Chufi

Oh btw.. speaking of Indonesian.. I had some fantastic Indonesian take-out last week from Toko Madjoe, Amsterdamseweg 183, Amstelveen Telefoon (020) 647 67 40 keuken open 10.00-18.30, za 10.00-17.00, ma 12.00-18.30 It's a bit out of the way, but highly recommended, it's probably the best Indonesian I ever had in Amsterdam*. They have 2 tiny tables in the shop so you can eat at the premises, if you like. Everything is really fresh and with a high turnover, I would recommend to go early in the day, because by closing time they are out of a lot stuff. * ok Amstelveen is not Amsterdam, but the title of the thread is "Amsterdam and beyond " right?

Well.. to be honest.. Kantjil & de Tijger is considered a bit touristy I think. Not that that necessarily means the food is bad! But I have had a couple of not so good dinners there. But, that was about 5 years ago, so maybe it's different now. I recently recommended Tempo Doeloe (also Indonesian) in the Utrechtsestraat to someone visiting from the US, and he really liked it.

p.s. I guess I have to go and check out Hollandaluz, because Casa Molero is closing and now I don't have a source for Spanish/ Portuguese hams & chorizo in my neighborhood anymore. Mm, morcilla...

markemorse, your posts are awesome. You make me feel like going out and explore my own city, and it's been a long time since I've felt that way. Just fantastic! Tomorrow is my day off and I think one of your recommendations is going to be lunch. Now, I have to decide which

Gorgeous Abra! It reminds me that we haven't seen Pille here for a long time! I made a really nice peach/pinenut cake today with a bunch of not-so-nice peaches.. you know the kind they are soft and ripe and juicy but don't taste much of anything. A big splash of amaretto liqueur in the cake mix really helped

I never went.. we couldn't get a reservation that fit in our schedule It's still on my wishlist (together with many others )

I have been eating caponata (I also had tons leftover ) on aged Gouda cheese sandwiches.

thanks. I'll be using that one.. "Hi, I'm Klary, and I am very interested in food"

Oh my goodness. That is just amazing. You have some very lucky friends and family and I am sure the memory of this party will linger for a loooong time! Simply amazing. Having done a bit of 'cooking for crowds' myself I know how stressfull and tiring it can get.. I hope that besides all the hard work, you were also able to enjoy it! Be very proud of yourself and have some well-earned rest! p.s. I just love a menu which lists braised lambshanks as a 'morning snack'

Hello Bloggers! Randi, I enjoyed your first blog and am looking forward to this one.. You mentioned your story about moving to Canada before, and I always thought it was very romantic How wonderful that you have managed to find work in the world of food! Pookie, welcome to blog-land.. you'll love it. The picture of your cats is gorgeous, how did you get them to pose like that?

Elie, that pie is just gorgeous. I haven't been cooking much lately, mostly because of the heat which is really affecting me (guess I should be glad I don't live in Sicily ) but last night I took the last chance to make arancini. They were filled with a simple ragu. They were good, but just a little bit on the dry side. I should have made the meat sauce juicier I think. Still, I always enjoy deepfrying anything, and they made a delicious dinner. My friend who came to dinner brought a bottle of Inycon by coincidence, so we had that covered as well

I read your post really quick and thought: what a great idea, to put a chorizo butter on roast squash slices. Then I read again and saw this is not what you wrote. I still think it's a great idea though

I was in York last weekend with my husband and another couple. The guys had brought us girls there on a surprise visit (even when we got off the boat in Hull, we still did not know where we were going ) so I had not prepared for my visit like I usually do, with eGullet recommendations neatly printed out.. So for dinner, we randomly chose a place that looked good, and where we found shelter from the thunderstorm that swept over York. Nineteen at 19 Grape Lane. We had a really good dinner. Maybe it was the fact that all dishes had a sort of autumnal, rather than high summer, feel and I am getting kind of tired of summerfood.. we were cold and wet from the rain and the rooms are really cozy, rather dark.. we had red wine for the first time in weeks. I had pea soup with black pudding and fried cod for starter, roast monkfish on cabbage with chorizo for main, and toasted brioche with hot blackberries and a white chocolatesauce for dessert. I got the impression this is a new place.. staff was a bit lost sometimes and had to go to the kitchen to ask about ingredients after our inquiries.. but very friendly and efficient otherwise.. and we felt, not being used to UK prices, that it was great value. A very pleasant surprise.

are those really spiders or some kind of soft shell crab?

thanks rachel.. you just made my day

I'm not sure.. the girl at the counter most certainly wasn't Italian.. She didn't have much of a clue although she was very friendly adn had a sweet smile.. the guy at the pizza oven was so busy that I didn't talk to him. I'll try to find out more next time cause I'm taking my husband there next week, I'm really curious what he'll think.

I think you might mean Da Portare Via. They have two locations: Leliegracht 34, and a recently opened one in the Frans Halsstraat. I seem to remember that the leading Amsterdam foodcritic Johannes van Dam pronounced these the best pizza in Amsterdam (not that I feel his word is always gospel - I often disagree with him ). I haven't tried them out yet but will report when I do! ← So I did. I had pizza at Da Portare Via last night! They have an interesting concept. A large woodfired oven, a small restaurant space with narrow, communal tables. You order at the counter, get your own wine (whole bottles only) from the fridge, open it yourself. Then you go and wait for your pizza, which comes in a box, wether you take it home or eat at one of the tables. Last night was a beautiful evening so we sat outside with our cheap bottle of wine (7 euro). The Frans Halsstraat is a street in the area known as De Pijp, where the Albert Cuyp market is. Although it's slowly getting yuppified it is still a place with lots of different restaurants and shops of all kinds. I spoke to some of the people at our table and a lot of them were from the neighborhood, had been to the pizza place a number of times, and pronounced it the best pizza in Amsterdam. They serve about 10 different pizza's, you can get them small and large, with toppings like quattro formaggio, pancetta, spinach and ricotta, anchoves, artichokes and tuna, etc. My friend Suzanne had Prosciutto, rucola and parmesan: and I had mozzarella, spicy sausage, fresh herbs (thyme and basil) So, what did I think? The pizza has a very light, thin and crisp crust with huge airbubbles at the edges. The taste of this crust was a bit odd to me. It did not taste yeasty at all, and was quite bland, as if there was no salt in it. I liked the texture of this crust but I'm not entirely sure I like the taste. The flavor of the toppings was great. I loved the fresh herbs on my pizza, the ham and sausage on both our pizza's were very good. But in my opinion, there was way too much (slightly acidic) tomato sauce, too much cheese, basically too much of everything. Final verdict: good pizza, different from all other pizza you can get here, cheap, great atmosphere, really wonderful pastries for dessert. I will definitely go again, but for me, YamYam is still the number 1 pizzaplace.

Wow Saara, your post was well worth waiting for. Thanks for taking the time to write all that out. I'll be studying my map again tonight.. It seems you all agree that approaching the Olympic Peninsula via Keystone is the best way. I still haven't figured out how, if we do that, we're going to fit Seattle into the trip - considering the fact that we have arranged to spend the first days of our trip in Vancouver, and the last days on Bainbridge Island. So Seattle has to be somwhere in the middle. Unless Dennis and I can agree on a bit of back-and-forth driving... or should we.. skip Seattle???

My favorite French bleu of the moment is Persille de Malzieu, similar to Roquefort, but less salty (but still quite pungent).

Just staying in York for the weekend and visiting Castle Howard The cheeses actually came from the Castle Howard farm shop.. I know that sounds pretty suspect but it's a great shop with lots of produce from the estate, even fresh vegetables, and there's even a butcher!

Shalmanese, I love how this thread is turning into a kind of memoir about where you live right now, it's like a farewell present to yourself. I can't wait to see how the dinner is going to turn out! Not uniquely Australian, we have them in the Netherlands too (they are called poelier, which is funny, because there's no Dutch word referring to poultry that even sounds like that) although they are unfortunately slowly dying out.

here are 3 cheeses we brought back from our trip to Yorkshire this weekend left to right: Swaledale Old Peculiar, this is soaked in Old Peculiar Ale Mature Wensleydale Yorkshire Blue. The Swaledale is a little to waxy and bland to my taste. The Wensleydale is very nice, with a crumbly yet creamy texture, and a bit tangy. The blue is my favorite, very rich and creamy. we also bought oatcakes, which are not cakes but biscuits, really good with the cheese.

I can't believe the things I do for eGullet I just went and ate a clove from the spice jar.. brittle, hard, very spicy.. almost numbing the palate. The cloves in the cheese are much softer (also not all them are whole), sweeter and less bitter. So now you know

It is on their website, here (scroll down to the 8th from the top) The packaging is a little less yellow than in spaghettti's pic, but I think it's the same cheese.

I always eat the core when I cut up a pineapple! I always tell myself I'll eat just one and I'll end up eating all of them. I like the firm texture and it's less sweet (a really ripe pineapple can almost be too sweet for me).