Foodie destination: Groningen

My most popular blogpost is still the first one: Top 10 Typical Dutch Food to try.
Apparently more foodies are interested in what the Netherlands have to offer!
In addition to that here is an update with some of the local specialties from the province Groningen.

After travelling South & Central America for 8 months in 2011/2012 I realised that there were so many places in the Netherlands that I had not visited.
Besides a few visits to burgundy city Maastricht (with my all time favourite restaurant Beluga)  and an annually visit to Amsterdam, first on my list after graduation was Groningen. I was told it was a beautiful city with a relaxed and lively atmosphere; and it is indeed.
The city Groningen is the capital of the province with the same name.  It's located in the North East of the Netherlands and borders with the North Sea and Germany.

From Tilburg where I live it's 3 hours by train or 2,5 hours by car.  For Dutch concepts of 'far' this is really far away. But it was definitely worth the travel.

Typical delicacies from Groningen:

Groninger koek

The Groninger koek (translated as 'Cake from Groningen') is a sweet cake made of rye meal, honey or syrup and cakes spices. It's a variety on the Deventer koek (cake from the city Deventer in the province Overijssel).
There are different Groninger Koek flavours; with nuts, sucade or ginger. I tried the Groninger Fladderakkoek. I had to ask what it was because I never heard of it before but it tasted great.
'Fladderak' is a liquor style local drink from Groningen with lemon and cinnamon. The main ingredients in the cake with the same name were: ginger, orange and cinnamon. With crunchy cinnamon-sugar rounds on top.

Groningen Fladderakkoek from bakery Olinga with ginger, orange and crunchy cinnamon sugar

I bought one from bakery Olinga. They are making this local product since 1850 and are located in Bierum, a small village in the north of the province Groningen. It's expensive, € 7,- for one cake, but really good.
Moist, firm and full of flavour.
If you, like myself, are not visiting this little village I can recommend buying it at Het Hanze Huis. A lovely little shop full of imported fine food products from companies in Europe that were found over 100 years ago. And as an extra service the people working there can tell you all about it.
Another well visited place in Groningen city to buy Groninger koek is bakery Knol's Koek.

In the Netherlands we eat Groninger koek spread with butter as a treat with coffee or tea.

Machedoux goat cheese

Machedoux is a raw milk Camembert-style goat cheese. 
It's served on cheese plates in many Dutch top rated restaurants. 
The organic goat farm 'de Oude Streek' where the Machedoux cheese is made is in the province of Groningen. 
If you only visit Groningen city I can recommend you buying it at Cheese shop Van der Leij.  And while you're there make sure you taste some of their many other delicious cheeses.

Groninger mustard

A pretty spicy mustard with whole or coarsely ground mustard seeds. Delicious with Dutch bitterballen, Dutch cheese or to make Groninger Mustard Soup.

Groninger worst

Translated as 'Groninger sausage'. Also called 'Groninger metworst'. If you like cloves you will love this dried local pork sausage. For me the taste of cloves was a bit too much to eat it raw. But once fried a bit in a pan and served with zuurkoolstamppot (a dish of mashed potatoes and sauerkraut) it was much better.

Groninger metworst; a local dried sausage with cloves

More tips on local food from Groningen are always welcome; please leave a comment.

Next Foodie destination blog post will be Mallorca (Spain)!

Dutch pancakes; budget dinner for one

Although I love cooking most of the time; I can't deny that I like it more if I can share it.
Most of the times that's not a problem; my husband is an enthusiastic and not so fussy eater.
But sometimes he must work overtime and let me know at the last minute... Whenever I cook just for my self I like it to be quick and tasty, so I often make Nigella Lawson's Lemon Linguine, Spaghetti Carbonara (without the heavy cream) or her Pea Puree with salmon. 
I can see a Nigella pattern here ;-)  
And I even admit throwing a frozen supermarket pizza in the oven occasionally! 

But tonight I did not feel like anything from the above. And because my husband is not a big fan of pancakes it was the perfect opportunity to bake them just for myself. It's a childhood favourite and I'm still happy to eat them for breakfast, lunch or as a main meal any time of the year.  While in wintertime it's a tradition to eat them after 'snert' (a thick typical Dutch pea soup). I remember my grandmother baking big piles of pancakes while the large pot of snert was simmering on the stove. She kept them warm by putting them on a plate on top of a pan with simmering water. 

Baking Dutch pancakes 

Dutch pancakes (pannenkoeken) are much thinner and larger than the American pancakes. The basic ingredients are always flour (plain, self-rising or both), milk, salt, and eggs. The addition of buckwheat flour is traditional but according to Wikipedia much less common nowadays. Although it looks like there is some kind of revival of the use of buckwheat flour because it's more healthy and ranks low on the glycemic scale. Wikipedia wrote a nice little piece about Dutch pancakes. 

Pancakes in the Netherlands are pretty popular; we even have lots of pancake-restaurants where you can order them with tons of different fillings. Plain ones are commonly eaten with sweet toppings like icing sugar (powdered sugar) or 'stroop'; treacle or syrup. A popular savoury filling is bacon & cheese. My 'secret' ingredient when making pancakes is to add a pinch of cinnamon to the batter. This even works with savoury fillings.

Pancake batter with cinnamon

If I make them as breakfast I use Jamie Oliver's 1tweetrecipe: 'Perfect pancakes: 1 egg, 1 cup self-raising, 
1 cup milk, pinch of salt. Whisk. Pour into a hot frying pan. Flip!' I get 3 pancakes from this recipe.

Today I made a bit more because I also love to eat them cold the next day (sprinkled with icing sugar and rolled up to be eaten by hand).
This recipe is adapted from an old fashioned and much reprinted Dutch cookbook; the Margriet kookboek:

Dutch pancakes

adapted from Margriet cookbook

Makes about 8 pancakes

Ingredients:

• 250 grams self-raising flour ( or substitute up to 50% with buckwheat flour)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg (large)
• 450 ml  milk
• Butter 
• Cinnamon
• Savoury and sweet ingredients as you like

1. Mix the self-raising flour with the salt.

2. Make a well in the middle, add the egg and half of the milk. Make a smooth batter of it, starting in the middle and mixing with a whisk. Add in the rest of the milk while stirring. Flavour with a pinch of cinnamon.

3. Leave to rest for half an hour if possible. 

4. Heat a small amount of butter in a frying pan, making sure it's hot before you pour in enough batter to just cover the bottom of the pan. (if you want to use bacon fry it first then add the batter)

5. Bake the pancake on medium heat until the top is dry.

6. Flip the pancake and cook the other side till golden.

7.Keep warm while baking the other pancakes. Fill as you like with sweet or savoury ingredients.

Rolled up Dutch pancake with 'stroop'

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

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)

Smoked herring

I find it's harder to blog that I thought; plenty of topics to blog about but then there is the problem of time!

Only 24 hours in a day... And because English is not my first language  it requires more time and energy to type it all out. At least google translate is used a lot lately. On top of that I also decided that I would like to blog both in English and Dutch and that costs even more time! So it will take me a while to post the blogs more regularly; until then I just enjoy thinking about new topics and making notes till I find the time to post them.

This is just short little blog about a recipe I tried last night. Well it's not really a recipe because it doesn't even requires proper cooking! But it's really tasty and easy to make. Something different from the regular appetizers with smoked salmon and really helpful because I had my pregnant niece over for dinner ;).

At the fish store I bought some smoked herring and didn't really know what to do with it. 
Internet didn't  provide a recipe for a nice appetizer so I made it up. 

It turned out great by roasting some white bread to toast and remove the crusts, cut them in 4 pieces then half of them I smeared with salty butter and the other half with sun dried tomato paste. Top them of with a piece of smoked herring.

Top 10 Typical Dutch Food To Try

Every country has it’s own culinary history; some are famous all over the world like Italian, French and Chinese food and others are not so famous for their food. I guess because the Netherlands is such a small country we belong to the last group.  

While travelling in South and Central America we were regularly asked about Dutch food. Except for our famous cheese and Heineken beer not a lot of people know about the many delicious typical Dutch treats which are a bit of a rarity outside the borders of our country.

Here’s a nice list to start with whenever you visit the Netherlands or have the opportunity to taste it somewhere else.

Top 10 typical Dutch delicacies you definitely have to taste!

1) Dutch Cheese

The older the better and so tasty. Try some Dutch cheeses from different ages from young to old they are called: Jong, Jong Belegen, Belegen, Extra Belegen and Oud.

Our Israeli friends buying cheese in our local cheese shop

2) Fresh brown bread from the bakery

Just the smell  of it will make you happy!

3) White asparagus

A delicacy from the south of the Netherlands available only from  around 15 April until 24 June.
The classic combination with ham, eggs and butter is still the best way to eat them.

4) Stroopwafels

Thin waffles filled with a caramel-like syrup filling, best tried when you buy them while they are still warm on the market. Or put them on top of your teacup to warm them up a bit.

5) Frikandel speciaal

According to Wikipedia it is ‘a Dutch snack, a sort of minced-meat hot dog filled with mayonnaise, curry ketchup and chopped raw onion’; you can find them in any snackbar

It is always the first thing I eat after coming home from a long trip.

Frikandel speciaal with lots of raw onions

6) Dutch wine

Still unknown but getting better every year. More about this topic in my next post!

7) Dutch new herring with chopped raw onions

Not my kind of treat but another seasonal and typical Dutch delicacy though. The herring season normally starts in May and lasts untill August (when the herring has a fat content of minimal 16 percent). More info on Dutch new herring can be found on Honest Cooking. And for a nice description on how we eat them check out this funny piece on Stuff Dutch People Like.

8) La Trappe beer 

Until December 2013 this was the only Trappist brewery in the Netherlands.  It's located in the South of the Netherlands and definitely worth a visit. And while you're there also try the bitterballen which are made with Trappist beer.

9) Poffertjes  

They look like little pancakes served with butter and icing sugar. Mostly found on markets or fairs.

Poffertjes made on a special poffertjes baking tray

10) Bossche Bol from bakery Jan de Groot 

A 'Bossche Bol' is a chocolate treat full with whipped cream from the city of ‘s-Hertogenbosch; the fact that there is a line of people on the street waiting to order every day is always a good sign. Jan de Groot Bakery is the most famous one. If you don't want to wait in the line to order them there you can also sit down on one of the outdoor cafes in the city; most of them sell the 'Jan de Groot Bossche Bollen'. 

The famous Bossche Bollen from Jan de Groot in 's-Hertogenbosch

This is the sign to look for; close to the Central Train station in 's-Hertogenbosch (also called Den Bosch)

Besides that we have many more typical Dutch food; drop (a black candy), lamb from the island Texel, lobster from the Oosterschelde and some local treats from the bakery like; eierkoeken, krentenbollen, Zeeuwse bolussen and vlaai from Limburg.

More about typical Dutch dishes and off course recipes will come in future blogs; you can find them through the Typical Dutch label or on the links below.

Typical Dutch; Groningen