Dutch Cooking (2005-2006)

[ScorchedPalate]

Oh, I love all the little sweet bread-sprinkles that you find in the Netherlands.

These are traditionally served to you when you come visit a newborn baby: blue and white if it's a boy, pink and white if it's a girl.

They are only eaten on this occasion.

Wait, Klary... are you trying to tell us something?

Edited February 8, 2006 by ScorchedPalate (log)

[sanrensho]

Wait, Klary... are you trying to tell us something? 

I was thinking the same thing. If so, congratulations!

[ScorchedPalate]

Klary, can you tell us the volume of your Tulband pan? It looks smaller than the bundt pans I've seen in the US.

[Chufi]

Wait, Klary... are you trying to tell us something? 

←

sorry to disappoint you.. I was visiting a friend who has just become the proud 'dad' of a puppy dog.. It's not really customary to serve these things on the arrival of a new pet, but since the dog is called Muis (mouse) and is, well, a baby , we thought it was appropriate anyway..

Klary, can you tell us the volume of your Tulband pan? It looks smaller than the bundt pans I've seen in the US.

←

I'll measure it tonight when I'm home and post it. You can buy various sizes here. I should add that I only filled mine half way, so the finished cake is much smaller than the pan.

[yunnermeier]

I 've had 3 gevulde boeterkoek in 4 days (and no, not 3 slices but 3 entire pies!). Chufi, I think I'm in love with Dutch sweets and meats and of course the potatoes...

I don't like the muisjes though! Hagelslag is more my thing:D

[christine007]

Klary, thank you for this wonderful look at your life.

This was one of the first discoveries I made on joining Egullet, and it continues to be such a joy to see.

I Make a German yeast bread for Christmas that is very much like your beautiful fruit cake, only in bread form.

Do you make fruit bread also?

[Chufi]

Klary, can you tell us the volume of your Tulband pan? It looks smaller than the bundt pans I've seen in the US.

←

I've poured in 2 litres and they came almost to the top. But as I said, for the recipe I described, this tin was actually too large.

I 've had 3 gevulde boeterkoek in 4 days (and no, not 3 slices but 3 entire pies!). Chufi, I think I'm in love with Dutch sweets and meats and of course the potatoes...

I don't like the muisjes though! Hagelslag is more my thing:D

←

Yunnermeier, are you in The Netherlands right now? I'm glad you are enjoying the food

Klary, thank you for this wonderful look at your life.

This was one of the first discoveries I made on joining Egullet, and it continues to be such a joy to see.

I Make a German yeast bread for Christmas that is very much like your beautiful fruit cake, only in bread form.

Do you make fruit bread also?

←

Thanks Christine!! I'm glad you like to read this thread.

There is a Dutch fruitbread, typical for Christmas - it's called stol and is very similar to German stollen, which is what you are referring to I think. Like in Germany, this is also baked at Easter, and lately it has even been popping up in the shops around Pentacost (Whitsuntide? What's that called in English?), but I think that is not traditional - just a marketing trick to sell more sweets around the holidays...

Edited February 9, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[Megan Blocker]

There is a Dutch fruitbread, typical for Christmas - it's called stol and is very similar to German stollen, which is what you are referring to I think.  Like in Germany, this is also baked at Easter, and lately it has even been popping up in the shops around Pentacost (Whitsuntide? What's that called in English?), but I think that is not traditional - just a marketing trick to sell more sweets around the holidays...

←

Pentecost is the same in English, at least for Espicopalians! Whitsunday means the same thing, but you don't hear it much in the States, at least. I don't think.

My church usually had a pancake lunch that weekend. No stollen in sight.

Edited February 9, 2006 by Megan Blocker (log)

[christine007]

Yes, stollen! and it's really good.

We have whitsunday too. Thanks Klary. This thread is so informative!

[Bunniver]

Hello everyone!

This is my first ever post to eGullet. I didn't mean to lurk for so long, but it took me some time to get my act together and figure out how to join up.

Chufi, I just wanted to say--like so many others--how much I am enjoying this Dutch cooking thread (and I loved your Amsterdam blog too). There is a genuine, palpable nostaliga in some of your posts and recipes and the responses to them. It's really lovely.

My mom is Dutch (but came to Canada as a young girl), and we do cook and eat some Dutch foods in our family (Ottawa has a nice Dutch Grocery Store), but lately I too have been taking a lot more of an interest in Dutch food and the google search that landed me at your thread was very serendipitous. My plan is to cook and serve a lot of the dishes and see what kind of memories and stories they elicit. So I really can't say enough how invaluable your effort is.

So far I've made the butter-braised chicken (LEKKER!) and my next plan is a big pot of snert, this weekend.

I look forward to talking with you all now that I've signed on.

[Chufi]

Hello everyone!

This is my first ever post to eGullet. I didn't mean to lurk for so long, but it took me some time to get my act together and figure out how to join up.

Chufi, I just wanted to say--like so many others--how much I am enjoying this Dutch cooking thread (and I loved your Amsterdam blog too). There is a genuine, palpable nostaliga in some of your posts and recipes and the responses to them. It's really lovely.

My mom is Dutch (but came to Canada as a young girl), and we do cook and eat some Dutch foods in our family (Ottawa has a nice Dutch Grocery Store), but lately I too have been taking a lot more of an interest in Dutch food and the google search that landed me at your thread was very serendipitous. My plan is to cook and serve a lot of the dishes and see what kind of memories and stories they elicit. So I really can't say enough how invaluable your effort is.

So far I've made the butter-braised chicken (LEKKER!) and my next plan is a big pot of snert, this weekend.

I look forward to talking with you all now that I've signed on.

←

welcome to EGullet Bunniver, and a special welcome to this thread!

I'm looking forward to hearing your reports about any Dutch food you're cooking. Please share your experiences, be they good or bad, on this thread and ask questions if you have them...

I'm glad you liked the chicken. It hasn't had as many followers here as the butter braised beef, but it's great in it's own right..

Also, share your stories and memories if you like... I would love to hear them!

edited for typos

Edited February 10, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[Dana]

I made the butter-braised beef today for lunch, and it was a huge hit!! My husband and grown son thought it was just terrific. The butter adds such a delicious flavor that is very different from the braised beef I usually fix. It was hard not to add any other seasonings than the bay and cloves, but I didn't, and am so glad I restrained myself and followed the directions to the letter. Served it with mashed potatoes, cabbage and sauteed spinach. I will fix this again very soon, and I'll also make it for my mom who is of Dutch decent (maiden name Doornbos).

Thanks so much for all the time and effort you've put into this thread.

[CaliPoutine]

Chufi,

Do you get Who wants to be a Millionaire there?( the one with Merideth Viera).

Anyway tonight the 25,000 dollar question was this: Bitterballen, a fried meatball served with a mustard sauce is a specialty of what european country.

Choices

a. sweden, b.switzerland c. poland. d. the netherlands.

of course because of this thread I knew it was D. The woman asked the audience and they picked A. So, she picked A and she LOST!!

LOL. I thought it was so funny because I NEVER would have known the answer had I not read this thread.

[Alchemist]

The way I learned Stampot is quite different. But my teacher was Dutch Indonesian. It is a deeply satisfying one pot meal that is best on cold grey days, when not only the body but the heart needs warming. I would never condone eating this after visiting a coffee shop, but if you do, double receipe.

Two large bunches of kale

5 lb. potatoes

two medium onions

two large smoked sausage of good quality

butter, cream, allspice, S&P to taste.

My ex-girlfriend's mother showed me how to make this dish, on a sunny so-cal day. She was such a talented cook that a measuring cup never darkened her kitchen drawers. The end result of this dish should be wonderfully rich mashed potatoes, imbued with exotic allspice, and porkey smokiness, that have become green with kale.

In a huge pot place peeled potatoes. Add rough cut onions. Fill with water so it just covers potatoes, add some salt. Top with well cleaned, and stemmed kale. Make small slices in sausage, and nestle amongst the culie-cues of kale. Sprinkle a bit of salt, and cover.

Crank the heat until the water is boiling. Decrease heat, and cook until potatoes are done. Remove the sausage, place on a serving dish and cover. Mash kale into the potatoes, adding lots of butter and cream. Salt and pepper to taste. You must handle the allspice as carfully as Nitro, the dish shouldn't taste of allspice. It should drift around you like a dream. Like a dream of a sugarplum fairy. The sausage will have created some smoky ambrosia through the wonder of osmosis. Add to potatoes. Mix in.

Serve a Close Encounter portion of potatoes with a Hedgehog portion of sausage. Try to forget about hedgehogs.

It's easy to reheat. And if you freshen the spices, the leftovers will be awesome when you get back from the coffee shop the next day.

edited for spelling

Edited February 14, 2006 by Alchemist (log)

[Bunniver]

Chufi, A few days late, but I am finally going to make the Erwtensoep (snert!) tonight. But first I have a quick question for you:

You had said not to put the smoked pork in til near the end. Now, did you mean the very very end, like right before I serve it? Or, did you mean at the end of the 4 hours (ish) cooking process (and therefore the smokey meat will sit in the pot overnight with all the other ingredients as I won't be serving it til the next day)?

Thanks!

Bunniver

[Chufi]

Chufi, A few days late,  but I am finally going to make the Erwtensoep (snert!) tonight. But first I have a quick question for you:

You had said not to put the smoked pork in til near the end. Now, did you mean the very very end, like right before I serve it? Or, did you mean at the end of the 4 hours (ish) cooking process (and therefore the smokey meat will sit in the pot overnight with all the other ingredients as I won't be serving it til the next day)?

Thanks!

Bunniver

←

Hi Bunniver,

I always put the smoked sausages, sliced, in after the cooking process and then leave them in overnight (or in the portions that I freeze). I guess you could do it the other way, this just seems more convenient.

I thought about you this weekend and if you were making it, because I pulled the last portion of my 2006 batch from the freezer on Sunday! Mmmm it was good...

Edited February 15, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[Chufi]

I made the butter-braised beef today for lunch, and it was a huge hit!!

←

I'm glad you liked it Dana!

Chufi,

Do you get Who wants to be a Millionaire there?( the one with Merideth Viera). 

Anyway tonight the 25,000 dollar question was  this: Bitterballen, a fried meatball served with a mustard sauce is a specialty of what european country.

Choices

a. sweden, b.switzerland c. poland. d. the netherlands.

of course because of this thread I knew it was D.  The woman asked the audience and they picked A.  So, she picked A and she LOST!!

LOL.  I thought it was so funny because I NEVER would have known the answer had I not read this thread.

←

That's so funny Randi. Pity you weren't the contestant, huh??

Two large bunches of kale

5 lb. potatoes

two medium onions

two large smoked sausage of good quality

butter, cream, allspice, S&P to taste.

←

Thanks for your beautifully written post Alchemist! That's interesting about the allspice. It's definitely not traditional but I can see that it would work very well! I'm going to try it next time!

Did this lady teach you any other Dutch dishes?

Edited February 15, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[Alchemist]

There is a dish we called the heart attack on a plate. I'm not sure what it's called in dutch.

A pork loin well trussed.

a lot of unslated butter.

heavy cream

green peppercorns

salt

Rinse the loin and pat dry. Bring the meat to room temp. In a cast iron Dutch oven melt enough butter to cover half the lion. Salt the pork liberly. Using large spoons, no tongs, and may you be srtuck dead uf you even think about a two tine, a fork a knife, or even a toothpick. One is to have only rounded thoughts, a prickily mood will pierce the delicate skin, releasing its precious juices. Gently lower the glistining roast into the butter. The butter should be hot but not hot enough to smoke brown or smoke. This is a delicate ballet keeping the heat where it should be. Once the lower part is seared, turn the loin using your spoons. Lower the heat once the other side is seared. Cook through, but do not over cook. Remove the roast and let rest. Add cream and crushed green peppercorns. The sauce should have a bite. Salt to taste. Slice the loin against the grain. This was served with plain boiled poratoes of rice. And green beans. it is in no way the most visually spectacular dish, but you will want to put that sauce on everything!

[Bunniver]

Thanks for clearing up the smoked meat dilemma, Chufi. I made the snert last night....it was really fun. ANd I don't think I've ever had so much pork in my kitchen at once! My husband (who until recently was a vegetarian) seemed a little freaked out by it.

Next time I will borrow my friend's digital camera so you can see, but it came out looking a lot like yours. The only disappointment was that I could not get over to the Dutch grocery store (I work downtown and it's far), and so I couldn't get the right type of smoked sausages. I used some smoked bacon from a German deli in its place.

Anyway, it smelled heavenly, and tasted wonderful from the test-bites I took, but I know it will be better tonight. I'll let you know. And next time I'll plan better and get those sausages. Our Dutch store has a wonderful little butcher/charcuterie counter. I will try to take a picture to show you some time I'm in there.

Butter braised beef next! (And Alchemist, your heart attack on a plate recipe.... it's going on the short list too).

[Chufi]

Thanks for clearing up the smoked meat dilemma, Chufi. I made the snert last night....it was really fun. ANd I don't think I've ever had so much pork in my kitchen at once! My husband (who until recently was a vegetarian) seemed a little freaked out by it. 

←

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.

[DTaylor]

Just want to say that this is an awesome thread with amazing pictures and great recipes; it really feels like it gives you a good sense of what Dutch cooking is like. Thanks!

[Bunniver]

Chufi wrote:

serving snert to a former vegetarian.. now that's what I call brave...

I hope he likes it.

He is no longer a vegetarian for good reason. He couldn't stop eating meat! The guy was eating pho (Vietnamese beef noodle soup--is that popular in Amsterdam, by the way?) like 3 times a week. Even so, there was a shocking amount of meat in our kitchen last night, for us at least!

Off home to eat the snert now! Can't wait!

Tot siens!

[Portia_Smith]

Chufi,

This thread is incredibly informative and mouth - watering. Thank you for all the hard work you have put in over the last few months. I'm so incredibly appreciative of what you have done to show us all about 'everyday' Dutch food and baking.

My only experience to this cuisine - and culture really - was the year I spent working at Huis ten Bosch in Nagasaki prefecture a decade ago. It is a recreation of a 17th century dutch sea port on about 150 acres on the island of Kyushu in Japan. The theme park does have a dutch restaurant and various gift shops that sell dutch rusks and cookies - there was also some amazingly expensive gouda for sale that was vacuumed packed and never seemed to move from the shelves. The park also hired some dutch students to work in the cheese market they would put on for the tourists. I can't remember eating any dutch food while working at the park. All official functions I attended had either 'continental' or french food on offer. This area of Japan does have a historical connection with Holland as the Dutch had a trading relationship with Japan from 1600 and for a few centuries were the only westerner's allowed in the country. I find it interesting that I could never really find a Dutch influence in Japanese cuisine, depsite the length of their stay but there was a marked Portuguese influence - it's widely believed that both tonkatsu and tempura were introduced by them.

3 years ago I travelled by train through Holland on my way from Vienna to London. I only spent two hours at Amsterdam station but was struck at how beautiful everything was - the sea, the bikes - the buildings. I also decided that I'd treat myself and try to sample some of the local cuisine and dragged my backpack to the quite posh dining room on one of the upper floors. I knew nothing about Dutch cuisine, apart from a vague thought that croquettes might appear somewhere on the menu. I was hungry - tired - dirty and was quite looking forward to some croquettes. I recieved the menu and nothing made sense - I had seen Dutch written before and could recognise some of the words as they were vaguely similar to German so I was suprised and a bit distressed that nothing seemed really recognisable on the menu. I had already lowered the tone of this rather posh establishment by turning up with backpack and bad hair so I refused to admit that I might be totally out of my depth and ask for help, or even point at the delicious looking daily special that everyone else seemed to be having. So I had steak frites with bearnaise. It was good. But it wasn't dutch. And it wasn't kroketten!! But thanks to Chufi I am now prepared for a return to Holland and will have a list of things to order.

Oh - the only other thing that I remember about my afternoon trip through the Netherlands is that when I got on my train - very full after all that steak - and a bit grumpy as I'd failed in the small task of sampling Dutch cuisine that I'd set myself - we travelled through Utrecht and I saw the Dom tower. Huis ten Bosch also has the Dom tower - but looking over Omura bay and it was very odd to see it in it's natural surroundings! I was a bit weirded out for the rest of the day.

[shelly59]

Two large bunches of kale

5 lb. potatoes

two medium onions

two large smoked sausage of good quality

butter, cream, allspice, S&P to taste.

My ex-girlfriend's mother showed me how to make this dish, on a sunny so-cal day. She was such a talented cook that a measuring cup never darkened her kitchen drawers. The end result of this dish should be wonderfully rich mashed potatoes, imbued with exotic allspice, and porkey smokiness, that have become green with kale.

In a huge pot place peeled potatoes. Add rough cut onions. Fill with water so it just covers potatoes, add some salt. Top with well cleaned, and stemmed kale. Make small slices in sausage, and nestle amongst the culie-cues of kale. Sprinkle a bit of salt, and cover.

Crank the heat until the water is boiling. Decrease heat, and cook until potatoes are done. Remove the sausage, place on a serving dish and cover. Mash kale into the potatoes, adding lots of butter and cream. Salt and pepper to taste. You must handle the allspice as carfully as Nitro, the dish shouldn't taste of allspice. It should drift around you like a dream. Like a dream of a sugarplum fairy. The sausage will have created some smoky ambrosia through the wonder of osmosis. Add to potatoes. Mix in.

Serve a Close Encounter portion of potatoes with a Hedgehog portion of sausage. Try to forget about hedgehogs.

It's easy to reheat. And if you freshen the spices, the leftovers will be awesome when you get back from the coffee shop the next day.

Alchemist: Made this for dinner last night. WONDERFUL!!! Thanks.

[Bunniver]

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.

←

OK, by now everyone is tired of my snert, I`m sure of it! But I just had to tell Chufi how it was. Overall, it was pretty darn good. My husband loved it! The flavour was suitably mellow and not too smokey from the bacon. I know it is supposed to be thick, but it was VERY thick, like a brandade, so maybe a touch too thick. Also VERY meaty, maybe too meaty for us. I think I overdid it on the pork ribs, so next time slightly less meat and slightly more veg. I may make a nice vegetable stock and thin out the snert a tiny bit with it for the next meal....

I`ve got a batch in the freezer for my mom to try too. Oh, and I was all excited to have my grandmother try it, and then my mom informed me that grandmother can`t stand erwentensoep!