean Arrangement, a special 2 courses fish menu which was introduced by the Bellini amuse van de chef (smoked salmon with crème fresh and saffron oil on a poffertje). The starters (oysters, mussels, mini lobsters, sushi and sashimi, gambas in curry tempura and an handful of local and imported shrimps) were served on an etagere, a trick that was also used in serving the main course (fish spiedini, sea monk and scallops served with deliciously seasoned cold and warm salads). To wash this ben d'iddio we chose the wine arrangement with prosecco, soave and an interesting French rose wine from Languedoc.

The gran dessert was unmissable as well: mousse au chocolat, panna cotta, ice cream, strawberry cream and creme brulee. The coffee is also worth trying as it is decent and served with mini madeleins and butter cookies.

Good food, good service, nice atmosphere. All in all, a very nice dinner which left us very satisfied

For all this we payed around a 100 euro, which is not cheap but well in line with other good restaurants in The Hague. The Spjis participates to the Restaurant Week, but I have been told that what's on offer for 25 euro is not as convincing as the dinner we had.

On the not so positive side, today we went to the "Italian" restaurant Isola Sardegna for a pizza.

Focaccia was our starter of choice, followed by pizza caprese and calzone. The names of the pizze were written in Italian but I detected some spelling mistakes in the meat and fish section of the menu. Ok, maybe it's just me being an over-educated bore ....and not everybody in Italy went further than elementary school and ....bla bla...but the fact that they had pizza Hawaii already put me off. On the positive side, many pizze were made with mozzarella and not with the horrible pizza cheese that they normally use abroad.

The focaccia, was not a proprer focaccia, more a pizza bianca ( = white pizza, or pizza without tomato sauce) with herbs and salt. Nice, but not the real thing.

My pizza caprese was ok, even though the rucola looked past its prime. John's calzone looked also ok on the outside but at a closer inspection revealed an inappropriate filling including red and green paprika and salame.

Let's not forget that here they are catering what the Dutch and the foreigners in general think it's really Italian, so salame for instance (of the type in Italy we call salame ungherese) goes everywhere.

Why is it called salami anyway? Salame singular, salami plural. Slices of s.: fette di salame, not salami. So saying salami is wrong. As is saying linguini (1 linguina, 2 linguine).

Final price around 30 euro, but we won't be going back. I anyway keep preferring the Vapiano (which is a German chain, btw) and the VIP in the centre, when I am really desperate and I need to eat a pizza here, that is.

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life (Samuel Johnson)

2010-08-13T20:30:00.004+02:00

London is the place where I would like to live at least a couple of months a year if I were fabulously wealthy.

We spent a long weekend there, saw some really nice places, had some tasty lunches and spread some cash on the summer sales.

On Saturday we started with a proper full English (ok, admittedly one in two) in the crypt of St Martin in Fields on Trafalgar Square. Even if it is indeed a bit awkward to have a meal on the tombs, the restaurant in the crypt serves, throughout the day, well cooked British classics such as shepherd (appropriately!) pie, sausage and mash and apple crumble with custard cream, all very reasonably priced.

After breakfast we headed to the National Portrait Gallery on the other side of the road to admire they extensive collection of…well, of course portraits, what else?

From the Elisabeth I to Anna Wintour via Charles Darwin and Wallis Simpson, I definitely think it’s worth a visit. In Summer, on Thursdays and Fridays it's open till late with concerts, lectures and workshop which can be enjoyed for free. We also checked the BP portrait award, won this year by Daphne Todd and her " Last Portrait of Mother", kind of creepy painting, I must admit.

After the usual visit at the museum shop
we went to the Portrait Restaurant on the top floor. On the last issue of Intelligent Life I read an article about their wine selection, so as we were there, we gave it a try. I booked in advance as it tends to be quite full, especially in the weekends. For 27.50£ each we got a 2 courses menu with a Portrait Bellini. John chose the starter (Smoked haddock spring onion fishcake, red chard salad, tartar sauce) while I obviously opted for the dessert (summer pudding with clotted cream ice cream…yummy!). As main we got a lamb couscous which was not really remarkable and a nice pork chop with mashed potatoes and red onion jus. After all this a nice espresso was clearly necessary.

We indeed needed all our strength to move over to an afternoon of shopping with visits to Uniqlo, Topman, Next, New Look, JD John Lewis and M&S among others.

Despite the declared intention of going out to the pub and maybe to a gig in Camden, all we could do was eating our sushi (from Wasabi) and go to bed after some TV...

Blame it on the age, the walking or all that food, it proved to be the right choice!

PS: we slept in a studio in West Hampstead which I booked through homeaway, however they also have their own site. Despite some criticism from the users of Trip Advisor, we found the small apartment clean, tidy, quiet and equipped with everything you may need for a short stay in London. In addition, the neighbourhood is very lively, full of trendy restaurants and bars and with an above the average concentration of charity shops.

Macedonia estiva con mascarpone

2010-08-05T18:27:00.001+02:00

Quick dessert for a breezy summer evening.

Make a salad with the seasonal fruit you have available. In Italian a fruit salad is called macedonia (borrowed probably from the French language, possibly an allusion to the mix of people in the empire of Alexander the Great, according to the scholars...well, of fruit salads...).

In mine I put 1 peach, 2 apricots and an handful of rasp- and blueberries. No need to add sugar. Mix well and put it in the fridge

For the cream, mix together with the electric mixer 1 egg and 1 spoon of sugar. When they are well mixed, add 250 grams of mascarpone and stir well till you get a rich and soft cream. Add a shot of Bailey and stir once more.

In a large glass put 2 spoons of the fruit salad and cover with the cream. Powder the top with cocoa, add some berries for decoration.

Underground

2010-08-05T18:02:00.000+02:00

Last time we went to Trieste we also visited Enrico in his Slovenian country house. He took us to the wine producers of his area and we bought 5 liters of Teran from a producer with a lovely cellar smelling of wine, ham and humidity. As outside there were 40 degrees, I could have stayed there all day!

A day in Paris

2010-08-03T22:07:00.001+02:00

So if you were 24 hours in Paris, you were not a tourist anymore and you were planning a shopping marathon, what would you do? Now, probably nobody apart from John and myself has ever had this dilemma, but this is what we did last Saturday.

We left Den Haag at 05.00 and arrived in Paris around 09.30. After parking under the Galerie Lafayette we went straight to Uniqlo, the Japanese brand that sells basic good quality clothes in all the colours of the rainbow at very affordable prices.

After that we went back to Lafayette and Citadium, where we normally find cool and edgy trainers and shoes. They are apparently going through a renovation and it seems like they will store more of the usual boring brands, but let's see how it looks like when we go back in January.

After that, we walked on Boulevard Haussman to Boulevard Poissoniere and then we turned right on Rue Vivienne and walked past the Bourse to the area behind the Palais Royal which is almost not touristy at all and full of lovely Galeries, bistrot and Asian traiteurs. After a visit to Taratata on Rue de Petits Champs, one of the cutest jewellery shop ever, we had lunch at the Japanese noodle bar on the corner with Rue Chabanais.

Then, with renovated energy, we headed to the Centre Pompidou and the Marais, where we visited BHV and bought a pillow with Wonder Woman with the friendly help from the shop assistant who wished us a nice stay in Paris (who said that Parisians are mean?!). We wandered around in the Marais, without getting felafel this time, just a couple of parfumes (Mimose and Marche des Fleurs) at Fragonard. We also went to Muji, to the Nike store hosted in a former bookshop and to the real (and really charming and cheap) bookshop Mona Lisait.

The Musee Carnevalet is just around the corner. We have been there previously and I can warmly recommend it: it's free and the section about the French Revolution is a must see.

We walked past a Place des Vosge filled with people chilling in the sun to Boulevard Beaumarchais and checked out Merci, a concept store that offers very pricey furniture, clothes and design jewellery together with unexpensive kitchen-ware, pens and pencils and second hand books.

At this point my feet were fuming, so we headed to the car and then to the studio we booked in Saint Maurice, a lovely little village just outside Vincennes. The studio was clean, spacious (for Paris standards, that is) and well equipped. The only issue could have been the fact that the periferique exterieur runs literally outside the window, but anyway after a day like this we could have probably slept soundly even on an airport runaway.

But I digress, 'cause now the most important event of the day arrives: the dinner at Le Tambour.

We discovered this bistrot in Rue Montmatre (which is not in Montmartre, btw) quite by chance but we have been regulars ever since. The service is fast, the waiters are real characters and the food is delicious. This time I had Bouef Rossini: a delicious steak topped by a slice of fois gras, served with baked potatoes and green beans. After that, we shared a profiterolles. This is not just a profiterolles, this is THE best one ever. Seriously. OK, not a choice for the calories-aware...but I mean, who would anyway want to go for dinner with such a person? The food was complemented by the ' wine of the month', a fine Beaujolais which we drank a la ficelle meaning that you get a bottle and you pay for how much you drink + one euro.

After dinner we headed to the astonishing glittery monument to the Industrial Revolution that is the Tour Eiffel before driving back to Saint Maurice for a well deserved night sleep, accompanied in our dreams by the never ending buzz of the highway nearby.

Delicatessen

2010-08-02T18:54:00.001+02:00

These are two Dutch delicacies that everybody should try at least once.

HEMA rookworst

HEMA is a very popular department store which not so many years ago went trough a complete make-over (redesign of the logo, stores and colleaction) and now is one of the coolest shop in NL, with its unmistakable colours and style.

One of its most popular products is the smoked sausage, which can be eaten on the spot or bought and cooked at home (possibly with some stammpot)

Patat met

Fries and mayo are a national institution (they are even quoted in Pulp Fiction) and the Kleinste Winkeltje is said to have the best ones of Den Haag. You can have them zonder (without anything), mayo, pinda saus (peanut butter sauce), oorlog (literally, war, but if I am correct it's with several sauces + chopped onions) and several others sauces which I have not tried so far and that I am not sure that I ever will. The aroma (smell?) of these " dressing" sometimes (especially in the evening rush hours) fills up whole compartments of trains making you wish that you went by car instead....

Veggies bag

2010-07-22T19:45:00.001+02:00

While browsing around for fresh and sustainable vegetables producers, I found several companies delivering a weekly bag full of fruits and vegetables directly to someone’s house or to selected shops.

Several options are available (organic, organic and local, bigger or smaller bags according to the family size) and come in different prices.

Those listed below work at national level, while many more can be found locally.

ODIN fruit and vegetables: 5 types of subscription going from 7.95€ to 14.95€ which can be picked up in selected distribution points (normally small supermarkets or EKO shops). A 4 weeks trial-subscription is available for those who do not feel like committing to a long term relationship yet...Recipes available on the site.

ODIN Puur Natuur (meat): several offers (beef, pork, chicken, combi, etc) going from approximately 17€ to 34€. In this case subscription is not needed and you can order from time to time. When ordering at the shop you pay a fix amount and at the delivery the shopkeeper will let you know whether you have to top up the amount or if you get any money back.

For the website, click here.

Proef Vitatas: Delivered at the EkoPlaza or Natuur winkels in several Dutch cities. What I appreciate from their offer is that you can also choose a bag of products exclusively of Dutch origin: organic and sustainable. In this way they are also encouraging the production of not so common and maybe forgotten Dutch vegetables. Recipes provided at the bottom of the bag.

For the website, click here.

Rice, peas and Teran wine: an organic and sustainable risotto

2010-07-20T19:04:00.001+02:00

We went to Trieste last week for a short holiday and we came back with the car full of goodies from the region, including locally grown organic vegetables, herbs and Teran wine.

To quote Wikipedia: "Teran (Italian: Terrano del Carso) is a red wine produced on the Kras plateau in the Slovenian Littoral and in a very limited area within the northeastern Italian region of Friuli - Venezia Giulia"

Ingredients:

For the broth:
- organic onions bought in Zeeland
- 3 tomatoes and a carrot from Enrico's organic garden
- 3 celery sticks from the garden of Martin's mum
- new potatoes and a garlic clove from the Haagse Markt

For the peas:

- organic peas from Bora.la's the vegetable garden
- 1 onion from Enrico's organic garden
- speck from Sud-Tirol, souvenir from my parents' holidays
- parsley from my balcony
- extra virgin olive oil from my adopted tree
- a garlic clove from the Haagse Markt
- salt and pepper

For the risotto:

- A glass of Teran Wine from Pleskavica
- A glass full of rice
- 2 onions from Enrico's organic garden
- Butter bought at the Kaasboerdereij in Wassenaar
- a garlic clove from the Haagse Markt
- salt and pepper
- parsley from my balcony

Preparation:

Prepare the broth with all the veggies and a pinch of salt in the pressure pan

Clean the peas, wash them. Fry the onion in the olive oil together with the speck. When the onion becomes soft throw the peas and add salt, pepper and the garlic clove.

When the peas are ready, start preparing the risotto. Again, chop the onion and let it soften in the olive oil, add the rice and toast it till it gets yellow. Add the glass of wine.

When the wine has evaporated almost completely start adding the broth , a couple of spoonfuls at the time till the rice absorbs it. When "al dente", add the peas, a nut of butter, salt and pepper, stir a couple of minutes and the serve.

Caro amico ti scrivo

2010-07-07T13:28:00.000+02:00

After yet another abuse of the Italian language on the Allerhande magazine, I decided to write an email to Albert Heijn's customer service.

Dear Sir/Madam,
I have been a loyal reader of Allerhande since I moved here in 2004. Most
of the recipes are interesting, original and well explained.
But there is a but. It's called: the fake-Italian conspiracy. Most of the
recipes are made up, the names are wrong and there are even invented words.
Take " bella buffetta" from your latest issue...this is not Italian...in
fact, it doesn't mean anything. Also, the people and places portrayed in
the pictures are often stereotypes of Italy in the '60...but (could you
believe it?) things have changed even there! Italy, according to
Allerhande is in fact southern Italy or Tuscany, and nothing else exist.
I saw the sneak preview on your next number and I must say that I am
already a bit concerned...that sad-hospital food looking-spaghetti bowl
with a bitterbal on top doesn't look very promising, but let's see, maybe
you will surprise me this time.
Of course, if you need any help with the Italian grammar or a little
cultural overview, I would be happy to help.
In the meantime,
Buon appetito!

Buon appetito!

2010-06-30T20:24:00.000+02:00

Several mistakes in several different languages.

All you can eat but can you eat it all?

2010-06-29T20:46:00.000+02:00

The all-you-can-eat is a very popular formula in Holland but it's still quite uncommon in Italy. I have never seen a all you can eat pizzeria or an all you can eat piadinoteca.

The truth is that there is a limited amount of food you can really eat (as long as you are not Homer Simpsons, that is), so the owner of the establishment is never at loss, I guess.

As it's all about quantity, quality normally comes second. And drinks are very expensive.

Since I am here I had: unlimited spare-ribs, sushi, korean bbq, brasilian meat and wok and I never ever got over the second serving. Maybe only once, when I got green tea ice-cream as third round.

Pasta spinaci e pancetta

2010-06-26T14:11:00.000+02:00

Quick lunch before heading to Zeeland (26 degrees tomorrow, yu-hu!)

200 gr pasta, 200 gr (previously boiled) spinach, 150 gr organic bacon (pancetta), 1 onion, 1 pot of sour cream.

In pan, 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cook the onion till it gets soft then add the pancetta, when it becomes pink add the spinach and stir, adding salt and pepper, for 3 minutes. Lower the gas almost to the minimum and add the 3/4 of sour cream, then turn it off.

Once the past is ready throw it into the sauce, adding the rest of the sour cream and one more spoon of olive oil if necessary.

Giorgio aka il signor Bertolli

2010-06-22T20:04:00.000+02:00

Bertolli in The Netherlands seems to be one of the main ambassadors of the echte italiaanse smaak, with its olive oils, pasta sauces and ready meals.

The latest Bertolli commercial features a man called Giorgio (your average salt-and-pepper haired-charming-50something-Italian man) who apparently owns an Apecar and a trattoria (with the omnipresent red and white chequered tablecloths, garlic bunches and basilicum pots at every corner). This Giorgio guy, who initially gets stuck in a traffic jam (ALL Italians are famously devoid of any driving skill)on the main square of his Tuscan/Umbrian/Marche village, is the wizard of the famous (?!) pasta pecorino which he prepares daily for his many customers.

I guess you can safely bet it: tomato and Italiaanse kruiden must also be involved.

Now, Bertolli was indeed founded in 1865 in Lucca by Francesco Bertolli, as Wikipedia duly informs us. But is now owned partly by Unilever and partly by the Spanish Grupo SOS.

Therefore this grandmother with dubious morality who tricks the local teacher to lunch with a bag of pastasaus , could be Spanish or Anglo Dutch...but surely not Italian...

To be fair, even the Italian website keeps the myth alive defining the brand as "the ambassador of real Italian taste in the world".

Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone...

Dish of the day

2010-06-22T18:24:00.000+02:00

On the menu tonight:

- chicken veggies curry following (more or less) this recipe. Made with ingredients bought at the Haagse Markt last Saturday and with coconut milk instead of cream

- boiled 3 grains from Gallo with broad beans

- home made tzatziki with a twist of mint (a 1/4 of cucumber grated, 1 grated garlic clove, 10 mint leaves from my balcony finely sliced, salt pepper, Greek yoghurt)

- beetroot salad (basically sliced beetroot with a pinch of salr, really)

- flat bread called " marrokanse pannekoeken" bought at the Turkish bakker

Plastic Heroes

2010-06-20T20:00:00.000+02:00

Good news! Finally also here in Den Haag plastic containers are being collected for recycling.

Click on this link and find out where's the bin closest to you.

Of course, best would be trying to reduce the use of evil plastic to the minimum, but in the meantime...

I open my heart to Dr. Oetker

2010-06-16T21:18:00.000+02:00

Dear Dr Oetker,

I must say I am disappointed with you. Despite your PhD you just seem not to get it right.

I am talking about pizza. Yeah, your so-called "real Italian pizza".

That one that doesn't taste better than the cardboard it comes in.

Shall we start with the one with the pineapple? No self respecting Italian citizen would eat that Hawaian joke and no self respecting pizzeria would ever serve it. And, to change subject, peperoni goes with 1 P.

And what about the Casa di Mama? First of all, it is not even written in Italian. Mamma goes with 2 M and the sentence itself doesn't have any meaning at all. I am afraid that your mother probably didn't really love you if she served you a pizza like that.

No, Dr. Oetker, you are definitely not l'amore di mamma.

Quick dessert with Dutch strawberries

2010-06-14T21:02:00.000+02:00

Buy a large, not too soft croissant at your favourite baker.

Cut it in 2.

Wash an handful of strawberries and cut them. Put them in the croissant.

Cover the strawberries with a couple of small scoops of vanilla or cream ice-cream.

Serve.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.

2010-06-14T20:53:00.000+02:00

Some of Pollan's Food Rules:

Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognise as food.

Avoid food products containing ingredients that no ordinary human would keep in the pantry.

Avoid food products that make health-claims.

Avoid foods you see advertised on television.

Get out the supermarket whenever you can.

Eat only food that have been cooked by humans.

It's not food if it arrived through the window of your car.

Treat meat as a flavoring or special occasion food.

Eat well grown food from healthy soil.

Eat all junk food you want as long as you cook it yourself.

Pay more, eat less.

Eat when you are hungry, not when you are bored.

Limit your snacks to unprocessed plant food.

Treat treats as treats.

Cook.

(not so) Eko-logic

2010-06-14T19:25:00.000+02:00

I must say that after reading Michael Pollan's "The omnivore's dilemma" I am even more determined to at least try and stay away from heavily processed food and supermarket's equally processed and imported "fresh" food.

I shop at the market, directly to the farmer or to the local Co-Op.

Last week I gave a try to the newly opened EkoPlaza in Theresiastraat, Den Haag.

Even though there was a good wide offer of local products, I saw a lot of imported food (pumpkins, beans and kiwis, for instance). I think that a concept like Eko-plaza should maybe promote locally grown seasonal vegetables and fruit instead of importing stuff from all over the world which may be organic, but still with a very high carbon footprint.

A good, knowledgeable butcher (not the usual, sad looking bits and pieces of meat packed in cellophane in the fridge section) would also be very much appreciated.

Also, avoid selling ready made food and TV dinners and instead give to its customers good and easy tips on how to prepare a delicious meal with fresh food.

On the positive side, I bought some really delicious chestnut champignons which I cooked in a pasta sauce together with some fresh cherry tomatoes.

Pinza e presnitz

2010-04-13T19:25:00.000+02:00

Pinza and presnitz are typical Easter cakes from Trieste and the area around it and they symbolize different passages of the Christian Easter tradition.

Thanks to my mum for sending me the recipe and the pictures.

Pinza

1 kg flour
250 gr sugar
150/200 gr butter
5 egg yolks
150/180 gr yeast
1 small bottle of rum aroma
1 small bottle of vanilla aroma
lemon and orange zest
milk

Melt the yeast with a little warm milk, mix all the ingredients and let the dough grow in a warm place, protected from drafts. The volume should double. Work the dough again and repeat the whole procedure at least 3 times.

Form some buns, cut a cross on the top and brush with some whisked egg yolk.

Bake for 45 minutes at 180C.

Presnitz

Use the same dough of the pinza, but you will have to roll it as thin as a layer of puff pastry.

With a kg of flour you can make a small and a big pinza and a small and a big presnitz.

For the filling:

250 gr peeled walnuts
150 gr hazelnuts
150 gr almonds
100 gr dark chocolate
150 gr pine nuts
250 gr raisins
1 small bag of candy orange peel
4 tablespoons of sugar
butter, that will be added in flakes before rolling the dough
rum

Put the raisins and the orange peel in water and rum for a couple of hours.

Chop the nuts and the chocolate in a food processor, put them into a bowl, add the other ingredients and stir well.

Spread the ingredients on the rolled dough, roll it as in the picture and bake it in the oven at 180C for 45 minutes.

I say tomato, you say tomato

2010-03-30T20:30:00.000+02:00

On Saturday we also went to the Open Day of the Greenhouses and discovered a producer that harvest tomatoes that actually taste like tomatoes should. For some lucky coincidence, they are sold at our local Coop!

So today after work I made a tomato-ricotta pie. As they didn't have the ready-made puff pastry I normally buy (yeah, I know...too lazy to make it myself), I bought a can of croissant dough.

Cover a silicone oven dish with the dough. Prepare the cream, mixing 1 chopped onion, ricotta, 1 egg, 3 teaspoons of mustard, salt, pepper, mild paprika powder, a pinch of your favourite herbs and oregano.

Spoon the cream on the dought.

Pre-heat the oven at 180C.

Cut the tomatoes in thin slices and cover completely the surface. Add a pinch of salt, oregano and some lines of chili pepper olive oil.

It goes in the oven for 50 minutes (I have a combi-electric one).

Countryfiles

2010-03-29T14:31:00.000+02:00

Saturday we went to our favourite local farm, the Kaasboerderij Nellestein in Wassenaar.

New-born lambs were merrily jumping in the fields, trying to escape through the holes in the fence. Calves were chillin' on their straw beds and mooing to the heavily pregnant sheep nearby.

I bought yoghurt, eggs, cheese, honey mustard and butter for 11€: everything fresh and delicious.

15-minute tiramisu'

2010-03-23T09:06:00.000+01:00

1 egg, carefully brought from Italy by Ale in her checked-in luggage!
1 spoon of sugar
1 pot of mascarpone (250 gr)
1 spoon of Baileys
the coffee of one Italian moka machine
15 savoiardi
cocoa powder

Mix the egg to the sugar till it becomes creamy. Add the mascarpone and the Baileys, stir till all the ingredients are well mixed together.

Prepare the coffee. When ready, pour it in a deep dish. Soak the savoiardi in the coffee and put them, one next to the other, at the bottom of a squared dish (an oven dish would do). Once the whole bottom is covered, pour the cream and cover with cocoa powder.

Leave it in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.

Sorry, no picture this time, it was too good to last...

Duck's boobies

2010-03-16T21:03:00.000+01:00

When dining at my favourite French bistro Les Delices d'Anthony, I always order the fantastic duck breast with caramelised ginger, which alone, together with the tapestry of course, is worth the trip to Bayeux.

Inspired by it, yesterday I tried my first duck breast recipe.

In the morning I prepared the marinade with the juice of a squeezed orange, some extra-virgin olive oil, salt&herbs mix created by my mum, half glass on white wine, a clove of garlic and some freshly cut rosemary and I put it in the fridge.

When I got home I took the marinated duck out of the fridge.

I boiled some new potatoes for 10 minutes and at the same time I chopped a big white onion and a sliced celery stalk, add olive oil in a pan and threw the veggies in, together with the clove of garlic I had used for the marinade.

I practiced 3 or 4 cuts in the duck skin, pre-heated the oven at 180.

Once the onion was soft but not brown, I put it aside in the pan and threw the duck in, on the skin side, for 10 minutes (medium fire), then turned it on the other side for some 5 minutes. I then added the marinade and left the pan on the medium fire for 5 more minutes.

I then put the potatoes in an oven dish and topped them with the duck breast and the vegetables. They went in in the oven for 40 minutes.

Once ready, cut in thin slices and serve with some freshly grated carrot...delicieux!

Fighting myths about Italian cooking - 2

2010-03-16T19:37:00.000+01:00

Salami is the plural of salame.
Casa di Mama is not written in Italian.
Due Penotti is not from Italy. Kinder Ferrero is. As is Nutella.
There is no creme fraiche in the ragú.

Bitterballen!

2010-03-15T19:30:00.000+01:00

Bitterballen served with mustars are the first thing that come to an expat's mind when asked about Dutch cuisine.

According to Wikipedia "they are a savoury Dutch meat-based snack, typically containing a mixture of beef (minced or chopped), beef broth, flour and butter for thickening, parsley, salt and pepper"...but most foreigners living here will tell you that they contain cat's vomit, mud, snog or any other un-appealing substance like that.

Personally, I think they are very tasty and the perfect match for a glass of beer.

My Italian friends, unaffected by other people's prejudices, loved them and even asked for more...

Pecorino al limone

2010-03-09T20:33:00.000+01:00

Some years ago I went on holiday with my family to Montalto Marina, a tiny village in the northern part of Lazio, as we had planned to visit the nearby etruscan archelogical sites.

Apart from the ancient ruins and pretty top-of-the-hill towns, we discovered a fantastic pecorino al limone, something I believe isn't produced anywhere else. Extremely fresh and light, it's the ideal summer cheese, to be savoured with local bread and a white wine after a long day at the beach.

I was therefore extremely happy to find it on Saturday in a salumeria in Pitigliano.

The producer is "Caseificio Maremma" and this is their website.

Pici al finocchietto

2010-03-09T19:53:00.000+01:00

We spent the weekend in Pitigliano, a lovely historical town in the province of Grosseto. On Saturday evening I tried the pici, a kind of pasta typical from the south of Tuscany a sort of thick spaghetti. It seems there is even a sagra (festival) dedicated to them, during the month of May.

The extremely friendly (even if somewhat bizarre) chef served them with finocchietto (the green feathery leaves of the fennel) and a bit of cream and they were delicious.

I cooked them today with some truffle cream and they were equally good.

Fighting myths about Italian cooking

2010-03-09T19:40:00.000+01:00

Italians use pesto only on the pasta.
Bruschetta is "brusketta" not "brusjietta".
The oil must be extravirgin olive oil. All the other oils are for frying.
Pasta bolognese is for tourists. Italians eat pasta al sugo o al ragú.
There are no cream in the carbonara and no mushrooms.
There is no thing as an Italian cuisine, there are many local ones.
Pizzakaas doesn't exist. Use mozzarella fiordilatte, and consult your friends from Napoli to learn about the real thing.
You don't drink wine with pizza. Only beer or cola. Ask any Italian and they will agree.
Don't trust pizzeria that have in the menu things like pizza away or pizza shoarma. They are not echte Italiaanse smaak at all...

Crumbling veggies

2010-03-09T19:06:00.000+01:00

This is an easy one which came to my mind after we had lunch in the Celio with Fernanda on Sunday. As it was 3 in the afternoon and we were starving, we ordered a dish of oven vegetables as "antipasti".

Take an oven dish, cover the base with 1 spoon of extravirgin olive oil. Cut 1 sweet onion, 2 tomatoes and a potato in large pieces and put them in the oven dish.

Pre-heat the oven at 180.

In a bowl mix 5 spoons of breadcrumble, 2 spoons of orange- extravirgin olive oil (that you can purchase at nudo), 1 finely chopped garlic clove, some parsil, sweet paprika powder, salt and pepper. Mix it well. Spred it liberally on the veggies. Cover it all with some more lines of olive oil.

Put in the oven for 40 minutes. Serve as a side dish or accompanying a tagliere di salumi e formaggi.

Matin au marché

2009-09-13T20:15:00.000+02:00

Wazemmes market é uno dei mercati piú grandi di Francia e sicuramente il migliore in cui sono stata. A sole due ore e mezza da Den Haag é una scusa perfetta per passare una domenica a Lille. Scarpe, vestiti, splendida frutta e verdura. Bancarelle di cibi arabi e asiatici. Pane e formaggi. Centinaia di polli allo spiedo. I negozi e i bar intorno al mercato sono aperti al mattino, potete quindi sorseggiare il vostro pastis nelle terrazze all'aperto mentre i suonatori di fisarmonica propongono classici di Edith Piaf.

Långholmen's Hostel - Stockholm

2009-09-02T21:56:00.000+02:00

La prigione di Kronohäktet ha chiuso i battenti nel 1975 per riaprire, alcuni anni piú tardi, come hotel ed ostello.

La struttura interna, le porte delle celle e, nel caso dell'ostello, i letti sovrapposti sono stati conservati come nell'originale. Il bagno in camera, la TV a LCD e la cassaforte invece, non credo figurassero nell'arredamento originale...

La prima colazione nordica é talmente abbondante (dolce, salato, frutta, innumerevoli tipi di pane) che permette agevolmente di arrivare vivi fino a cena e viene servita nella veranda o nel giardino, a seconda della stagione.

Souvenir obbligatorio: caramelle Lakerol in tutti i gusti possibili.

A Stoccolma, imperdibile lo shopping ed il museo Vasa, soprattutto per i bambini e fans di Jack Sparrow.

Sito.

Residence Mer

2009-09-01T20:27:00.000+02:00

A Saint Philibert, un posto dove uno pagherebbe per vivere.
I proprietari, pensionati parigini assai benestanti, parlano l'inglese e coltivano ostriche. Gita in barca fino ai letti di molluschi.
Tutte le camere hanno la vista sulla baia, cosí si possono seguire live le evoluzioni delle maree.

Sito.

La Pot au Beurre

2009-09-01T19:06:00.000+02:00

Deliziosa creperie (crepes, galettes, insalate) a pochi metri dall'Hotel Kan Avel. Consigliata la prenotazione nei weekend. Come al solito, preferire il sidro al vino.
Ricetta della Galette avec Coquille Saint Jacques (crepe al grano saraceno farcita con noci di capesante)

Hotel Kan Avel

2009-09-01T18:42:00.000+02:00

Saint Lunaire é una tranquilla localitá balneare de fin siecle a pochi chilometri da Saint Malo. Un po' decadente, ma la luce é splendida, come dappertutto in Bretagna.
Hotel carino, arredato con gusto anche se le camere sono un po' piccole. Colazione deliziosa e varia servita nella sala esterna raggiungibile attraverso il cortile interno. Proprietari gentili ma freddi.
Vivamente consigliata una passeggiata serale fino alla spiaggia. Imperdibile la vista dalla Pointe du Decollé

Sito.

Les Delices d'Anthony

2009-09-01T18:26:00.000+02:00

Personalmente, il mio ristorante preferito. A Saint-Vigor le Grand, praticamente a Bayeux.
Piatti "fusion" impeccabili. Imperdibili le "3 insalate" e il petto d'anatra laccato allo zenzero. Senza dimenticare i deliziosi dolci.
Ambiente rustico, verde pallido e giallo, un pó kitsch (i.e. acquario con pesci rossi all'ingresso, come il piú trucido ristorante cinese).
Formula menu a pranzo e a cena.

Sito.

La Ferme des Perelles

2009-09-01T18:14:00.000+02:00

Splendida fattoria del XVIII secolo convertita in agriturismo nei pressi di Bayeux.
Camere a tema arredate con gusto, muro di pietra a vista. Colazione con croissants e baguettes sempre fresche.
Myriam e Philippe vi offriranno una miniera di informazioni utili su ristoranti, musei ed escursioni. Chiude in inverno, i costi per il riscaldamento sarebbero maggiori dei ricavi.
Animali: mucche, cavalli, cani, gatti. Asini nelle vicinanze.
Attrazioni: spiagge e siti dello sbarco in Normandia, Bayeux (arazzo e mercato del sabato), Caen, produzione di sidro e formaggi normanni.

Sito.

Qua se magna, qua se bevi.

2009-09-01T18:01:00.001+02:00

Lo scopo principale nella vita de ogni vero triestin xé trovar posti dove se magni ben e costi poco.
Mi no fazzo eccezion.