Foodie destination: Israel

Being a crazy Dutch foodie who loves to travel it probably doesn't come as a surprise that most of my trips are planned around food & wine. It was five years ago that my husband and I had been to Israel, so when I was dreaming about a good plate of hummus last summer we decided to go back. 

If you, like myself, are a big fan of Middle Eastern food there is just no better place in the world to choose for your culinary travels than Israel. Imagine the Middle Eastern flavors combined with Arab, North African & Mediterranean influences; foodie heaven on earth! Count to that that Israel is an ethnic melting pot of immigrants from all over the world and you will understand the food scene is extremely diverse. And with almost everybody speaking English and Western standards in hygiene & service it's also really convenient travelling around. That, plus the beautiful weather most of the year, tons of historical & cultural sites and the lovely clean beaches makes it your perfect next holiday destination. 

We were in the lucky position that the Israeli friends we visited are pretty crazy Israeli foodies; no better way to taste the country than with locals.  They have showed us around the best restaurants, street food vendors and wineries. We could have never have visited all of these places and book a trip to Bethlehem in one week if they hadn't  took the time to drive us around.

After a week of eating too much delicious food (yes even for a crazy foodie there is a limit!) I am very inspired to make a table full of mezze with all that great flavors on little plates.  
But for now I will share my Top 10 tips for foodies visiting Israel. Off course these tips only cover the tip of the iceberg because there are tons of great places for foodies to discover in Israel.

1) Make reservations @ Machneyuda restaurant 

Probably the most popular restaurant in Israel; located next to Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem. It's owned by three Jerusalem chefs who run the restaurant together. The Israeli food with a Mediterranean touch is tasty and based on the fresh ingredients from the nearby market stands. Try the excellent calamari (with onion, tahina and a blue cheese/eggplant puree) and ShikShukit ( cooked minced beef and lamb in Mediterranean spice mixture with a mix of tahini and yoghurt) which are both house classics. And ask about the 7-course tasting menu if they forget to tell you about it! (what happened to us and we still regret not being able to order it...).

Calamari at Machneyuda restaurant, Jersusalem

But it's not just the food that makes this restaurant so busy that you really have to make reservations in advance; it's the whole atmosphere. The open kitchen, the familiar manners of the waiters, the loud music and best of all the chefs singing and 'drumming' on the pans. Don't go here if you're looking for a romantic dinner for two. Try to get seated at the kitchen bar so you can join the chefs on a toast!

                                             Machneyuda chef playing 'drums' in the kitchen! 

2) Eat hummus at Abu Ghosh

This Arab Israeli town is also known as 'Hummus capital of Israel', need I say more?  I would never dare to express my opinion about where to get the best hummus; even Israelis among each other can't  agree on this question :). But I can say that it looks like to me that the Arab places are the most popular ones.  Check out this nice post about the search of the best hummus from travel & food writer Katherine Martinelli if you want to read more it.

3) Lunch @ Raphael restaurant on Shabbat

Raphael restaurant is located in front of Frishman beach, situated in the David Tower and diners have an amazing sea view overlooking the Mediterranean beachfront.
But the view is just a very nice extra; chef Raffi Cohen cooks delicious Mediterranean/Israeli food with  Moroccan influences and the best ingredients. It's pretty expensive, although worth every shekel. But the Shabbat lunch deal on Saturday is the best food deal ever! You pay 125 Shekel (about € 26,- or $ 34,-) and start with home made bread and rolls with extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar & butter. 

Starter at Raphael restaurant, Tel Aviv

Then the real feast starts; a variety of appetizers (mezze) will arrive at your table; I counted 11! 

Appetizers/ Mezze included in the 125 NIS Saturday lunch deal at Raphael restaurant, Tel Aviv

And from most of them you can order refills if you like. My tip; even though it's really tempting to order the refills please don't and save room for the main course of your choice. I ordered the 'Lamb Shoulder Couscous with whole chickpeas, market vegetable & spices from the Maghreb' and it was absolutely marvelous but I couldn't even get close to finish it... 

Lamb shoulder with vegetables & couscous at Raphael restaurant, Tel Aviv

Needles to say that reservations are required! 

4) Visit the Jaffa Port Market in Tel Aviv

Called 'a new mecca for hungry foodies' by Haaretz you will find various food stands and restaurants in renovated warehouse number 1. It's still an active fishing port too which makes it really lively.  
We especially liked the Beer market; a small stand which sells dozens of Israeli made beers in many different styles.

Beers from the Beer Market inside Jaffa Port Market

5) Try a Sabich sandwich

I still can't believe I never heard of this extremely popular Israeli sandwich before; it's a fresh pita stuffed with  hard boiled egg & fried eggplant. Lots of it! And off course the usual fillings like hummus (off course), tahini, salads (cucumber & tomato ) and a tangy sauce from pickled mango called amba. We ate it late in the evening (and there was still a line of people waiting to order) at a place called Oved, located just east of Tel Aviv on Sirkin Street in Givatayim. It's amazing how much food will fit into one pita! Another good place to try it more centrally located is Frishman Sabich on the corner of Dizengoff & Frishman Street. You will recognize it at the big line of people waiting to order. Here they served it slightly different with red cabbage and extra pickles on the side. Just as with hummus and the iconic falafel sandwich there are probably just as many versions as there are chefs. And it's definitely worth a try.

Oved Sabich

Frishman Sabich

                                                                                            

6) Visit some Israeli wineries

I can hear you think: 'Israeli wine, really?' Yes! You will be amazed about the quality of some of them. There are over 250 wineries of all sizes. But it's still a young wine country; over 95% of them have been born in the last 20 years even though wine has been produced in this region sicne biblical times.  Lots of wineries are open for visitors and most them offer a tasting for a few shekels. Often the tasting is free when you buy a bottle. One of the biggest and oldest wineries in Israel is Carmel which offers different tours and tastings. From the boutique wineries we visited I really liked Tzora Vineyards and Vitkin Winery. The first one also sells some really tasty local cheeses and makes a unique icewine. Vitkin has a nice tasting room and provides a lot of interesting facts about wine making in Israel. Nice to know; in some of the Israeli wine regions the grapes are picked during the night! 

7) Order Msabbaha instead of hummus

Msabbaha (or musabbaha) is a variation of hummus with the main difference being the texture and the fact that it is served warm. Part of the chickpeas remain whole and are covered with tahini sauce and olive oil. It's a really nice variation and some call it 'next level' hummus. More about hummus and msabbaha at this great Hummus Blog.

Msabbaha at Sisi restaurant, Tel Aviv

8) Dine at a locals home

The Israeli people are very generous where it comes to food. We were invited to attend some home made dinners at our Israeli friends house and their parents. Every time there was a table full of fresh and tasty food made from scratch.  If you don't have Israeli friends but would like to eat a homemade dinner you should check out the Eat With website which has lots of Israelis who can host you.

Shabbat lunch at Dina's mom house

Delicious carrot salad with honey roasted pecans, made by our friend Dina

9) Stroll some local markets

Be amazed about the huge amounts of fresh vegetables and herbs, tons of olives, nuts and dried fruits, big piles of spices and have your eye out for halva; a tahini (sesame paste) and honey mixture. On the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem there is a stand know as the Halva Kingdom with 100 different kinds of halva. And most of the times you will find small market restaurants and juice stands, where oranges, grapefruits, pomegranates and carrots are squeezed to order, in or around the market.

Halva Kingdom at Mehane Yehuda market, Jerusalem

Nuts and dried fruits at Mehane Yehuda market, Jerusalem

10) Buy a bottle of Sabra at the airport before you leave

Sabra is a chocolate-orange flavored Israeli liqueur which is probably the hardest local product ever to buy in the country itself! During our last visit 5 years ago we only got to take 1 bottle home because they don't seal bottles at Ben Gurion airport (we had a stopover in Swiss) and we didn't find more bottles during our visit. This time it was the same thing; we visited a few wine/liqueur stores and all we found was just 1 bottle (with the coffee flavor instead of the original chocolate-orange one). According to one of the shop owners it is an 'old fashioned' drink. But it actually is really nice; all our dinner guests who had a taste of it where enthusiastic about it and we got several request to take some extra bottles home! So buy some before you leave the country and make sure you can bring it through security if you don't have a direct flight.

Links:

For more information about Israeli cuisine or Israeli wines you could check this sites:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_cuisine 
• http://www.israel-food-guide.com/
• http://www.goisrael.com/Tourism_Eng/WhatToDo/Culture/Pages/The-Wine-Routes-of-Israel.aspx

They are back; Dutch white asparagus!

At the end of April to me there is nothing more exciting than the arrival of the first asparagus.
Are they there yet? Can I afford them already?
Because especially in the beginning when they are still rare  the price can go up to € 18,- a kilo!
And even though I really love them I can control myself and wait a bit longer until they are a little cheaper. But it's a short seasonal delicacy, until 24th June, so don't wait to long!

When I talk about asparagus I always mean the white ones which grow under the ground. They are more expensive than the green and purple ones, even though it's the same plant, because it's much more labor intensive to grow and harvest them.

They are planted in 'beds' covered with white and black plastic, to control a bit of the warmth and keep them from coloring, and have to be dug up as soon as there tips come above the ground.

Asparagus beds at asparagus farm Santspuy in Etten Leur, Netherlands

You  have to peel the white asparagus before preparing them; their skin can't be eaten like the green ones. But even though it's more work and pretty expensive it's totally worth it; they are less bitter and much more tender. In the Netherlands we call them 'the white gold' or 'queen of the vegetables' with a reason ;).

Ready to harvest

Although we Dutch people do exaggerate it a little. Apparently we are willing to pay more for the white asparagus if they are 100% white; also the head. They are considered the 'best' quality if they are totally white and between 20 and 28 mm thick; the so called 'AA white' class. I can understand why Michelin star restaurants prefer these ones, but in taste it makes no difference if the tip is a bit green or purple.

Different categories of Dutch white asparagus

Besides from being a really healthy vegetable you can use it in many different ways; in salads, soups, quiche, risotto or pasta, cooked, steamed or grilled.
But the way I still like them best is the traditional Dutch combination of cooked white asparagus with a sauce of melted butter and parsley, served with ham, boiled egg and new potatoes (krieltjes in Dutch).

Traditional Dutch white asparagus 

Main course for 2 persons

This is not so much a recipe but more a combination of ingredients that combine perfect with each other. 

Ingredients: 

• 1 kilo white, thick, Dutch asparagus (weight before peeling)
• 3 eggs, cooked 
• 6 slices of cooked ham
• 50 grams butter
• 400 grams new potatoes, skin on
• few sprigs of parsley, chopped finely
• salt
• an asparagus pan (see picture below) where the asparagus can stand or a big pan which will fit the whole asparagus lying down

1) Peel the asparagus very carefully, you really don't want any strings of asparagus in your mouth, with a vegetable peeler holding them flat on a cutting board starting from just under the head and work your way down. Then cut about 1 cm off the woody end.  

Boil asparagus for 8-10  minutes (depending on how thick they are) in the asparagus pan,  remove from fire and leave them with the lid on the pan for about another 5 minutes.

Drain them well!

2) Boil the potatoes for about 5 minutes, rinse the water and fry them in a hot pan until lightly browned. 
Or cook them 10 - 15 minutes and serve them like this. 

3) Meanwhile cook the eggs for about 8 - 10 minutes and chop finely. 
I often cook them together with the asparagus if there is enough space in the pan.

4) Slice the cooked ham or make rolls of them and slice them on your plate. 

5) Melt the butter in a small saucepan and mix in the chopped parsley.

6) Serve the asparagus on a warm plate with the potatoes, ham and egg and pour some of the melted butter sauce over the asparagus. 

A heavenly combination! 

Wine pairing; Pinot Blanc from Alsace.

P.s. some proper pictures of the dish and how it's been made are following soon together with more delicious white asparagus recipes. 

Cooking asparagus in our garden

Change of plans & Nutella cookies

It's almost unbelievable how fast things can change. One minute you're busy in the kitchen with dinner party preparations and the next minute you're husband falls down the stairs and breaks his ankle.
That's what happened last weekend when I asked him to bring down my ice making machine. It turns out it's pretty risky to marry a crazy dutch foodie who want to make her own ice cream  ;).

After falling down the stairs...

As far as the ice maker; it was off course broken but the insurance company immediately compensated that.
My husband on the other hand had to undergo surgery and can't walk for at least 6 weeks :(.  After a few days I realized this was not only about my husband having a lot of pain and unable to walk. It also caused a change in a lot of other plans which I hadn't thought about before. We couldn't travel to the two Michelin star restaurant where we had a lunch reservation. But even worse; our planned trip to visit friends in Israel and spent a few days in the old city of Jerusalem in April  is probably not possible. My husband can't walk without crutches and this place was not exactly designed for the disabled  with all the narrow, cobble stoned streets ;).

And with my husband recovering at home it also meant  all of a sudden family, friends and colleagues came along to keep him company and were a welcome distraction for the pain.
So besides I had to do all the things at home all by myself now I also had to make sure all the visitors were 'entertained' with drinks and food. That combined with the fact I'm really busy writing my Bachelor thesis made me a bit stressed out and I decided to keep it simple. Well as 'simple' as a crazy foodie can be; I still refuse to get takeaway or microwave food. For me it's just cooking things that are easy to make and do not involve a lot of shopping for ingredients in different stores. 

So when my mother in law and her boyfriend came over I made lasagna the night before and served it with a green salad. For dessert I used the Doyenne du Comice pears, which I actually had intended to make ice from, in a crumble. My parents brought french fries and snacks with them and I made a tapenade with olives, sun dried tomatoes & Parmesan as an appetizer on toast. One day I heated up some leftover potatoes and sauerkraut-dish from the freezer and the day he came back home after the surgery we baked pizza's. 
And one afternoon, while my husband was talking to one of his visitors, I tried a recipe from Pinterest which was almost to easy to be true. 

It was a recipe for nutella cookies originally from the blog 'A Busy Nest' and someone who pinned it wrote a very clear instruction; DO NOT ADD SUGAR!
So I didn't and was amazed by the result; chewy chocolate cookies. A bit crispy on the edge and soft on the inside. And from start to finish it only took me about 15 minutes! Definitely the ideal recipe for unexpected visitors :). Meanwhile I found even more 'Nutella cookie' recipes on Pinterest with different additions like peanut butter or sea salt. Can't wait to try them all. In the meanwhile I safely stored them on my Pinterest board 'recipes to try'.

You can find the recipe through the blog link above; just leave out the sugar. They are sweet and tasty enough. Here I 'translated' the recipe to European measurements. For the Dutch version in PDF click here.

Nutella cookies

• 1 cup Nutella -> 200 grams
• 1 cup all-purpose flour -> 120 grams
• 1 egg (large)

Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit/175 degrees Celsius. 
Blend all ingredients together well (I used a spoon first and then mixed it by hand).
Form into 2,5 centimeter balls (a bit smaller than golf balls).  
Place on cookie sheet & press down firmly with bottom of floured glass. 
Bake 7-8 minutes or until set (my oven needed a bit longer) and cool.

Even after a few days in a cookie jar they are still good!

Measuring cups to grams

American food inspirations

To be honest; when I think of the USA the first thing on my mind is not the great food. Well at least no culinary highlights. I think about cheesecakes, muffins, brownies, donuts, chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes (but I do that all the time!) and a lot of fried food. Until I met the American version of me named; SarahKate :). We met her and her husband Andy in Mendoza, Argentina last year. Both of us were travelling around the world for a few months and we accidentally came to sit facing each other during our first real Argentinean BBQ in the hostel we stayed. A few bottles of really cheap wine and a lot of chatting later we decided to rent bicycles together and visit some vineyards a few days later.

In the meanwhile we got to know each other a bit better every day while cooking together in hostel Empedrado (one of the best in Argentina!). That's how we found out we are both really crazy about food.
It was so funny to finally meet someone that has the same big passion about food and cooking. Just a pity that she lives on the other side of the world; after travelling they moved to Sydney :(.

Cooking together with SarahKate in the kitchen of hostel Empedrado

Fortunately we are still in touch and that's one of the things that inspired me to deepen in the North American kitchen. SarahKate opened a supper club in her new apartment in Sydney and has hosted some great dinners. The supper club is called Mi-Casa-Su-Casa and every time I read the stories on her blog about the preparations I get hungry right away! She uses a lot of American inspired recipes, and some traditional family recipes and they sound delicious. The funny thing is that SarahKate writes exactly the same way she talks; that way it seems likes she's not as far as away as she is. And at the end of this year we are going to visit Sydney and hopefully share lots of great meals and wines together again.

Except from SarahKate's stories I also got really enthusiastic by the best Buffalo wings ever that I tasted  at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo. Together with a creamy blue cheese dip and crisp celery sticks it was just perfect and made me reconsider my opinion about American food right away.

Delicious Buffalo wings with celery and blue cheese dip @ Anchor Bar

And at last there is the great book and the TV series about Jamie's American road trip. All of those things together made me look differently at the food of the USA and I decided to make a good start immediately by making meatloaf. According to Wikipedia it's a cousin of the Dutch meatball and the more I read about it the more excited I got! And if you think about it, it actually makes sense that this country does has some amazing dishes; they are using the best of all the cultures that are melting together there.

Meatloaf is really easy to make for a big group of people (also well in advance) and once all the ingredients are mixed together you just have to put it in the oven and wait until it's ready. And then the amazing choice in variation; different kinds of ground meat (beef, pork, lamb, veal), different kinds of spices and seasoning, different kind of fillings like vegetables or dried fruit. And depending on the meat and ingredients you use, it doesn't have to be expensive.

I know for sure it's a dish that I'm going to make more often in different flavors. I made my first meatloaf with a combination of two recipes I found in Dutch magazines. I just looked at the quantities

of the different ingredients and put the flavors in it I liked best; finely chopped bell peppers, spring onion and garlic, mustard, ketchup and my 'secret' ingredient smoked paprika. Then wrapped the loaf with Dutch 'katenspek' (first cooked and then smoked bacon) to prevent it for being to dry. Served with some baked potatoes and fresh cooked or steamed vegetables it is the perfect main dish for any day.

I was planning to share the recipe I used here. But although the taste was good it was not as firm as I hoped it would be. That means there is some more testing to do in search of the best meatloaf recipe.
I will post an update, with recipe,  here as soon as I found it.
Here are some photos of the first attempt:

Meatloaf before baking...

... and after baking in the oven.

New Years resolutions? Bake more cupcakes!

I’m not a big fan of New Years resolutions; they sound like some kind of obligation.  

And if you do not fulfill that obligation if feels like failing to yourself right?

But like anyone else I do have some hopes and wishes for 2013, here they are:

1)   Finally finish my Bachelor of Law degree (after 10 years !)

2)      Blog more regularly; at least once a month. That becomes more realistic when I don’t have to spent every free time to study.

3)      Roast a leg of lamb. I love lamb but for years now I’m a bit scared of preparing this big piece of meat. Will it fit in my oven? And when do I know it’s ready and not raw anymore? But this year I’m definitely going to give it a try.

4)      Travel to Australia. A long time favourite on my countries-I-would-love-visit-list.  Hope to spend this Christmas and New Year in the sun.

5)      Bake more (mini) cupcakes! I really love cupcakes and don’t believe any article or person that says the end of cupcake trend is way behind us. It’s not a trend; they are here to stay!

I started this year with wish number 5. Because my birthday is in January I decided to bake cupcakes for my colleagues and family. Normal cupcakes are pretty big and I sometimes find them difficult to eat. Especially with a big butter cream or cream cheese topping on it.

So instead of baking normal cupcakes I experimented with the baking times and made 3 times the amount of the regular sized by using a cupcake tray for little cupcakes.

This gave everyone the chance to try different flavours and it was a big hit.

I used recipes from the cookbook ‘Rudolph’s Cupcakes’ by a famous Dutch pastry chef; Rudolph van Veen. He is one of only two persons in the Netherlands that earned the title ‘Master Patissier’. 
And just like me he is a big fan of cupcakes!  But even better; his recipes are correct and written down for any amateur to make them.

This is the one I liked most, Rudolph calls them ‘Bombay Boogie’ cupcakes.  
They are deliciously fresh and fruity. And the sugared cashew nuts are a nice crunchy extra.

I made about 36 mini cupcakes from this recipe; using a mini cupcake tray for baking and mini cupcake papers.

Missing ingredient: flour 

Cupcakes ready in the oven

For the Dutch readers; if you're interested in the Dutch version of the recipe click here or buy the book for this and more delicious cupcake recipes.

Bombay Boogie cupcakeYogurt- saffron cupcake with mango-passion cream topping

For 12 large cupcakes or 36 mini cupcakes

Ingredients yogurt saffron cupcakes:

• 1 gram of saffron threads or powder
• ½ teaspoon turmeric
• 2 tablespoons water
• 200 grams of flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder (7 grams)
• 230 grams of sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 eggs (large ones)
• 200 grams Greek yogurt
• 180 grams of sunflower oil

Ingredients mango-passion cream:

• 250 grams of butter (at room temperature)
• 60 grams of icing sugar
• 250 grams of pastry cream made from 100 gram instant custard powder or instant custard (I used  it from the Jamin store which worked  great) created with 250 ml mango passion juice (store bought is fine, I used the freshly squeezed juice from AH supermarket ). Read the instructions on the package, sometimes the proportions slightly different

Ingredients sugared cashew nuts:

• 1 egg white
• 75 grams of sugar
• 150 grams cashew nuts (unsalted)

Additional: cupcake tray, paper cupcake tins, mixer

Cupcakes

Dissolve the saffron and turmeric in 2 tablespoons hot water. Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Sieve the flour and baking powder. Mix  in the sugar and salt. Mix in another bowl the saffron-turmeric mixture with the eggs, yogurt and sunflower oil. Add the two mixtures together and mix them up, low speed, until smooth. Mix the batter then another 10 seconds at the highest setting of the mixer. Set the cupcake papers in a cupcake tray and fill them three quarters full with the batter. Bake the cupcakes in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes until if you make 12 large cupcakes and about 16 minutes if you make mini cupcakes. Every oven time may vary, always check if they are cooked by putting a skewer to stabbing. Does this come out dry then they are good.

Mango-passion cream

Add the softened butter with the sugar in the bowl of a food processor (Kitchenaid) or use a mixer and a bowl. Beat the butter at least 10 minutes of easy breezy.  Add the custard with mango passion juice gradually to the airy butter. Keep beating until well blended.

Sugared cashews

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Beat the egg whites with the sugar separately, mix the cashews through and arrange them on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Fry lightly browned and crispy in about 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Stir interim notes once thoroughly with a spoon. Let them cool down.

Garnish

Spoon the mango-passion cream in a pastry bag with a small cartel mouth and make a rosette/topping on the cupcakes. Garnish the cupcakes with candied cashews.

Storage
Because I had to bake them in advance I kept the cupcakes in a box outside the fridge and the cream in the pastry bag in the fridge for 1 day. Just finish them before serving, but make sure to get the cream out of the fridge in time to soften again!

If you want to keep them longer they are easy to store in the freezer. In that case garnish with the cream but keep the cashew nuts separately.

The result: perfect one-bite mini cupcakes

  

Foodie destination: Andalusia + Gazpacho recipe

Another high on my ‘places-I-want-to-travel-to’ list was Andalusia; and it was not disappointing!

We started our trip in Sevilla, famous for its tapas tradition, there is a saying about that city that says: ‘In Sevilla you don’t eat, you tapear’.  It means so much as eating on the go; moving from one bar to the other having a drink and the tapas which that bar is famous for.

And after arriving on Saturday evening  off course that’s what we started with in the neighbourhood close to our hostel.  We ended up in the bar which turned out to also be the oldest bar in Sevilla from 1670. 

It was packed with people, locals as well as tourists, and we got ourselves a place at the bar from where we could see all the action.  The orders came out really fast, one bartender was slicing thin pieces of Iberico ham from a big leg all night long and everyone’s bill was written down on the bar with chalk.
Besides the great ham my favorite tapa there was a plate of warm spinach with chick-peas and a lot of garlic! I’m not sure what kind of spinach was used, because it was so soft I guess they used a canned one.

Spinach with chickpeas in bar El Rinconcillo, Sevilla

The next morning we headed for breakfast and ended up by chance in bar Alfalfa where we had the most amazing Andalusian breakfast; tostada (toasted bread) with fresh tomato salsa, Iberico ham and olive oil.  A real treat to begin the day with. 

Andalusian breakfast with cured ham and tomato salsa on toast

We loved Sevilla right away for being a  tapas-city but it’s also extremely stunning to just walk around in the old streets, see the greatest Cathedral ever (according to the Guinnes book of world records), the Alcazar palace and,  my personal favorite;  the Plaza Espana. 

Beautiful Plaza Espana in Sevilla

After 2 days we picked up our rental car and drove to Granada, famous for the Alhambra and not so much for the food.   Nevertheless we had some tasty and really cheap lunch in the old Islamic quarter Albayzin; 3 courses for only  12 Euro.  We got to choose from various dishes and had the filled bell peppers, a big pan of paella for two and some kind of pudding like desert.

There is still a big North-African influence in the city and the food . After tea in one of the many tea houses in the ‘little Morocco’ district we went for Moroccan inspired tapas in the evening at Om Kalsum . We were again surprised by the great value for money we got here; 1 bottle of Rioja wine and 7 warm tapas for only € 14,-! If only we could eat and drink this good in the Netherlands for that less money. Also nice to know about Granada is that it is one of the very few cities in Spain where you still get tapas in some bars the way they used to be served; free with a drink. 

Maroccan style tapas at bar Om Kalsum, Granada

For the last days of our one-week-is really to short- holiday we drove from Granada to Cordoba  through the Route of  olives (Ruta del Aceite).  It’s obvious where it got this name from; as far as we could see there were olive trees all over the place. One of the most well known olive oils from this area is from Nunez de Prado in Baena,  but because of their closure during siesta times we did not visit it.

Olive trees all over!!!

An absolute wonder to see in Cordoba is the Mezquita; an old mosque turned into a church.

Even if you’re tired of seeing a lot of churches and palaces this one will still amaze you, at least it amazed me.

As for the culinary part there are some typical Cordoban specialties to try and there are good restaurants and tapas bars in the city.

The cold soup’ gazpacho’ is well known in the world but it’s Cordoba-sister soup ‘salmorejo’ is not that well known. And I really wonder why because it’s at least as good as gazpacho; a bit thicker (almost creamy) and with pieces of hard boiled eggs and off course cured ham in it.

A fun place to try the traditional recipe and then some more innovative versions is salmorejeria  Umami. 

They serve over 30 different salmoreja’s such as ‘avocado with smoked salmon’ and ‘Thai’ cold soups. Even some desert-salmorejo’s although I was not really enthusiastic about it because they were very sweet. With every kind you can choose if you want a whole portion( racion) or a half one (media). That is not only the case in this restaurant but in most of Andalusian restaurants and tapas bars; really convenient for persons who cannot choose and would love to try most of the menu ;).

Half portions of different salmorejos in Umami restaurant, Cordoba

Another not to miss in Cordoba thing is Bar Santos famous for it’s tortilla, which is huge!. You will definitely see a big line with people outside, next to the Mezquita,  eating there piece of tortilla and flushing it down with a beer. You really can’t miss it even if you were not looking for it. 

Huge tortillas at bar Santos, Cordoba

People eating their tortilla on the street in front of Bar Santos, Cordoba

After a week of tasting great Andalucian food, seen many beautiful things and just relaxed a bit and enjoyed being there we ended our trip with a tour and tasting at Bodegas Alvear; a Montilla winery. Montilla is a sherry like wine but then without extra alcohol added. Unfortunately the tour was only in Spanish, so we didn’t really understand the process of how it is made. But for the tasting in the end not so much Spanish words were needed; the sweet and syrupy Ximenez (PX-sherry) was just ‘muy rico’! 

Gazpacho

Based on gazpacho recipes from Allerhande & Foodies Magazine

This is not an authentic Andalusian recipe but it’s my version of gazpacho; a cold tomato based vegetable soup. Only make this in the summer when it’s hot outside and the tomatoes are really red & ripe. 
It’s also full of healthy ingredients!

Makes 4 portions as a starter or lunch

Ingredients:

•           2 slices of white bread
•           1 kg ripe tomatoes, in pieces
•           2 bell peppers (red and yellow), seeds removed and chopped
•           1 red pepper, seeds removed and chopped
•           ½ cucumber, peeled and in pieces
•           1 little onion, quartered
•           2 cloves of garlic
•           4 tablespoons extra virgin Spanish olive oil
•           4 tablespoons sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
•           salt and pepper
•           sugar

Remove the crusts from 2 slices of bread and soak them in cold water for about 10 minutes.

Peel and chop the garlic. Squeeze the soaked bread.

Puree the vegetables, garlic and squeezed bread with 4 tablespoons cold water (if needed) in a food processor or blender.

Stir the oil and the vinegar through the tomato soup.  Season with salt and pepper and a little sugar to taste.

Put the soup covered at least a few hours away in the fridge, or in the freezer for at least 15 minutes if you don't have enough time.

Serve the gazpacho with finely sliced tomato , cucumber, bell pepper and onion and maybe some croutons.

You can make the gazpacho easily 1 day before, and keep it covered in the fridge until you need it. 

For a Dutch touch I put in some little Dutch shrimps and parsley at the end. (see picture).

My homemade gazpacho with Dutch shrimps and parsley

Foodie destination: A taste of Sicily

Italy is my number 1 favourite food country ever and the island Sicily was ranked very high on the list ‘places I want to visit’. Last September it was finally time and we took a cheap Ryanair flight to Trapani and spent a week on the western side of the island.

After landing we picked up our Fiat 500 rental car and first headed to Erice, a little medieval city excellent for tourists to wander around for a bit. Because we were starving after a 2 ½ hour flight, driving around to find a working ATM and finally reached Erice around 14.30 in the afternoon we went straight into to first restaurant we ran in to because restaurants in Sicily are only open from 12.00 – 15.00 for lunch and then close again until around 20.00 for dinner.  But even though we didn’t have time to find a decent place for lunch the typical pasta from Sicily we took,  Spaghetti con le sarde,  was really good.   It maybe not so well known as other Italian pasta dishes  but this one is with sardines, fennel, pine nuts and sultana’s and to me the perfect match of North African and Italian flavours.

Four kinds couscous at Thaam restaurant, San Vito lo Capo

One of my ‘must-try-while-in-Sicily things’ was eating couscous in San Vito lo Capo. Unfortunately we were 2 weeks too early so we missed out on the yearly Couscousfest. But we were not disappointed by the couscous we tasted at the restaurant Tha’am. where we could try a dish with 4 different kinds; lamb, fish, vegetables and wild fennel! I have never tasted such delicate and fluffy couscous that was so tasteful. Also the plate of starters we ordered was an amazing array of different flavours with northern African influences. 

Sicily has some very unique flavours and ingredients typical for the island and uncommon in other parts of Italy. There’s the high quality pistachios ‘Pistacchio di Bronte’ first brought to Sicily in the 9th century by Arab conquerors and nowadays called ‘the green gold’; they use it not only in sweet pastries or ice cream but also make pesto di pasticchio with it and serve that on pasta with shrimps.

A heavenly combination which we tried at restaurant Del Monsu in Castellammare del Golfo with big shrimps and again in Osteria Il Gallo el’Innamorata in Marsala with little shrimps.

Busiate pasta with pistacchio pesto and shrimps at Del Monsu restaurant

Then there is the really famous ricotta cheese in a salted version for  in the pasta al la Norma, ricotta salata, and the sweet and creamy version which is used as a filling in the fried pasty called cannoli. A cannolo is the most traditional Sicilian dessert and can be really heavy so make sure you’re either very hungry or order a little one.

Unfortunately we visited Palermo on a Sunday so we missed out on the great food markets, but this city is famous for it’s street food and although a lot of restaurants and shops close on Sunday we were full when we got back on the train.

A typical snack is arancini, balls made of risotto rice with a filling in it, they are as big as an orange (arancine in Italian) and fried. We went to the Bar Touring which is supposed to sell one of the best arancini in Palermo  and were shocked about the size of the balls; instead of my planned 3 different flavours to try we couldn’t share more than 1 because they were so big (and greasy!!!).

Arancine 'burro' with prosciutto and mozzarella at Bar Touring in Palermo

But the best tip I can give any foodie who is about to visit Sicily is to have lunch or dinner at Osteria Il Gallo e l’Innamorata in Marsala.   Our guidebook described it as a slow food temple, I would call it food heaven! Never before I have tasted such high quality Italian products in one meal.  We couldn’t choose between the fish or meat/cheese antipasti so we took both. That was great but already so much that there was no room left for dessert. But after the second dish I couldn’t care less; I’m still dreaming about the most amazing pasta ever. Spaghetti Trapanese (a combination of tomatoes, basil and almonds) topped with  bottarga di tonno (a delicacy of cured tuna roe)! 

Antipasti misto at Osteria Il Gallo e l'Innamorata in Marsala city

Most amazing spaghetti Trapanese with bottarga at Osteria Il Gallo e l'Innamorata in Marsala city

Here is my version of another typical Sicilian dish: Caponata Siciliana. This recipe is a combination of two recipes and the way I have made it a lot. At first I thought it was not completely authentic because I use courgette in it, but now I realize that there is not one authentic recipe or combination of ingredients. In Sicily every family and restaurant had it’s own recipe and they probably also use what’s in season or in their budget ;).

Caponata Siciliana

I love to serve it at room temperature as a part of an antipasti dish (for about 6- 8 persons) or as a side dish with meat or fish ( for 4 persons)

Ingredients:

• 1 aubergine (eggplant)
• 1 courgette
• 1 onion, peeled and sliced in half rings
• 1 tablespoon salted capers, rinsed well
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar (or white or red wine vinegar)
• 2 tablespoons honey or sugar
• good quality olive oil (preferably from Sicily)
• 400 gram peeled tomatoes or tomato passata
• a few olives, pitted
• 25 gram pine nuts
• a few basil leaves
• salt

1. Heat some oil in a frying pan and let the onions soften in about 10 minutes on low heat. 

2. Meanwhile, cut the eggplant into cubes, sprinkle generously with salt and leave for 20 minutes in a colander.

3. Cut the zucchini into cubes and fry in a little oil in a second frying pan brown and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

4. Now turn the heat under the onions a little higher. Bake a minute on high heat and then add the honey and vinegar. Bake for a minute and add the peeled tomatoes with juice, olives, capers, and diced zucchini and then turn the heat down a little.

5. Rinse the eggplant cubes thoroughly under running water, pat dry and fry brown in a little oil over high heat. Heat everything through and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Fresh figs with prosciutto and blue cheese

I actually had decided to start blogging both in Dutch and in English and immediately after that I realized that I didn't have time to blog at all trying to combine work while study for a law degree.
Yet I can not resist a short blog post about a great simple appetizer now the fig season has started.
It's not really a recipe to call and that's why it's so easy to make.
I got enthusiastic by fresh figs from the garden and the beautiful figs that I found on the market.


This combined with spicy blue cheese, good quality prosciutto, balsamic vinegar from Modena and delicious sourdough bread from a new bakery in Tilburg was a pretty awesome appetizer!

Although you don't really need a recipe for this to try at home this is how I made it (thanks to my colleague Paul who is the perfect reader in the category 'is the recipe obvious to make for people who read the blog' :))

Click here for the Dutch version of this recipe.

Figs from the oven with prosciutto and blue cheese

based on an idea from www.kokenmetkarin.nl 

For 2 people as a starter:

• 3 ripe figs (you can eat the skin of fresh figs!)
• 2 big slices of sourdough bread or other bread toasted or plain
• some blue cheese (or substitute by mozzarella or goat cheese if you prefer)
• raw ham (prosciutto)
• good quality balsamic vinegar and olive oil
• fresh thyme (optional)

For the ones with the bread  I spooned out one ripe fig and divided the inside on two slices of bread.
Than sprinkled some good quality balsamic vinegar and tasty olive oil on it. After that I topped one piece with blue cheese and the other with raw ham. (we liked the one with the blue cheese better).

And for the third part of the starter I cut the fig almost, but not totally, in 4 parts. Divided the raw ham and blue cheese on it and put it on a plate in the oven at 200 degrees Celcius  for 10 minutes so the cheese could melt. After that I garnished it with some fresh thyme en served all three of them together as seen on the picture.

Dutch wine

When thinking of wine most people are not likely to think of Dutch wine; they have probably never heard of it anyway! 

And that is not so strange because the Netherlands is not exactly known for its wine. But despite the fact that we are a small country there are more than 200 vineyards! Most of them little compared to foreign vineyards and not all of them are commercial wine-growers but still, they exist!

I am very enthusiastic about Dutch wine in general but I'm especially proud of wine from Wijngaard de Linie. That’s not only because it’s from the south of the Netherlands where we live. Nor the fact that it’s made by relatives from my husband. Or that it has won many international wine trophies because it’s a really good wine. But especially because of the fact that a wine just tastes so much better and more special if you have picked the grapes by hand and helped bottling the wine!

Every time I tell people, not only foreign friends but also Dutch friends and colleagues, that I’m going to pick grapes they ask me if I’m spending the weekend in France. And when I told my boss that I was picking grapes in the little village of Made he wondered if there were any hills there ;).

Once you experienced the whole process you realize even more what a wonderful and natural product wine is. Every sip you take, every time you smell these great odors you realize it all began with the grapes you picked.

                                    Bottling Dutch wine @ wijngaard de Linie in Made, Netherlands

The Dutch white wines are of better quality then the red ones, but in the end it’s really all about your own taste. Personally I prefer the more classic grapes instead of the hybrid grapes (mixed varieties with more resistance) like Regent or Solaris  that are more likely to grow well in our climate.

Besides the fabulous white wine from de Linie, I can also recommend to try Dutch wines from the oldest Dutch vineyard the Apostelhoeve and the (really expensive but o so stunning!) Kus van Therese Cabernet Blanc from wijngoed Gelders Laren. The last one is so expensive because it bears the name of one of the most famous Dutch sommeliers from the 3 star Michelin restaurant de Librije.

Off course Dutch wine will probably never compete with wines from the more famous old and new wine countries; not because of the quality but as of the price. An average bottle starts at around 12 Euro, compared to around 7 Euro for a nice wine from Spain or even New Zealand. For now Dutch wine is more something you buy as a gift or just because you think it’s special to drink a wine from the Netherlands. And it is! So don’t be surprised to see some Dutch wines on International wine contests.

More information about all the Dutch vineyards can be found on the website: http://www.dewijnhoek.nl/nederland/english/index1.html (also in English)