Dutch Cooking (2007-)

[Jensen]

My sister sent me a little book on Dutch cooking (in English), which has more chat than recipes. It mentions white beans with green beans - "blote billetjes in het gras" (and translates that as "bare bums in the grass").

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I would make that recipe simply because of the translation!

[Chufi]

First of all, Franci, that kruidkoek looks delicious!

Notenkoek is a variation that is made here too, I never made it like that myself, but I think it will be great.

Helen: I'd love to hear more about that book.

The dish you describe (also known as 'blote kindertjes in het gras' or blote kindertjes/billetjes in het groen': naked little kids in the grass/ green') is a traditional dish from the province Brabant. I asked one of my friends, who is from Brabant, for childhood memories about it, and in the meantime I looked up some recipes for you.

This dish is made with white beans and runner beans. In many recipes salted green beans and dried white beans are stipulated, I gather this was a winter staple made with preserved/dried vegetables.

Salted runner beans are no longer readily available here, except in Surinamese shops.

The dish is often described as a type of stamppot (mash), where the green and white beans are cooked together and then mashed, with the white beans acting as the starchy potato. However this does strike me as odd because when you mash the whole thing up, the white beans are no longer distinguishable, and then where did it get it's name?

In one of my regional cookbooks the dish is described as a "kind of stamppot", where the two beans are cooked together but not mashed together.

I've also seen a number of recipes online with potatoes added, but this seems to me a modern variation.

Anyway, here's the recpe from the regional cookbook. Can't vouch for it, cause I've never made it, but it will give you an idea!

1 pound small white beans, soaked overnight

1 1/2 pounds runnerbeans, preferably salted, or fresh, slivered (note: the way the beans are cut is important to this dish: the beans have to look like grass. My grandmother had an oldfashioned vegetable mill like this, you would feed the beans into it and they came out in thin slivers - this is how runner beans were always served in my family. Failing a mill, just cut the beans on the bias in long thin grassy strips)

salt & pepper

big knob of butter

smoked sausage, to serve

Cook the white beans in plenty of water until done. Pour of excess cooking liquid, the beans should be moist but not swimming in liquid. Put the slivered green beans on top, and the sausage if serving that. Cover and cook together for about twenty minutes. Take out the sausage and cut it up. Season the beans with salt and pepper en mix them together gently, adding large knob of butter. Serve with the sausage.

[helenjp]

The book was "Dutch Delight" by Sylvia Pessireron, N&L Publishing, 2005.

The "bare bums" were right on the last page, under "slow food" and are mentioned as coming from the Brabant - Limburg area.

My grandmother had a bean slicer just like the one in your link! I'd forgotten all about it.

[Cadbury]

In another thread here, CdnLifeguard asked about a Dutch dessert to serve for a birthday. When I checked Chufi's recipe index, I noticed that Chocoladevla wasn't listed, although it has been discussed in the context of the ready-made drink/dessert purchased in cartons.

My mum used to make Chocoladevla occasionally and having not had it for some time and never having made it myself, some research was in order

My dutch cookbook (published in 1941!) has two recipes in it each quite different so I rang my Oma to find her method (and to make sure I had translated/guessed correctly). I then rang my mum and checked on the family recipe, which of course I had to test for myself.

If you can make custard from a packet, then you can make chocoladevla. Just make sure you slowly incorporate the cold milk into the cornflour/starch and cocoa mixture until it is smooth, then pour that over your hot milk.

The recipe is now in RecipeGullet, but I have included it here too.

Chocoladevla

1 l milk

30—40 g cocoa powder

40 g cornflour / cornstarch

1 egg yolk

100—125 g sugar

Blend sifted cocoa and cornflour with enough milk (from 1 litre total) to make a paste.

Heat remaining milk in a saucepan. When just boiling, take off the heat and carefully blend in cocoa mix. Return to heat and bring back to boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 1-2 minutes, turn off heat.

Stir in sugar and egg yolk. Pour into individual dishes or one large bowl. Place in fridge to set. Serve with whipped cream.

[Chufi]

Thanks, Cadbury!

My mom never made vla herself.. when I was a kid, it was a real treat to have both chocoladevla and vanillevla, the vanillacustard. You would pour them simultaneously into your bowl and carefully mix them together for a rippled effect.

Nowadays, you can buy large cartons which are filled with both types of vla (not mixed - seperate, I don't know how they do it!)

[Cadbury]

My mom never made vla herself..  

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Well, now you have some work to do... especially as I didn't take any photos (would an empty bowl do? ). I think next time I might halve the recipe (still with a whole yolk) as it makes quite a lot.

BTW, I used 35g cocoa and 125g sugar.

[amapola]

My mom never made vla herself..  

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Well, now you have some work to do... especially as I didn't take any photos (would an empty bowl do? ). I think next time I might halve the recipe (still with a whole yolk) as it makes quite a lot.

BTW, I used 35g cocoa and 125g sugar.

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I usually make my vla with one yolk to about 400 mills of milk and 25 grams of cocoa powder (I think, from the top of my head...)

As a kid, my favourite was 'hopjesvla', which is basically a caramel-coffee flavoured vla. It is both bitter and sweet at the same time and just as easy to make, once you've mastered the vla-basics. Just start by caramelising some sugar in a heavy-based sauce pan, pour your cold milk on it (careful because it splatters!) and continue as for any other vla. When all is done finish with some strong, cold coffee to taste and let cool. (if anyone is interrested in exact method and quantities, let me know and I will look them up.)

[Chufi]

Today I made hopjesvla for the first time, inspired by the recent talk about vla.

Amapola, yes, we need your input here! because while my vla came out delicious (so delicious in fact, that I just had a huge bowl for lunch ), it did not seem quite right.

Here's what I did: caramelized 50 grams of sugar. I had 400 ml. milk, I used some of that to make a paste with 25 grams of cornstarch.

Added the rest of the cold milk to the caramelized sugar in the pan (the sugar immediately seized up, but melted down again while I stirred the mxture over low heat).

Stirred 1 eggyolk into the cornstarchmixture. Added warm milk/sugar mix to cornstarch/egg mix. Put everything back in the pan, brought to the boil and cooked very briefly until thickened. Stirred in 4 tablespoons of very strong coffee.

Put pan in icewater and stir every now and then, until cool.

The color is much lighter than the commercial variety. Maybe I did nog caramelize my sugar enough? Also, I feel the coffee/caramel flavor could be more pronounced.

looking forward to your recipe amapola!

Edited March 19, 2007 by Chufi (log)

[Pan]

Dulce de leche Dutch style? Is this a legacy of the time when The Netherlands were a Spanish possession?

[amapola]

Chufi, your vla has a beautiful texture, from the look of it! But I do agree that the colour is a bit light, though I cant think why- maybe a bit more coffee would have helped both colour and flavour... I'll try to make some later this week and post recipe + pictures (if I can work out how to do the latter )

Pan, personally I don't think the origin of (hopjes)vla lies in Spain. From what I have read, vla has been around in the Netherlands in more or less the form we know today (served as a cold desert) since the early 18th century, when it was made from milk, eggs and sugar and with cocoa powder for flavouring or served with fruits. It became hugely popular in the 20th century, peaking around the 1950s. Vla was then always cooked at home, as a special treat after Sunday dinner for example. It was also around that time that a lot of cookery books started including various methods ('rich' versions made with eggs, 'plain' versions that simply used cornstarch as a thickening agent- to humour the frugal dutch housewife) and some variety in flavours.

The coffee- caramel combination was already a popular flavour because of the dutch sweet called hopje, invented at the end of the 18th century. It is supposedly named after baron Hendrik Hop (hopje is the 'small version' of hop), who liked coffee so much that he asked someone to invent a coffee-flavoured sweet. It has never been out of production since 1792 and the flavour made its way into puddings and vla as well.

[rooftop1000]

Chufi

Not that I have any idea what I am talking about in regard to vla...but maybe some instant coffee powder would boost the color and flavor

tracey

[Chufi]

amapola thank you SO much for chiming in here when I'm too lazy to do my hopjesresearch I'd love to see some of your food, there are a couple of good 'pictureposting tutorials' in the Technical Support forum!

My husband, who stopped drinking coffee years ago, loved the vla. I added a bit of Tia Maria to it and that definitely gave it a flavor boost. Recommended

[Pan]

[...]The coffee- caramel combination was already a popular flavour because of the dutch sweet called hopje, invented at the end of the 18th century. It is supposedly named after baron Hendrik Hop (hopje is the 'small version' of hop), who liked coffee so much that he asked someone to invent a coffee-flavoured sweet. It has never been out of production since 1792 and the flavour made its way into puddings and vla as well.

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I see. So it wasn't invented until the 18th century, well after Dutch independence. Thanks!

[Chufi]

Slavink

Slavink is a 'covenience meat', very popular for quick family meals. You can buy them ready made at butchers and supermarkets, but because I like to know what goes into my meat, I make my own. It's basically ground meat (half beef, half pork) wrapped in smoked bacon.

The name is a mystery... 'sla' means salad (but also lettuce, the salad leaves), 'vink' means finch (the bird). A variation, where the ground meat is wrapped in a thin slice of veal or beef, is called blinde vink, 'blind finch'. I googled a bit but have not been able to find the answer about the origin of this thing!

Anyway, I made them yesterday, hadn't made them in a very long time, and I had forgotten how delicious the homemade version can be.

Makes 6 (I only made 4, and used the rest of the seasoned ground meat for something else)

400 gram ground meat, half beef, half pork, (or half veal / half pork)

1 egg

2 tablespoons of dry, unflavored breadcrumbs

freshly grated nutmeg

salt, pepper

12 long thin slices of smoked bacon

100 grams butter

Mix the meat with egg, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Mix well until you have a uniform paste. Shape the mix into 6 short stubby sausages, make sure they don't have pointed ends.

Wrap each sausage in the bacon.

Heat the butter in a frying pan (with lid) large enough to accommodate the vinken. When the butterfoam starts to subside, put in your meat and brown thoroughly, all over, over moderate heat. As with the butter braised beef, or any Dutch classic meat preparation, the flavor of the finished dish largely depends on the browning process. Use good buter, lots of it, and brown slowly.

When the sausages are brown all over, add a bit of water (about 50-100 ml) and scrape the bottom of the pan to loosen the browned bits. Cover the pan (lid ajar so the steam can escape and not too much condensation drips down on your meat) and cook over low heat for about 15 minutes.

On the plate with parsley mash and braised cabbage. Serve the gravy on the side in a small bowl for people to help themselves.

Edited March 21, 2007 by Chufi (log)

[Abra]

Those are beautiful! Is your bacon smoked, or non? Between those and the gorgeous vla I'm ready to come over to your house for dinner soon.

[ludja]

Slavink

Slavink is a 'covenience meat', very popular for quick family meals. You can buy them ready made at butchers and supermarkets, but because I like to know what goes into my meat, I make my own. It's basically ground meat (half beef, half pork) wrapped in smoked bacon.

The name is a mystery... 'sla' means salad (but also lettuce, the salad leaves), 'vink' means finch (the bird). A variation, where the ground meat is wrapped in a thin slice of veal or beef, is called blinde vink, 'blind finch'. I googled a bit but have not been able to find the answer about the origin of this thing!

...

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This is a just a guess, but in a recent thread on what to do with the tougher cuts from round steak I was looking at some German/Austrian recipes for "Fleischrouladen" or "meat rolls". (You have a thin, pounded piece of round steak, put a slice of bacon *inside*, a pickle, some onions, mustard, etc and then roll it up and lightly brown it followed by a long braise.)

In any case, I was looking through an older all-purpose American cookbook which still has plenty of German-American recipes in it and they translated the meat Rouladen as "meat birds". I've also seen the term before in older, say, pre-1970 American cookbooks.. I though the name might have arisen because the little cooked rolls of meat look similar to what a small cooked bird would look like. (The Slavink look similar)

Googling "meat bird" I found this definiition in an online food encyclopedia: click

meat birds Scallops or slices of meat filled with a savory stuffing, rolled up and secured (usually with string), browned in fat, and braised; also called olives. The French term is oiseaux sans fete, the Italian olivetti.

"a bird without the 'party' or "celebration'"? This might be the phrase in French for a plucked bird or else it may collogquially imply a plucked bird.

Anyway, it was funny to see you mention this since I was just reading a bit about "meat birds" the other week!

(The Slavink looks delcious; than you for sharing it with us.)

[Chufi]

Those are beautiful!  Is your bacon smoked, or non?  Between those and the gorgeous vla I'm ready to come over to your house for dinner soon.

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Abra, yes, the bacon is smoked. This type of bacon is called 'ontbijtspek', meaning breakfastbacon. Thin slices, fried, with an egg fried on top, is favorite breakfast/brunchfood.

You're welcome to come to dinner any time!

In any case, I was looking through an older all-purpose American cookbook which still has plenty of German-American recipes in it and they translated the meat Rouladen as "meat birds".  I've also seen the term before in older, say, pre-1970 American cookbooks..  I though the name might have arisen because the little cooked rolls of meat look similar to what a small cooked bird would look like. (The Slavink look similar)

Googling "meat bird" I found this definiition in an online food encyclopedia: click

meat birds Scallops or slices of meat filled with a savory stuffing, rolled up and secured (usually with string), browned in fat, and braised; also called olives. The French term is oiseaux sans fete, the Italian olivetti.

"a bird without the 'party' or "celebration'"? This might be the phrase in French for a plucked bird or else it may collogquially imply a plucked bird.

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Thanks Ludja, that's very interesting. I have recipe somewhere but can't find it right now, for an Italian dish which is called 'mock game birds', where slices of veal are stuffed with breadcrumbs etc and braised, their shape resembles, as you say, the small bird.

The bird without the party, that sounds SO Dutch

[bague25]

meat birds Scallops or slices of meat filled with a savory stuffing, rolled up and secured (usually with string), browned in fat, and braised; also called olives. The French term is oiseaux sans fete, the Italian olivetti.

"a bird without the 'party' or "celebration'"? This might be the phrase in French for a plucked bird or else it may collogquially imply a plucked bird.

Anyway, it was funny to see you mention this since I was just reading a bit about "meat birds" the other week!

(The Slavink looks delcious; than you for sharing it with us.)

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Ludja

It's called oiseaux sans "tête" (not fête)... birds without a "head"...Cruel but that's what's it supposed to ressemble

[ludja]

meat birds Scallops or slices of meat filled with a savory stuffing, rolled up and secured (usually with string), browned in fat, and braised; also called olives. The French term is oiseaux sans fete, the Italian olivetti.

"a bird without the 'party' or "celebration'"? This might be the phrase in French for a plucked bird or else it may collogquially imply a plucked bird.

Anyway, it was funny to see you mention this since I was just reading a bit about "meat birds" the other week!

(The Slavink looks delcious; than you for sharing it with us.)

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Ludja

It's called oiseaux sans "tête" (not fête)... birds without a "head"...Cruel but that's what's it supposed to ressemble

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Well, that is certainly less of a stretch, although, like Chufi, it was funny to think of "oiseaux sans fete"!!! Anyway, this is a reminder to realize that sites on the net are more than fallible! Thanks for the first hand information.

[judiu]

Slavink

Slavink is a 'covenience meat', very popular for quick family meals. You can buy them ready made at butchers and supermarkets, but because I like to know what goes into my meat, I make my own. It's basically ground meat (half beef, half pork) wrapped in smoked bacon.

The name is a mystery... 'sla' means salad (but also lettuce, the salad leaves), 'vink' means finch (the bird). A variation, where the ground meat is wrapped in a thin slice of veal or beef, is called blinde vink, 'blind finch'. I googled a bit but have not been able to find the answer about the origin of this thing!

...

←

This is a just a guess, but in a recent thread on what to do with the tougher cuts from round steak I was looking at some German/Austrian recipes for "Fleischrouladen" or "meat rolls". (You have a thin, pounded piece of round steak, put a slice of bacon *inside*, a pickle, some onions, mustard, etc and then roll it up and lightly brown it followed by a long braise.)

In any case, I was looking through an older all-purpose American cookbook which still has plenty of German-American recipes in it and they translated the meat Rouladen as "meat birds". I've also seen the term before in older, say, pre-1970 American cookbooks.. I though the name might have arisen because the little cooked rolls of meat look similar to what a small cooked bird would look like. (The Slavink look similar)

Googling "meat bird" I found this definiition in an online food encyclopedia: click

meat birds Scallops or slices of meat filled with a savory stuffing, rolled up and secured (usually with string), browned in fat, and braised; also called olives. The French term is oiseaux sans fete, the Italian olivetti.

"a bird without the 'party' or "celebration'"? This might be the phrase in French for a plucked bird or else it may collogquially imply a plucked bird.

Anyway, it was funny to see you mention this since I was just reading a bit about "meat birds" the other week!

(The Slavink looks delcious; than you for sharing it with us.)

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Actually I believe that's a typo, and it should be oiseaux sans tetes, birds without heads. But then again, what do I know?

Ooops, some one got here before me....

Edited March 23, 2007 by judiu (log)

[christine007]

Chufi,those are so beautiful. I'm so making them this weekend. Thank you for sharing them

[prasantrin]

I wanted to ask a question in Chufi's recent food blog, but I couldn't keep up and I kept forgetting (guests in town, marking overload, etc.)!

My mother once saw a Dutch cookbook that had a recipe very similar to the Thai haw mok (or however you wish to transliterate it), kind of like a steamed fish mousse/paste/custard (but she thinks the Dutch version didn't have curry paste or chiles).

Is this a traditional Dutch dish (not haw mok, but fish mousse/paste/custard)? Is it common? Will it ever appear on these pages? (not that I'm hinting! )

[Chufi]

I wanted to ask a question in Chufi's recent food blog, but I couldn't keep up and I kept forgetting (guests in town, marking overload, etc.)!

My mother once saw a Dutch cookbook that had a recipe very similar to the Thai haw mok (or however you wish to transliterate it), kind of like a steamed fish mousse/paste/custard (but she thinks the Dutch version didn't have curry paste or chiles).

Is this a traditional Dutch dish (not haw mok, but fish mousse/paste/custard)?  Is it common?  Will it ever appear on these pages?  (not that I'm hinting!  )

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I'm not aware of a steamed fishmousse as a traditional Dutch dish. There is salmonmousse, most often made with canned salmon which is pureed with mayonaise and set with gelatine. But that doesn't sound like the thing you mean.

I've seen a couple of recpes for a fishpate made of pureed fresh fish, mixed with cream and eggs and then cooked in the oven in a waterbath. But they all vary widely in flavorings etc. so I could't say that one of them was a traditional Dutch recipe.

But, I did not grow up in a fish-eating family (meat every day ) so I might just not know about it! I'll look a bit firther and if I find more info I'll PM you.

[SideBurns]

Chufi, I just wanted to say 'dank u wel' for all of your effort in compiling this thread .

I've been living in the Netherlands in Utrecht since September, and it's been so frustrating not being able to sample real Dutch cooking in restaurants here. I've spoken to some Dutch friends and they always look surprised and reply along the lines of "why would you want to go out and eat Dutch food?!". But I think this thread proves exactly why I'd want to go out and do that.

Unfortunately being a student and only cooking for myself I haven't really had the opportunity to try out many of the recipes you've put forward, but I'm saving them all up for when I go back to the UK in July. Baking is my passion, and it's been all I can do to stop myself spending all day in the kitchen baking boterkoeken and gevulde koeken!

Just a quick question though; I hardly ever see duck meat for sale in supermarkets or at butchers, isn't it really eaten here? Also, all of the eggs I've ever seen have been chicken eggs, and I haven't been able to find duck or quail eggs for instance - am I just not looking hard enough?

Many thanks again, Jack.

[markemorse]

Hey Jack, welcome to our neck of the woods...

I can't really speak to the "is it eaten here" aspect, but in terms of where to get it: it's true that you'll rarely see duck at the supermarket (though some of the bigger Albert Heijns carry sliced, cooked duck breast for typical AH prices)...

You have to go instead to your local poelier, like a butcher but for poultry. I haven't seen many slagerij (general-purpose butcher) that carry duck or other non-chicken fowl, but the poeliers do. I'm enjoying my local one, Jonk, on the Haarlemmerstraat in Amsterdam.

Hope that helps....

mark

Edited May 21, 2007 by markemorse (log)