CeeCee

And they're going to court now. Authorities temporarily shut down the producer, but apparently this is only possible when the quality is questionable. Samples are being tested, but in the meantime the discussion about not delivering what's agreed on will be taken to court. Media have been adamant that the quality supposedly always has been good, even when it isn't the 100% beef as promised. The steak restaurant mentioned in my 1st post in this topic doesn't have an available table anymore. They admit to have known it was horse, but advertising it as biefstuk (beef steak) on their menu was purely for marketing reasons. This has been going on since 1949, including staff contracts to not ever disclose the 'beef' steaks real origin. To his defence, the owner did say he always told the truth when people asked where the meat came from. South - America! Honestly no one has ever asked if the beef steak was really beef, he said. (Have you ever asked your waiter if your beef really said moo a few weeks ago?) And now his business is flourishing. Food for thought I guess...

The scandal is all over the news in The Netherlands as well, but barely any suspicious products have been returned to the vendors. People are upset that their food contains something different than was communicated and of course horses are noble animals that are not regular consumed. At least that's what the majority thinks, but no one ever checks the ingredients of the very populair kroketten and bitterballen. These are advertised in the supermarkets specifically as horse free, but the ones sold in (snack)bars and restaurant do contain them. Nobody ever seems to wonder about those though, while the frikandel (another snack) has been subject of jokes containing everything from cow's eyes to god knows what. A bitterbal or kroket in the supermarket will not sell well if it states containing horse meat. The most popular horse product sold as such is probably paardenworst, a sausage. Horse steak has some fans, but it's not readily available. Except for that one famous beef steak joint, that now points an accusing finger at the trader who points right back that they must have known they were selling horse steaks all along. I've sampled one of the products that is under suspicion, although it was many years ago. I don't eat meat a lot and tend to avoid the really cheap meat containing products all together. I did find the suspicious 1 euro lasagne a whole lot more palatable than the 3 or 4 euro costing lasagne by the same supermarket. As a horse lover, having trained and worked on a competitive level, phenylbutazone was the first thing that came to mind. Although prohibited since many years, it's still being used. I haven't seen any publication about quantities though and I wonder if they properly check for forbidden substances like this. Some horse meat sellers pointed out that horse meat is a lot healthier, because they're not produced for consuming and don't get antibiotics and such, which is a recquirement when producing on a mass scale I guess. In my opinion this is a ridiculous statement, but that's because I've seen and worked with sport horses that tend to get more care and substances to push their boundairies. These are the horses that end up at the butchers too, among the more recreational used horses. The average age of a horse in The Netherlands is just 12 years old, which is way too young in my opinion as they can reach an age up to 30 years. With the economy being down, I guess only top of the crop can get picked and the rest ends up being a very cheap meat. A Dutch tv show that investigates the food industry aired an episode where it showed that many Dutch horses end up at a Belgian market. From there the meat travels as far as Japan, where pony's are considered a specialty. I've yet have to come across a my little pony steak in The Netherlands though.

Today in an Indian store I stumbled upon a package containing something I'd never seen before, which was called kamarkas. After a bit of googling I now know that it's edible, but I can't find much about the flavour it produces except that it's bitter. Perhaps that's why it is used in a more medicinal than culinary way? Most common finds online are recipes for paneerji, a traditional pick-me-up for women who just gave birth. There's some confusion as I found 3 different Latin names for it, salvia plebeian, butea monosperma and butea frondosa. Does anyone know more about this? Which Latin name is correct or perhaps even a tasty recipe?

There was a sauce in a natural remedies book by an antropological dr from the 70's that fascinated me. Something like pernod set a flame, that heat intensifying the fennel flavour like nothing else.

Like Darienne, I have trouble getting tomatillos. I did find a La Costena can, but I'm not sure if I could use it in recipes described above as these seem to call for fresh ones. Does anyone have any tips for using canned ones? I feel a craving for an envy Mary now...

Eggabutter did not ring a bell, but I could find a Nether-Saxon eierbotter. Apparently eierbotter was used on sandwhiches instead of butter and other trimmings, but also at dinner time when there was no meat available or they wanted to use up the eggs that were slightly damaged and thus couldn't be sold. Another source mentions that it was also eaten around 16.00 while working out in the fields, the so called 'vespertijd'. This recipe was found on www.marline.nl from the book "Pot Deure Mekare" Oude Achterhoekse recepten published by Gherre. Ingredients: - 2 eggs - 100 gram fatty and salted diced bacon - 300 ml milk - 40 gram flour - pepper and salt - optional: finely chopped onion Fry the diced bacon (with the onion if used), until the fat comes out and the bits crunch up. Beat the eggs with a bit of melk, add the flour and stir well. Stir in the rest of the milk until smooth, along with salt&pepper. Now put it in the pan with the bacon and keep stirring until it thickens and the flour is properly cooked. Then leave it for a bit so it can set a bit. Serve warm on rye bread. Some people add a bit of sugar or fresh chives. A reaction on the recipe was from a lady who remembered her mother using buckwheat flour in this recipe. Just to be sure you get the right stuff for reproducing this recipe: - These are Dutch spekjes (bacon) http://www.janvanbroekhoven.nl/blog/wp-content/uploads/06-spekjes-bakken.jpg - This is the rye bread used in that area: http://www.bakkerijvandermost.nl/afbeeldingen/groot/dscn6426-400.jpg The more regular available rye bread is a bit darker than this version. Please note that in The Netherlands the rye bread is generally sliced very thinly. Haven't found the dish Loki's friend described yet, but I will keep my eyes out for it. In the meantime I hope the above is helpful anyway...

Forgot to second the stroopwafels. The supermarket ones can be ok (don't get the Euroshopper brand), but fresh and hand made beat them every time. If you can, try a big fresh one from the market. Try to keep it as level as possible, otherwise the syrup will run out. If you do get supermarket ones, try heating them very briefly. The smell and warmth helps the flavour. Pair it with nice vanilla ice cream (Talamini one the Grote Markt for instance) and enjoy!

Hi Pastameshugana, Nice to see someone stepping outside of Amsterdam ;-) As an ex-Zwolse I haven't been around there for a while, but these would be my tips: - Curls mentioned pancakes, which is a Dutch thing and they have a pancake ship in Zwolle. I do think you can get a better meal, if you're just staying for 1 night without bringing a kid along. It's a bit of a family style restaurant I reckon. You will find it on the Pletterstraat 6. Skip the 'international' mediocreness and select classic ones that include spek and/or apple. The syrup which is called stroop (pronounced as stroap) is also available in supermarkets, in case you want to bring some home. Dutch varieties range from regular sugar beet syrup to apple and apple-pear ones. Sometimes you come across their little fat nephews, poffertjes. Freshly baked miniature thick pancakes served with powdered sugar and butter are really good. Brasserie Dunnik seems to get ok scores from Zwollenaren and they also serve Dutch eetcafe (pub) food with some international influences like Indonesian. It's located at the beginning of the Broerestraat. - Snacks like French fries and croquettes are also typical Dutch. Try to find a place where they have home made fries or look around if you see a sticker that mentions Raspatat. These are long thin pressed fries and a twist from the regular available ones. Dutch mayo can be on the sweet side, same thing goes for fritessaus. Speciaal means you get mayo and ketchup or curry (this is a more spiced ketchup, with a sweet tang) with onion flecks. Oorlog means you get mayo, sateh sauce (beware as most of these are thick brown goo that are a world away from the yummy sateh sauce you might know) and mosterd, making up war (oorlog) colours. Relative newbie sauce is joppie, a sweet sauce with tiny flecks of processed onions. There will be more sauces available probably. Kroketten (Dutch spelling) are easy to obtain. There are several brands available, but if I have to recommend one for now it would be Febo. They have fresh snacks, which haven't been frozen and their kroket is quite good. You will find a location, including the famous wall system where you can pick it up from, in the centre of Zwolle next to that big church. Look for their signature yellow on a corner. The kroket options include a regular one, kalfskroket (veal) and a pretty good vegetarian one called Vitaaltje. Sometimes a goulash or sateh kroket will also be available. The flat brother with cheese is called kaassouffle. Watch the filling as it can be piping hot and a bit runny. Don't forget a portion of mustard with these! Bitterballen are the little nephews of kroketten and these are available as snacks in the cafe's. Great pairing with a nice beer. Dutchies like taking on foreign stuff as their own, so kroket versions of nasi and bami are also available. Though not the best sampling of Indonesian food it can be a tasty snack. - Speaking of Indonesian food, I think there are 2 restaurants doing this. One of is on the Jufferenwal and the other on Thomas A Kempistraat. Chinese restaurants will serve Indonesian dishes like babi pangang, but they do have been adjusted to a more Chinese style. Also recommended is Surinam food, which has creole, hindustani and javanese (indonesian) influences. There used to be a great little take out shop next to the Peperbus (landmark), but I can't find any information on it's existence. Places like these don't always have websites, so maybe it's still there. The ladies cooked with delicate spicing, which is special since most of these places can use quite a bit of salt and such. Anyway, there should be more shops selling this. Look out for roti (lentil stuffed roti mostly, available with a choice of meats, chicken, egg, tofu, tempeh, potatoes cooked in masala broth and long green beans), moksi meti (mixed meats, think char siu, with rice and trimmings), pom tayer (see Mark from Amsterdam's blog for more details+ a recipe) and snacks like bara (deep fried lentil fritter) and telo, which can be ordered with bakkeljauw (Surinam cod). Watch out with the yellow sauce, generally it's hot. - Since I'm not a fan of fish, I can't recommend a place for that. But herring and onions is true Dutch and is available in most parts of the town I guess. If you like fried fish, look out for kibbeling. - Oliebollen and apple beignets are not in season, but apple turn overs can be picked up at most bakeries along with other apple goodies like Dutch apple pie (served warm with whipped cream ;-)). Kwarkbollen are a sort of Dutch scones. Krentebollen are buns with raisins and if you're lucky you might find some including marsepein (spijs pronounciation is hard to explain, but refer to the Dutch word for ice (ijs) and put the sp in front) and/or apple. Gevulde koek (see Chufi's Dutch cooking blog for a recipe) is a cookie stuffed with spijs. Easy to recognize with half an almond in the middle. Personal favourit of mine is the now in season strawberry pastry. Puff pastry is painted with a layer of chocolate so the vanilla cream won't make it soggy, topped with strawberries. Look out for a somewhat yellow cream or a lavish smooth black speckled cream or you might end up with the imho lesser cream version. Speculaas stuffed with spijs can also be really good. Also check out the savoury department for a cheese and onion bread (get it warm for maximum flavour), saucijnzenbroodje (a bit greasy pork puff pastry like thing) and all sorts of cheese cookies (These are cheapier in supermarkets, but can be less good too. Always check the ingredients, you want the ones made with roomboter, real butter. No margarine fakeness!) Almost forget to mention Blauwvingers (Blue fingers) The Zwollenaren were nicknamed that way when they had a little problem with neighbouring Kampenaren and ended up with blue fingers of counting money. They now have cookies named after this and the place to get this Bakkerij van Orsouw at the Grote Markt. Zwolse balletjes are a candy and available in the Zwolse Balletjes store on the Grote Kerkplein. On Blijmarkt 4 you'll find a baker that has a special bread made in the shape of Zwolle's centre. - Don't know about any festivals, but they do have markets where you can sometimes see ladies from villages dressed up in their special outfits and sample some of the local food. There's always a stall with candy like cinnamon pillows, cinnamon sticks, Haagse hopjes (coffee toffee) and of course licorice. Zwolle is famous for it's mustard and Peperbus cheese. Cheese stalls generally let you sample a cheese without any trouble. Graskaas is the cheese of when the cows first went outside to eat grass after the winter. Mellow flavour. Forget Old Amsterdam and ask them for an old cheese or even an overjarige kaas for a maximum of flavour. They also have herbed and/or spiced cheeses, like brandnetel (nettle), tuinkruiden (this can vary but chives, sellery, parsley and the likes could be in it) and the famous clove and/or cumin cheese. If you see Remeker, try to sample that. The old one is the Dutch Parmesan I guess. It's made of Jersey cow milk and is really really good. Not very common is Rommedoe, a cheese from the South. Stinky one, but with a hardcore fan base who love it just for that. There's too much to tell about all the cheeses here I'm afraid. Wait, the markets itself: On Friday, there's a regular and farmers market from 8 - 13 in the city centre. On Saturday there's a smaller one from 9 - 17 (they generally start to clear a bit earlier). Ok, you still there? Here are the last tips, but certainly not the least: - #1 Restaurant pick on your list should be De Librije. If it's not the best restaurant in The Netherlands, it's 2nd best probably. Trouble is, most people know this. Check with your concierge, who knows, but waiting lists have been rumoured to be 2 years long. They also do lunch, which might be a better chance to get in. It's located on the Broerekerkplein. Librije's Zusje (literally it's sister) is on Spinhuisplein and a bit more affordable. If both can't be reserved, comfort yourself with their store at Meerminneplein. Hope this will be somewhat useful for you and have good trip!