Chufi

Hi BonVivant, I contacted the company that imports this chocolate to The Netherlands (Rosenberg Import, and they told me you can get it at the following locations in Amsterdam: Jamin stores see here for stores Eichholz deli in the Leidsestraat Bijenkorf Department store, on Dam square. Hope this helps and that you'll be able to find it!

the spice! garlic had no place in my grandmother's kitchen.. I don't think she ever touched it

tammy, I did a very quick googlesearch and according to this website 1 pound fresh mushrooms equals 3 ounces dried. good luck with your big dinner, I read about in the other thread and it sounds delicious!

Oh what fun! I hope you'll have time to meet me for a little Dutch food-talk (and something to eat, ofcourse...) please ask for anything you're interested in and I'll try to squeeze in as much info between now and late April, as I possibly can! If you're here on the 29th of April, prepare yourself for the biggest streetfest imaginable: Queensday!! My favorite place is this one: Vleminckx, Voetboogstraat 31, between Kalverstraat and Spui. Their frites are awesome.. These pics were taken last february as I was blogging. (when I did not know yet, that you can resice pics). That's my best friend there, happily anticipating his fries. They would not let me take a pic of the inside of the place.. There is, supposedly, a "very best frites of Amsterdam" place in the northern part of the city (across the IJ water), but it's a 30 minute bikeride from the centre and I've never been there.. The poffertjes place Melissa wrote about, is unfortunately only there in midwinter (when the little pond on the Museumplein becomes an icerink). I've been thinking about buying a poffertjespan... if only for the Dutch cooking thread.. ah the things I have to do for EGullet...

BonVivant, I'm going to try to find out for you. I'll pm you when I know more.

oooh, what a good idea. I think I would go easy on the tomato in the filling, and then serve with a tomato sauce. Maybe just use a little bit of bechamel to bind the lambmix? It would be very cool if you could get rather thin aubergines, and then have a slice of aubergine on the base, topped with the lamb. That would mean round ravioli ofcourse. Do you use mint in your moussaka? you could also serve them with mint butter, as a variation on the sage butter that is often served with Italian ravioli.

I just can't seem to get around to cooking anything for this thread.. and soon February will be over! But I'm enjoying everybodys dinners so much. I'm craving a nice golden crusted Milanese cutlet right now! Maybe there's one in my future before the month is over..

Question. I have seen this in several different posts: something about putting toothpicks into cakes after they come out of the oven - not to test them for done-ness, but for something else: keeping them elevated. How? Why would you want to do this? what does it mean...

I made a really nice tortilla today (did we discuss terminolgy already? to me a thick omelet with stuff in it is a tortilla, a thin one, a frittata). It had potatoes (little cubes, fried in olive oil until golden brown before adding to the egg mixture), smoked bacon (also fried first,), onions and garlic, sweated in olive oil first. And lots of fresh parsley, and a sprinkling of grated gouda.

It seems it has long been a reginal tradition, especially in parts of the province Noord Holland. Not clear how far back this tradition goes though. It became popular all over the country since 1959, which was the year (then) queen Juliana turned fifty. A local bakery presented her with an Abraham (at that time, both men and women got an Abraham).

The sponge is one I often make, the curd is Delia Smiths recipe. I just thought of combining them, and adding the mix of mascarpone and joghurt, and the raspberries (a layer of raspberry preserve between the cakes and fresh berries on top). I think this would also be great with strawberries!

well, I think that this is a uniquely Dutch tradition, but somebody please correct me if I'm wrong! In the Netherlands, when you turn fifty, it is said that you "see Abraham" (for women: Sarah). (referring to the bibletext, John 8:57 where it is said to Jesus: "you are not yet 50, yet you claim to have seen Abraham?" You are either presented with a lifesize ugly doll sitting in your frontlawn for your birthday, or (more traditional) you are given an "Abraham" or Sarah in the shape of a very large cookie. This is similar to the gevulde koeken I made upthread: buttery pastry with an almond paste filling. No, I'm not fifty yet but my husband is, and he received this today: the wineglass is there to give you a sense of the size of this thing. Now we just have to eat it all...

This is the cake I made for my husbands birthday today: simple sponge with lemon curd, raspberries and mascarpone/greek joghurt cream besides the fact that the top cake cracked a little when I was assembling the cake, and that the sponge did not rise as much as I had hoped, this was a perfect cake. Beautiful lemon curd, the creamy mascarpone, and the tart berries. This is a keeper!

Dessertspoon? I only thought this because I made a Delia Smith recipe today that called for a dessertspoon of cornstarch, and I had no idea how much that would be.

There are many Indonesian restaurants in Amsterdam and I think you can have a very good dinner at most of them, but this one happens to be my own favorite: Djago Scheldeplein 18 It's in the southern part of the city, about 10 minutes by streetcar from the center. Here's the rijsttafel I had there recently (well, I did not have to eat all that food by myself, I was assisted by some adventurous EGulleters..) Overview of all the food. This is what was on the table: Nasi kuning, sate kambing, sate ayam, krupuk, gado gado, rudjak manis, kacang, serundeng, sambel goreng tempe, sambel goreng kentang, ikan teri, acar ketimun, acar campur, babi kecap, daging rendang, daging smoor, rica rica ayam, ayam panggang, sayor lodeh, sambel goreng tauge, sambel goreng telor, sambel goreng boontjes, ikan bumbu bali. (EUR 25,- per person, minimum of 2 persons) Top center is sate kambing, goat sate, one of my favorites!

When you leave the Vondelpark at the most western exit, if you cross the busy street (Amstelveenseweg) you enter a quiet, residential area. On the river Schinkel is this restaurant/bar, Gent aan de Schinkel. This is what's known in the Netherlands as "eetcafe", eating cafe, which means that is first and foremost a bar, where you can also eat. (maybe similar to the British gastropub?). The quality of the food in places like this can vary hugely, from very cheap and basic student-grub to quite expensive, refined food. But you will always eat in a bar-atmosphere, which means smoke all around! The food at this place is basic, a bit overpriced. I like them best for their sandwiches, the atmosphere, the great terrace in the summer (where, thanks to the positioning of the surrounding houses, you can really catch the very last rays of the sun), but most of all for their large selection of Belgian beers, many of them on tap. This was lunch: mustard-leeksoup, aged Gouda sandwich with mustard mayo, Affligem beer:

There are a couple of very good patisseries in Amsterdam. This is one of them: Holtkamp Vijzelgracht 15 (not far from Muntsquare) (this shot was taken late at night, which is why the place is empty!) the window: (taken from the outside, hence the reflections) Some of the cakes displayed inside: apparently, they deliver to the Dutch royal family.. Besides the sweet stuff, they are famous for their shrimpcroquettes. Many restaurants and brasseries in the city have garnalenkroketjes van Holtkamp (shrimpcroquettes from Holtkamp) on their menu.

I think it's fit that I start this thread with one of my alltime favorite places. I'm passionate about this place, but I always have a bit of a hard time selling it to outsiders! It's Het Blauwe Theehuis (the Blue Teahouse), right in the middle of the Vondelpark. First of all: there are 4 places to eat & drink in the Vondelpark: - Vertigo, which doubles as the bar of the Filmmuseum. While they do have a lovely terrace outside, and I occasionally have a drink here after seeing a movie in the Filmmuseum, I would not really recommend this place for anything (except the terrace). Service is slow and sloppy, food is overpriced not very good. - het Melkhuis (Milkhouse). This is ok for coffee or a light lunch, but beware: in the summer this is basically a huge playground. The large recreational area is a magnet for yuppie families and their young children. So, while this is your best bet if you're visiting Amsterdam with young children in tow, it may not be the place for a quiet cup of coffee and the morning paper.. - Vondeltuin. This is a fun and funky place, terrace only, but it's only open in the summer. Low benches with bright coloured pillows, self-service at 2 different bars, simple and cheap food (fries, burgers, sate, soups and salads. They rent skates/ skeelers, which makes the area directly around it somewhat dangerous to walk around, with all the inexperienced people trying skating for the first time - Het Blauwe theehuis This is open summer and winter, from early till late. Even in the winter, on a sunny days lots of people sit out on the terrace (which has some heaters as well). Mostly selfservice, which means that on busy summerdays you have to wait in line to get your drink. But service is fast, friendly and everybody here seems to always be in a good mood. The room upstairs opens in the winter for lunch at noon (good sandwiches), (they also have a small, very simple dinner menu, but I've never had dinner there). It is the kind of place you have to accept on it's own terms, and sort of go with the flow. But especially on an early summer afternoon, when the citypeople take of their jackets and bask in the sunshine, surrounded by the trees of the lovely Vondelpark, this is about as 'Amsterdam' as it gets.

Why this thread? There are a number of threads about Amsterdam on this forum. But I thought it would be nice to add this one: a guide to favorite food-places in this city (and, as the title of the thread suggests, sometimes beyond the city boundaries). I live in this city, I shop for food in this city, and I enjoy the bars, restaurants and coffeehouses of this city. I don’t dine in high-end or Michelin-starred places very often – almost never, not because I don’t want to, but because my paycheck doesn’t allow it. However, I feel that the Important places with the Big Names are listed elsewhere for easy reference, and they are probably easier to find and locate for someone from abroad, than my favorite little coffeehouse that sells such terrific pastries. So, as far as my own input goes, this is a personal thread. I will only write about places where I’ve been recently, or where close friends, whose opinion I trust and value, have been recently. But I encourage everybody to join in and add feedback and comments. Have you been to Amsterdam recently and eaten at a place I wrote about? Agree or disagree with me? Or did you find a little gem of your own that you’d like to share? Or were you lucky enough to spend some big bucks in this city, and do you want to share the experience? Please add your posts to this thread – it is not my thread, it’s the Amsterdam thread!

Anzu that's interesting about the candy!

Thanks Portia! and thank you for sharing your memories of "holland in Japan". I am so sorry that when you were here, all you saw of my country was the trainstation and the Utrecht Dom through a window! If you're ever in Amsterdam again, please let me know and I'll take you out for the very best "broodje kroket" in the city! Bunniver, thanks for that link, those books look very interesting. I'm going to see if my English bookstore can order them for me, especially the Sensible Cook. And thanks for reporting back about the snert! Yes, it can get very very thick. I usually dilute it with a bit of water or stock when reheating, otherwise it can become a little bit too stodgy for modern tastes... the common story is that around 1909, a patissier from Amsterdam (a certain Mr. Kwekkeboom, there are still Kwekkeboom patisseries in The Netherlands) went to France and fell in love with the croquettes there. Their popularity over here has transformed them from an elegant lunch or dinner course to the ultimate fast snackfood: eaten on a soft white roll or just on it's own, in a snackbar, or on the street.

serving snert to a former vegetarian.. now that's what I call brave... I hope he likes it. Yes, next time try to get the smoked sausages. What I really like about the finished dish is the contrast between the soft, thick, sweet soup, and the chewy, smoky slices of sausage.

I've added all kinds of alcohol: red wine, white wine, marsala, port, a splash of very expensive cognac (don't tell my husband ), and I've also done a version without any alcohol, and it was great too. i do think that the alcohol adds an extra layer of flavor though. edited to add: not all those liquers at once. One for each batch ofcourse....

Could someone explain this to an ignorant European? Why do you all hate this store so much?

I always make mine in the oven and it happens with that method as well. I just stir it up a couple of times.