722 replies to this topic

[DutchMuse]

Yummmm, lekker! (Tasty!) One caution: be sure the bitterbalen have cooled a bit before you sink your teeth into them. I've burned my roof of my mouth more times than I want to count from a hot bitterbalen. They can be HOT when newly served.

Oh, and yes, good enough with beer, but I like them with een borreltje (a jenever).

[M. Lucia]

Klary, thank you so much for creating this beautiful thread. I have really enjoyed learning about this cuisine that I realized I know so little about.

For years I didn't appreciate a lot of the food I grew up with (a veritable melange of things from the American South to Argentina and France) but I have slowly developped a new perspective on it.
Part of my new appreciation comes from my own expanding tastes and willingness to be open to new things. I guess you have to go away to come back home again.

Those cookies look wonderful, I love baking with ground nuts.
I do hope you'll do some traditional Dutch vegetable dishes as well.

[tejon]

I made the braised beef tonight along with some boiled potatoes and sweet and sour cabbage. Oh, my, was it ever satisfying and delicious. Thank you, Chufi!

[helenjp]

Made the dumkes, thank you! And thereby justified sending DH to buy aniseed from a Tokyo supermarket a while back...whew! This recipe works beautifully with nice dark Japanese sugar.

[Chef Metcalf]

Thanks Klary!

[Chufi]

I can't believe people all over the planet are cooking Dutch food!
Thanks everybody. Your responses really mean a lot to me

Today on the menu: Dutch vegetable soup with meatballs.
Now I won't claim that the Dutch invented vegetable soup! But still I think that this kind of soup, with it's meatballs and the predominant flavouring of celery leaves, is uniquely Dutch. Please correct me if I'm wrong

Yesterday I made some stock from a nice piece of beef shin, some sliced carrots, onions, leeks, and celery.

This is after it simmered for about 3 hours. I used the meat from the beef shin, and some of the stock, to make yesterday's bitterballen. I felt I was being a very good Dutch housewife, using my stock for multiple dishes..

For the vegetablesoup, I used about 750 ml. of stock.
Today, I chopped up some fresh vegetables. On this plate are: cauliflower, carrots, leeks, celery and greenbeans. I forgot to weigh the total amount of vegetables. I think it was about 200 grams, but ofcourse you could add more or less to taste.


Other ingredients: meatballs.

This is 200 grams of ground veal, seasoned with salt, pepper and grated nutmeg, a teaspoon of tomatopuree, and a tablespoon of cream. Mix very well and roll into small, marblesized balls.


On the plate together with parsley (on the left) and celery leaves (on the right) and vermicelli very thin noodles sold especially for soup. In many Dutch kitchens this would be the only kind of noodle you would find..
There's really no substitute for the celery leaves. In Holland you can buy bunches of it, like you would buy a bunch of parsley. Can you do that elsewhere? The leaves attached to stalks of celery taste a bit similar but not exactly the same. If you can find a celeriac root with the leaves attached, that's the right thing.
To me, the scent of celery leaves cooking in stock is the scent of traditional Dutch cooking. Note: I added about 4 times as much celery leaves to the final soup than pictured here.

Heat the stock. Cook the vegetables in it for about 15 minutes. Add the broken up vermicelli, chopped up parsley and celery leaves, and the meatballs and cook 10 minutes more. The vegetables should be well done - al dente is a concept not known in traditional Dutch cuisine. Season with salt and pepper.

Finished:

Edited by Chufi, 31 October 2005 - 11:41 AM.

[MelissaH]

Chufi,

Thanks again for starting this thread and posting all the wonderful pictures to go with your delicious-sounding recipes.

To answer a question that you asked: I've never seen bunches of celery leaves for sale in the U.S. In fact, right now it's hard for me to even find bunches of celery with many leaves left on them! For some reason, the stores around here tend to de-leaf their celery, and sell them denuded, which is a shame because I love to include celery leaves in my soups. (During farmer's market season, I can easily get celery with some leaves. But farmer's market season doesn't usually scream "SOUP!!!" the way now does.)

MelissaH

[Chufi]

To answer a question that you asked: I've never seen bunches of celery leaves for sale in the U.S.

interesting. What about parsley root? Is that available in the US? you don't see that in the markets over here very often nowadays, but it used to be a key ingredient in Dutch cooking - soups, stews etc.

[MelissaH]

To answer a question that you asked: I've never seen bunches of celery leaves for sale in the U.S.

interesting. What about parsley root? Is that available in the US? you don't see that in the markets over here very often nowadays, but it used to be a key ingredient in Dutch cooking - soups, stews etc.

Occasionally, and depending on which supermarket I shop at, I'll see bunches of parsley with their roots still attached. Ditto on cilantro root.

[sanrensho]

I can't believe people all over the planet are cooking Dutch food!
Thanks everybody. Your responses really mean a lot to me 

Thanks to this thread, we made pannenkoeken for the first time on Sunday morning. In place of bacon, we fried up thin slices of ham, and also did the apple version. Yum on both accounts.

A quick question for Chufi: Should the texture/thickness be akin to a thick crepe?

I'd like to try the simmered beef recipe next.

[Chufi]

Next up: a drink.
Well, it’s not really a drink because you eat it with a spoon. But Boerenmeisjes, Apricot brandy, used to be served as an aperitif, in small crystal glasses with a tiny silver spoon. A couple of months before a birthday or holiday was coming up, and many guests were expected, my grandmother would make jars of this 'drink' (called boerenmeisjes, 'girls from the farm') and it’s counterpart, made with raisins instead of apricots (bonuspoint for who can guess the name of that one!). It's very much a ladies' drink – the men probably preferred jenever!
It's a Dutch classic and you can still buy jars of this stuff (readymade) at liquerstores.
Instead of eating it as a pre-dinnerdrink I prefer to have it for dessert.. it’s spectacular served with icecream or alongside a slice of cake, with plenty of whipped cream.. or in layered, trifle-style desserts.

First, let’s talk about the booze..


This is made with brandewijn, Dutch brandy.

The word brandy was actually derived from the Dutch word brandewijn, which means ‘burnt wine’ – wine boiled to distill it. In the 16th century Dutch traders introduced this drink to the countries of Northern Europe after they encountered it in the Mediterranean. The Dutch however, soon started making their own 'brandy' without wine but using malt instead. That’s still what Dutch brandy is made of, contrary to wellknown brandies such as Cognac, Calvados, Grappa etc.
Dutch brandy has a very neutral taste which makes it ideal for preserving. This has 34 % alcohol .

here’s what you do:
soak 250 grams of dried apricots in 300 ml. water. It depends on how dry the apricots are how long you have to soak them. Overnight is ok, but I only soaked mine (which were nice and soft to begin with) for about 8 hours.
After that, cut them into strips and put them in a pan with the soaking water, 200 grams of sugar and a strip of lemonpeel. Heat over very low heat and leave like that for about 10 minutes. It should not boil!

After that, remove the lemonstrip. Add about 500 ml. of brandewijn and put the mixture in preserving jars. Leave for 6-8 weeks. If you make it now, it will be ready just in time for Christmas!

[Chufi]

Thanks to this thread, we made pannenkoeken for the first time on Sunday morning. In place of bacon, we fried up thin slices of ham, and also did the apple version. Yum on both accounts.

A quick question for Chufi: Should the texture/thickness be akin to a thick crepe?

glad you liked them
yes, they should be like a thin crepe. There are restaurants in Holland that serve nothing but pancakes ('pancakefarms') and if you order a pancake there, it will be much larger and thicker.. think the size of a large pizza, and as thick as your thumb.. they can be very heavy especially if you have one with bacon and syrup..!
For homecooking I prefer the small ones.. Much lighter and you can have more than 1!

[sanrensho]

glad you liked them 
yes, they should be like a thin crepe. There are restaurants in Holland that serve nothing but pancakes ('pancakefarms') and if you order a pancake there, it will be much larger and thicker.. think the size of a large pizza, and as thick as your thumb.. they can be very heavy especially if you have one with bacon and syrup..!
For homecooking I prefer the small ones.. Much lighter and you can have more than 1!

Thanks Chufi! I am really enjoying this thread and learning about Dutch cooking. Keep up the great work!

[Abra]

This thread is a treasure! I've never seen either parsley or cilantro with roots, nor have I ever seen celery leaves for sale. In fact, it's only recently that celery root is relatively easy to find.

That boerenmeisjes looks delicious, and summery. Do you know a really good recipe to make your own advocaat? I had some in Amsterdam a shocking number of years ago, and after that at home again I tried some in a bottle, I think Bols, which was really not at all like what I'd had there. I'd love to be able to make that for the holidays!

[Chufi]

Do you know a really good recipe to make your own advocaat?  I had some in Amsterdam a shocking number of years ago, and after that at home again I tried some in a bottle, I think Bols, which was really not at all like what I'd had there.  I'd love to be able to make that for the holidays!

advocaat is on the menu for this weekend's dinner party. I'm still thinking about a good dessert to use it in. But I'll definitely be making it this weekend.

[Abra]

Excellent! I'm curious about the idea of a dessert using advocaat, since I've only ever had it stand-alone. I can't wait to see what you do with it!

[anzu]

Next up: a drink.
Well, it’s not really a drink because you eat it with a spoon.  But Boerenmeisjes, Apricot brandy, used to be served as an aperitif, in small crystal glasses with a tiny silver spoon. A couple of months before a birthday or holiday was coming up, and many guests were expected, my grandmother would make jars of this 'drink' (called boerenmeisjes, 'girls from the farm') and it’s counterpart, made with raisins instead of apricots (bonuspoint for who can guess the name of that one!).

Don't tell me, it's got to be called boerenjongs, right??

Klary, going right back to the first recipe you gave in this thread, I was interested in the use of self-raising flour for the boterkoek. Is self-raising flour used so often in Dutch baking? Here in Germany it is so uncommon that I have to go to an Asian grocery to buy it.

[Chufi]

Next up, a tribute to my grandmothers:
Pap
Pap is (was) the favorite Dutch dairy product. It is some kind of dairy (milk, buttermilk) cooked with some kind of grain or grain product (rice, buckwheat, pearl barley, oats or just plain flour) until you have a nice thick porridge: pap.
Both my grandmothers loved pap and especially this one: buttermilkporridge. This is a specialty of Friesland, one of the northern provinces of the Netherlands. My father's family was originally from Friesland and I like to think of this porridge as the one that my ancestors grew up on...

It's not the kind of dish that when you see it, you immediately want to make it.. but I'm including it in this thread mainly for nostalgic reasons..

The simplest version of buttermilkporridge would just be made of buttermilk and flour. This is the fancy version, including raisins. On the farms, this would be the staple dessert, and if the family was poor, it would probably be the main course as well.

Most recipes I have use 500 ml. of buttermilk to 30 grams of flour. I had to use more flour, most likely because my low-fat 21st century buttermilk is nothing like the creamy fatty buttermilk from the farms..


So I used: 300 ml. buttermilk, 3 tablespoons flour, a handful of raisins.
Mix the flour with a little bit of the buttermilk. Make sure there are no lumps. (as you can imagine, pap is also the stuff that childhoodtrauma's are made of. If you don't pay attention, you end up with lumpy, curdled, or burnt porridge )
Slowly, very slowly heat this mix over very low heat. Add the raisins and the rest of the buttermilk. Continue cooking, over very low heat, stirring like crazy, until you have a thick smooth porridge. Don't let it boil or it will split.


Serve with plenty of soft brown sugar or syrup. The traditional thing was to have your mother write your initial in your porridge with syrup.


After that, stir and add more syrup (and get creative..ok I got carried away syrup is fun and there was no mom around to tell me "not to play with my food"..)


the funny thing is that while it smells very sour while you are cooking it, the finished porridge does not taste sour at all. It is very soothing, filling and comforting.

[Chufi]

Next up: a drink.
Well, it’s not really a drink because you eat it with a spoon.   But Boerenmeisjes, Apricot brandy, used to be served as an aperitif, in small crystal glasses with a tiny silver spoon. A couple of months before a birthday or holiday was coming up, and many guests were expected, my grandmother would make jars of this 'drink' (called boerenmeisjes, 'girls from the farm') and it’s counterpart, made with raisins instead of apricots (bonuspoint for who can guess the name of that one!).

Don't tell me, it's got to be called boerenjongs, right??

Klary, going right back to the first recipe you gave in this thread, I was interested in the use of self-raising flour for the boterkoek. Is self-raising flour used so often in Dutch baking? Here in Germany it is so uncommon that I have to go to an Asian grocery to buy it.

Yes! boerenjongens, boys from the farm

Anzu, indeed selfraising flour is used a lot in Dutch baking. Other raising agents such as baking soda or baking powder are hardly used (anymore). Even applepie, which I'll be making later on in the 'series', is made with selfraising flour.
Allthough I do have to add that most recipes for boterkoek I have seen, use regular flour. The use of selfraising flour in that particular recipe is just the way my mother, and her mother before her, have always made it.

[Alinka]

Hi Chufi,
Does this look at all familiar?

[Chufi]

Woohoo!!
Friese Dumkes go to Texas!!

they look magnificent. Did you do the thumb-thing? And how did they taste??

[Chufi]

A dreary rainy afternoon in Amsterdam, time for some baking. This is a favorite of mine:
Gevulde koeken - filled cookies. Crisp, buttery pastry with an almond paste filling.

The recipe follows, and I've also put it into RecipeGullet here

Because I did not know how mine would turn out, (never made these myself before), I bought one from a good bakery this morning. So here's what a storebought one looks like, it's about 4 inches in diameter:


inside:


Now let's make some. For about 10 large ones or 20 small ones (I made them about 2,5 inches diameter), you need:

300 grams of flour
200 grams cold butter, cut into cubes
150 grams soft white sugar
200 grams almond paste
1 egg
almond halves to put on top.

In the background my old and treasured baking book, called 'wij bakken zelf' which means 'we can bake our own'
Almond paste:

You can buy this readymade over here. Note that it's not the same as marzipan, which is much finer ground. This one still has a little bit of a course, grainy texture.
If you can't buy it, make your own buy grinding together 125 grams of blanched almonds, 125 grams sugar. Add 1 egg and some grated lemon rind.
If you buy it, make sure the ingredients are listed or that you buy from a reliable source. Often what you buy as almond paste is nothing but white beans with artificial almond flavoring.

OK.
Preheat your oven to 125 C / 250 F.
Make a dough by mixing together flour, butter and sugar. You might need to add a couple of drops of water to make it come together. Roll out on a floured surface. Cut out rounds with you (preferably fluted) cutter. Put half the rounds on a baking sheet. Put little heaps of the almond paste on top. Moisten the edges of the pastry with water and press the other pastryrounds on top.

Press an almond on top of each one (more almonds per pastry if you make large ones).
Beat the egg and brush the pastries with it. A thick egg-glaze is characteristic of these cookies, so if you like, you can brush the pastries a couple of times with the egg during baking.


Bake for about 20-25 minutes. If you take them out a couple of times to brush with the egg, like I did, they might need a little longer. They should be a beautiful golden brown.


Finished! These turned out very well. And they taste spectacular... one of the best things I ever baked. I've eaten many storebought, mediocre gevulde koeken in my life (no doubt many of them filled with beans instead of almonds ) but I don't think I can ever eat one of those again!

close-up..

Edited by Chufi, 02 November 2005 - 07:06 AM.

[Alinka]

That's not fair! I just finished the anise cookies, and there are new ones already. I can't keep up with you, Klary .

Woohoo!!
Friese Dumkes go to Texas!!

they look magnificent. Did you do the thumb-thing? And how did they taste??

I should probably share my experience of baking these cookies in America .

I followed the recipe precisely, using dark and light brown sugar 50:50. The dough turned out very soft, there was no way I could roll it. Which is fine, I HATE rolling. But then I decided to still try to get the traditional shape, so I refrigerated the dough until the next evening, and then it was firm enough to roll. But the size 2X4 cm seemed a little too small for our tastes (remember, I live in Texas, where they think "everything is bigger and better" ) so I cut them into 3X5 cm pieces. Exhausted by the effort of ROLLING, I just shaped the scraps into balls and flattened them on the baking sheet.

After I got them out of the oven, I honestly tried to put thumbprints on top, but the cookies just wouldn't indent. And actually, the texture was not what I expected. They were a little almost chewy (I taste-tested them after 15, 20, and 25 minutes in the oven, of course! ), and I guess I was expecting a more crumbly texture, kind of like icebox or sugar cookies. But I liked them that way, reminded me of pryanik, Russian gingerbread.

Also, I am not a fan of anise, so I added only 1/4 tablespoon. I took them to work, and everyone thought they were just right flavor-wise.

I think the problem (well, not exactly a problem) here is that flour in the States is different from that in Europe. My friends in Europe usually have to adjust the amount of flour in my recipes. I just don't remember, which way: add or decrease.

Anyway, the cookies were very popular, being not too sweet, and full of flavor. Thank you, Chufi!

[Alinka]

By the way, your Gevulde koeken look so much better and more uniform that the store-bought one!

[Chufi]

They were a little almost chewy (I taste-tested them after 15, 20, and 25 minutes in the oven, of course! ), and I guess I was expecting a more crumbly texture, kind of like icebox or sugar cookies.

yeah, that's how they should be, dry and crumbly, sandy-textured.
It's interesting about this flour thing. I consider myself not very good at baking. yet the baking I have done in this thread has all turned out pretty well. Could that be because now for the first time I am using Dutch recipes (and Dutch flour, ofcourse) where as before I have often been using American recipes and Dutch flour?

[Abra]

Those gevuldekoeken are SO going to find their way to my oven soon! I love anything marzipan, and so does my husband. This thread should be a blog, so it stays archived.

[Chufi]

Those gevuldekoeken are SO going to find their way to my oven soon!  I love anything marzipan, and so does my husband.  This thread should be a blog, so it stays archived.

will you be making you own almond paste Abra? If you do, just make sure the texture remains a little crumbly (as you can see in the close-up of the storebought pastry).
I've put this in RG but I'll repeat it here: my recipe book says that the homemade almond paste will keep for a couple of weeks (in the fridge, I presume) and will improve with keeping.

Edited by Chufi, 02 November 2005 - 08:53 AM.

[Chufi]

I do love how this thread has me thinking about a lot of things that I used to take for granted. I have also been thinking about the Spice Issue that was mentioned upthread. I think it was Milagai who asked where all the spices went?

The more I think about it, the more I feel that a lot of the 'strange' spices have actually been incorporated very well into classic Dutch cuisine. There's the use of cloves, nutmeg and mace in braises, stews and meatpies. Cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves, nutmeg etc (even pepper) are all used in the pastries and sweets.
2 of the most famous Dutch cheeses, Leidse kaas en Friese nagelkaas are flavored with cumin and cloves respectively.
I think it's only the chillies that have found absolutely no place in Dutch cooking. The other spices are used, be it in a subdued and background role and not as a principle player, but they are certainly there!

[Abra]

I will make my own almond paste, because I don't much like what I can buy. We do get an amazing organic Sicilian marzipan here, but since you specify almond paste, and have so kindly provided the recipe, it looks a cinch to make my own and more authentic, at that.

I'm having guests on Friday for a vegetarian dinner, and this might make a perfect dessert...maybe with a little advocaat? Or would that be a weird combination?

[presto]

Chufi...this thread has given me back my childhood. My Oma and Opa came over "straight off the boat" in 1952 and lived at the end of our long farm driveway. Every day after school the bus would drop me off at their house and I'd stop in for a snack before walking home...

I managed to get Oma's roggebrood recipe, but never got the proper technique for buttermilk porridge before the Alzheimer's kicked in...and she's gone now, so this thread is really getting emotional for me! Thanks so much...I'll be making a big pot of that (with the pot barley, because that's what she used) and raising a spoon to my Oma.

I can post the roggebrood tomorrow, if anyone's interested...it's a very heavy molasses and whole grain loaf, great with butter and sugar or butter and Gouda!