Foodie Destination: Lille

My husband and I have been travelling all over the world. And when asked about destinations I would recommend it's really hard to make a choice.

But if people ask me for a nice weekend trip in Europe I don't have to think twice. I always highly recommend going to Lille in the North of France. (Flemish name: Rijsel). It has a beautiful old centre (Vieux Lille), easy and very cheap public transport, some nice museums (Palais des Beaux Arts), lovely little shopping streets where you can definitely shop 'till you drop, but most important; it's France! Which means you can taste and buy all those typical French delicacies that are more difficult to find outside of the county. Plus it's just a 2 hour drive by car from where I live, but also easy to reach from Paris or London by train!

Chamber of commerce and Opera House in Lille centre

Lille is not what you call a French metropolitan city. Cities like Paris, Nice, Marseille or Lyon are much more famous for a weekend break.
But believe me; Lille is a hidden gem! 

I visited Lille the first time 'by accident'. My best friends father worked in Lille and was living there in an apartment during the week. But in the weekends he drove home and my friend and I decided to go their for a weekend trip!

That was a few years ago. Since then I came back lots of times. In the apartment of my friends father and when he retired in a hotel in the centre (which is really affordable compared to other French cities) And sometimes I just make a daytrip out of it! Drive to Lille in the morning. Do some (food) shopping. And drive back home again to make a nice dinner with some of the groceries ;-)

My absolute number 1 reason to drive all the way to the North of France and back in one day are the macarons from Patrick Hermand. And not only the macarons, also their divine pastries.

You probably understand why when you see these pictures:

Those pastries, plus the ones from famous patissierie Meert, are probably also the reason I don't have any restaurant recommendations in Lille. Especially the merveilleux from Meert is a killer for your appetite ;-) After eating to many of these delicious treats I just don't feel so hungry anymore.

Merveilleux at Patisserie Meert, Lille

And I have a weak spot for Paul Brasserie, a chain of bakeries with roots in Lille. They now have shops all over the world (but not in the Netherlands yet) and sell sweet and savoury pastries plus fresh baked bread and baguettes.  But the main reason for coming here over and over again are their lemon pies (tarte au citron). They are just perfect; not too sweet not to acid.

In the middle; Tarte au citron at Paul Brasserie, Lille

Another highlight on a trip to Lille is located on the way back; the mega supermarket Auchan in Roncq.
I can easily spent 2 to 3 hours here; just by walking along all rows! There are separate rows for sparkling, white and red wines from all France wine regions for just a fraction of the price we pay in the Netherlands. And many typical French ingredients like dried mushrooms, Confit de canard, lentils from le Puy and Merquez sausages. And the section I probably spent most time before heading to the cash register is the cheese department ;-)

Although that's just the 'easy' way of buying French cheeses. If you want a bit more advise, and that's only if you speak French!, you should visit the lovely little cheese shop in the centre of Lille: Philippe Olivier.

Cheese shop Philippe Olivier, 3 Rue du Cure Saint- Etienne, Vieux Lille

And if you decide to visit Lille you just can't miss Alice Delice; a cooking store with every cooking utensil you can wish for. I actually try and avoid this shop now because every time I end up spending too much money on stuff I think I really HAVE to buy. At that time anyway. Though I still want to go back there to buy a Madeleine mold ;-)


More tips for foodies who want to visit Lille check out these posts:
A Lille Adventure, from Eat Like a girl
Lille's culinary heritage from Just About Food
To Lille and back from London Eater

The old stock exchange, la veille bourse in Lille, France. From July to September, every Sunday between 19.00 and 23.00 dancers from all around Lille gather to dance the tango. 

Little Aussi Beef & Beer Pies to celebrate Australia Day

It's been a while since I have written my last decent post. Not without reason; I was travelling South Korea and Australia for 7 weeks! There was either no decent wifi connection or just no time to write about all the great food that came along. But I'm back now, for quite a while since I don't have many holiday hours left, and can't wait to share my foodie travel tips.

We are home now for a bit more than a week and I still feel like I have a bit of Australia in me.
Feeling relaxed and an appetite for summer salads and Vegemite on toast ;-)
Unfortunately I could not bring home a bit of the warm, Australian summer sun. But I found out that the most iconic Australian food  is very easy to make at home, plus also perfect to eat during cold Dutch winter days ;-)

I'm talking about the Aussie meatpies! As with a lot of things down under the Aussie meatpie is heavily influenced by Great Britain where they have the steak pie.
Hand-sized they are often eaten as a takeaway food snack but are also extremely popular while watching a rugby or football game.

We ordered them for lunch several times and were very enthusiastic about the meatpies at Trappers Bakery in Goulburn.  If you ever happen to be in the neighbourhood (driving from Canberra to Sydney); it's really close to the Goulburn exit on the highway and next to a big sheep. You can't miss it! And I'm glad we didn't thanks to tip from one of the great new friends we met along this trip.

We also really loved the meatpies from Hamlets, close to Manly wharf & beach in Sydney. Our foodie friend SarahKate (from the Mi Casa Su Casa supper club)  told us to go there and off course we couldn't resist after a morning on the beach. We ordered several flavours like; pepper steak (with lots of pepper!), pumpkin/feta/coriander, steak & cheese and our favourite: Thai Chicken (meat) pie. Absolutely delicious and we were very happy to get a few more for lunch on my birthday the next day.

Hamlets meatpies in shop

A week after we arrived back home it was Sunday 26th of January and the celebration of Australia day.
I thought it was the perfect opportunity to try and make some typical Australian food in my own kitchen.
Because of the big temperature difference I felt like making a beef stew with dark beer. I used a Dutch recipe from the MissFromage blog which also contained pieces of carrot, mushroom,onion and bacon.
Half of this recipe was enough to fill 6 little muffin cases. It was only after reading this lovely post about Aussie meat pies from the Eat Little Bird blog that I realised it is a perfect idea to us a muffin tray instead of pie tins. First of all; you get lovely two-bite size little meatpies. And second, maybe even more important, I don't possess any pie tins ;-)

Because it is difficult to buy shortcrust pastry in Dutch supermarkets, and I didn't feel like making my own, I only used puff pastry. It worked out great; blind bake them for about 10 minutes. Then the filling inside and the pastry lids on top. Some egg wash on top of each pie and sprinkled with sesame seeds.

I totally forgot the dollop of Heinz tomato sauce on top, but it was tasty enough anyway.
The perfect meal to remember a perfect holiday!

Foodie New Years resolutions for 2014

Since I have not completed all of my 2013 New Years resolutions  I will start with that on my list for 2014:

1) Roast a leg of lamb;  I'm still a bit afraid that it will be either to dry of still raw. And questioning if it will fit in my oven?! 

2) Continue to blog weekly; Even though I have a lot of recipes, cookbooks and foodie travels to write about, I find it really difficult to find the time and actually post a blog about it. 

3) Learn to cook Indian food; Because I really love a good curry, naan bread or kulfi and there is no descent restaurant nearby. 

4) Attend the Basic Pastry course at Bij Robert; Robert van Beckhoven is a famous Dutch pastry chef and ever since our friend Frank told about all the delicious and beautiful deserts he learned I have been wanting to go there. 

5) Learn more about wine; because drinking wine (which I'm really good at ;-)) is not the same as actually know something about wine. I have been searching for a good wine course to attend but so far the problem is that there are none that I can reach with public transport... And it's just no option to spit it all out. Or is it?

6) Buy less cookbooks; I know it's an awful resolution but they start to take over the place. So either I have to buy less new cookbooks, sell some of the old ones or clean up the house and make some room!

7) Continue eating Low Carb; I started eating less carbs since October last year and I feel really good about it. Not that I'm losing any weight but I feel more energetic. It does take some extra effort in planning my breakfast and lunches, since I eat them at work. So with the exception of travelling, I do find it to difficult then, I love to keep eating carbs only 1 time a day. 

Happy New Year! 

I'm really curious about other foodies resolutions for 2014; you're welcome to share them in the comments.

This is me on New Years day doing a wine tasting at Gemtree Winery in McLaren Vale, Australia; working on New Years resolution number 6 ;-) 

Top 5 Most Popular Crazy Dutch Foodie Posts in 2013

With the end of 2013 coming closer I thought it was a good idea to share the most popular Crazy Dutch Foodie blog posts from last year.

Number 5 and 4 are about my foodie travels:

5) Foodie destination: Andalusia 

4) Foodie destination: Sicily

3) Apparently I'm not the only one with a cookbook addiction! Number 3 best viewed post of 2013 is Confessions of a cookbook addict.

2) Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my favourite restaurant (ever!) changed their concept this year. Or maybe it's because they have start posting news on Twitter and Facebook in English (instead of Dutch) but at number 2 is my review about Restaurant Beluga in Maastricht. I can't wait to go there again in 2014 and check out the new menu.

1) And with three times (!) more pageviews than number 2  my most visited post is still the one about Top 10 Typical Dutch Food to try. Apparently a lot of tourists visiting the Netherlands google 'Dutch Food' and find my blog. Or maybe just foreign people who are interested or curious about Dutch food read it.
I'm definitely gonna write more about this topic in 2014 with a focus on more regional delicacies and Dutch recipes.

The first 2013 post was about my New Years resolutions; the only thing I didn't do was roasting a leg of lamb. So that's the first one of my 2014 resolutions ;-)

I have found it pretty difficult to post every week. I really don't understand how some foodbloggers can post almost every other day! But it's still just a hobby for me and a place to share my foodie thoughts with other foodies.

For now I'm travelling a few weeks in South Korea and Australia, but as soon as I'm back I will start blogging weekly again!
Have a wonderful and tasty Christmas and a happy and healthy New Year!
Greetings from Down Under

Low Carb Foodie; Part 2

Three weeks ago I decided to start eating less carbs. Mainly to eat less bread, potatoes, pasta and rice.
I experienced some headaches in the first 2 days. But after that I just felt more energetic and I didn't crave sugary snacks anymore.
As I wrote here before; I was very amazed about the fact that I did not miss the carbs as much as would have thought.

For me the most difficult part of eating low carb is the fact that you have to plan meals more ahead.
Taking a sandwich and some sandwich fillings or spreads to work is so easy to do. And don't forget I'm used to this habit for more than 30 years already. Bread for breakfast and bread for lunch. It's really common in the Netherlands to eat like this.

In the third week I almost panicked about the fact that I was going to be home late because of a traffic jam and didn't have anything planned for lunch next day. Because if you eat low carb it will be mostly salads and soups for lunch  (I don't eat low carb bread; it feels a bit like cheating to me). Which means you have to do some preparations the night before.

And because I'm still a foodie I don't want to eat the same things again every week. So after 2 weeks of delicious salads for lunch (see my first Low Carb Foodie post) I called my husband and asked him to get a bag of precut vegetables and 2 sausages to make a quick Dutch vegetable soup with little meatballs in it.
Ready in 15 minutes and enough for 2 lunches!
Last week I tried this thick Red Lentil Tomato Soup after reading the recipe on Simone's Kitchen blog.
Also easy to make, tasty and perfect to make ahead and reheat for lunch.

I think it's funny that my husband, who has absolutely no reason to watch his weight, doesn't miss the carbs either. He just enjoys eating tasty food, whether it's with or without carbs.
We both liked the lowcarb quiche with broccoli and bacon with a green salad on the side. For this dish I was inspired by this recipe from the blog Nutty About Health. I made it in a smaller amount, because it was just for the two of us, in a round baking tray and replaced the heavy cream with creme fraiche.

For breakfast I tend to eat oatmeal with milk, cinnamon and some dried figs.
Or Greek yoghurt with honey and walnuts. I could eat this every morning; so delicious!

And I started experimenting with green smoothies. Which make me feel even more healthy. But it doesn't give me the same satisfied feeling as a salad or soup. But as a quick breakfast it's fine.

Green smoothie; 2 bananas, 2 apples, 2 hands of spinach and 2 glasses of water

I honestly don't feel hungry in between meals. But if I do want to snack something or if I'm having lunch or dinner later than normally I eat a cooked egg, some cheese, nuts or something sweet like dried dates or pure chocolate (minimum 70% cacao).

I always have this little snackbox in my bag

If you tell people you eat less carbs they automatically think you're on a diet. I don't see it like this. I still eat carbs if I want to. But now it's more likely that I eat carbs only one meal a day instead of three. Believe me; I will never give up on a good pasta dish. Nor would I want to miss eating baked potatoes with mayonaise. And I don't even think about stop eating things as home made cupcakes ;-)

And because I do not see it as a diet I really think I will manage to keep eating less carbs. Not gain weight and maybe even slowly loose some weight as a benefit.  But most important of all; feeling healthy and more energetic.

Tasty low carb recipes and tips are welcome. Please leave a comment.

Foodie destination: Mallorca

When booking our next holiday I normally check the destination we have in mind on two points: 

Food & Wine. As in; What are the local specialties? Which restaurants should we definitely try? Are there any cooking courses we can attend? And are there local wineries that can be visited?

From there the accommodation is booked and we try to taste as much as possible in the time we have.

Almost any destination is a Foodie Destination as long as you do some research. 
So is Mallorca. Just not Cala D'or.

But our last holiday was not chosen and booked according my Food & Wine considerations. It was a family holiday together with my parents, brother, sister in law and 1-year old little niece. So most important was the fact that it had to be a family friendly resort. Because of this we ended up in Cala D'or which is perfect for those kind of holidays. Just not for foodies. It was packed with tons of Dutch spoken and owned (!) restaurants that all served pizza, pasta and steak...

And although these were not that bad it's not my idea of vacation.

But no worries; we had a great holiday. The apartment was perfect, the weather was great, my little niece was lovely, there were happy hours with 2 cocktails for the price of 1 and we rented a car for 3 days so we could drive around and taste a bit of the real Mallorca.

Here is a list of my Top 10 foodie things on Mallorca:

1) Lunch at Simply Fosh, Palma de Mallorca

Great service, great food and a great ‘Menu of the day’deal with only € 21,50 for 3-courses!

The menu changes every week and you get to choose from 2 starters, 3 mains (fish/meat/vegetarian) and 2 desserts.

Caponata Simply Fosh style with Buffalo Mozzarella

Beef Cheeks with Blackberry Puree, fried garlic and red onions

Fresh Cheese icecream with Prickly Pear marinated in Passion Fruit syrup

2) Dinner in restaurant Sa Teulera, Arta  

This restaurant is specialised in typical Mallorcan food.

Unfortunately we did not had dinner in this restaurant. But we were really lucky to have found a stall with their local specialties on the market in Arta by accident. We couldn't not see it; there was whole pig roasting on the street… !

The tumbet was soft and delicious. And I could not stop eating from a paella-like noodle dish; so tasty! Downside of all this great food was that I totally forgot to make pictures of it... 

3) Try Sobrassada

A raw traditional Balearic sausage made with ground pork, paprika, salt and other spices.  

Before I tasted it I thought that is was a 'hard' sausage. But instead it's soft and you have to spread it on toast. 
I have to admit it´s not my favorite specialty. But I guess you just have to get used the to specific taste a bit more. It´s funny that in ´tourist´shops they are sold neatly wrapped in paper. And I can understand why: if you see them without the paper they don't look as tempting!

Sobrassada neatly wrapped in tourist shop

Sobrassada sausage as sold on Olivar Market, Palma de Mallorca

4) Order Ensaimadas in Ca'n Joan de S'Aigo, Palma de Mallorca

One of the funny things about being a foodie is that in search of the best local delicacies you discover neighbourhoods and streets you would have otherwise missed.
We walked past this absolutely beautifull courtyard while looking for Ca'n Joan de S'Aigo.

Courtyard close to Ca'n Joan de S'Aigo

We almost missed it because it's tucked away in one of the narrow streets in the old quarter.  Stepping into this restaurant is like taking a step back into the past. It dates from 1700 and inside it looks like there is nothing changed ever since. It's also full with locals and almost no tourists.

Ca'n Joan de S'Aigo is famous for it's 'quart' (a really fluffy and soft sponge cake) and almond ice cream.
We ordered the quart and a few different ensaimadas to share. 

The prices are more than reasonable; € 0.95 for a basic ensaimada and € 1,- for a quarto

From left to right; quarto, basic ensaimada, ensaimada with cream and sobrassada

5) Wine tasting at Bodegas Castell Miquell, Alaro-Lloseta

Although it's a German owned winery and they don't grow the more local grapes from the Balearic Islands like Prensal Blanc, Callet and Manto Negro, this winery is definitely worth a visit. The views from here are amazing and they make high quality (and also pretty expensive!) prize-winning wines. At the time of visiting they were out of white, but we were more than happy to bring home a few bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon.

View during wine tasting at Castell Miquell

6) Board the Mallorca Wine Expres

A tourist train which takes you from Santa Maria through 8 different wineries, vineyards and cellars.
Unfortunately we didn't have time to plan this in our trip. But it sounds like a great wine tour with some good reviews and I will definitely book a spot if we ever go back to Mallorca.

7) Try Coca de Patata at Ca'n Molinas, Valdemossa

Typical sweet of Mallorca and the local specialty of Valldemossa.

Much more explained and better photographed by Cowboys and Cappuccinos blog! 

8) Stroll Olivar Market (Mercat d'Olivar), Palma de Mallorca

An indoor food market with stalls full of fresh fish and seafood, cheese, fruits, vegetables and delicious first class (plus expensive!)  Iberico and Serrano hams. We strolled the market together with my parents. My dad was so amazed about the prices of these cured delicacies; he could't stop saying: '€ 170,- per kilo? Per kilo? Really?'

Olivar Market at Plaza de L'Olivar

Beautifull cured Iberico hams, Olivar Market

Fresh Anchovies, Olivar Market

9) Mahon cheese from Menorca

A tasty white cow's milk cheese with an orange rind. Available from just a few months (soft) to aged (hard). Although from their neighbouring island Menorca, Mahon cheese is widely available in supermarkets on Mallorca.

10) Dinner at Spice of India, Cala d'or

And if, by some reason, you do get stuck in Cala D'or and are looking for an authentical place to eat; try Spice of India. Not authentically Spanish off course but the only place I found that didn't have a menu including pizza. All the staff was from India plus they serve some tasty curries!

Low Carb Foodie?!

To be clear; I don't diet. I just don't believe in diets. I do believe in healthy eating and running.
But the hype about popular Low Carb diets and colleagues talking about it did make me a bit curious.
Plus the fact that ever since I turned 30 running 2 to 3 times a week and eat everything I like just doesn't work anymore ;-)

So I decided that instead of totally eating Low Carb I would start by eating Less Carbs. Only one meal with carbs like bread, pasta, potatoes or rice every day. Which meant I would replace two of my meals with low carb dishes.

To my big surprise I'm not even missing all the carbs I used to eat!
Before I started I always thought that I'd really miss my fresh bread for lunch.
Not that I have lost a lot of weight (although I really cannot tell because I do not own scales).
But I feel like I have so much more energy!
I don't feel hungry and if I do feel like snacking I don't crave cookies or something else sugary.
Instead I take a few walnuts or dried dates and feel totally happy.
And being a foodie means that I get jealous looks at work during lunch time when I'm eating my lowcarb salad ;-) Because low carb or not; it has to be tasty!
It's really not a punishment to eat like this. More a new way of making choices in what I eat.

I would like to share  my favourite Low Carb meals from the last few weeks:

The Superfood Salad from Leon restaurant

I found this recipe in the Leon Cookbook I bought recently but it's also published on The Guardian website.
I substituted the feta cheese for goat cheese. It's delicious and so healthy. It just requires some planning ahead the night before you take this to work. But I make the amount for 2 and divide it over two lunches. Take the dressing with you apart from the salad, I do this in a little jam jar, and mix the last minute.
Here's a Instagram picture I made during lunch:

Cucumber Salad with Smoked Salmon

I have yet to write a decent recipe for this but I mix thinly sliced cucumber, tomatoes, smoked salmon, pine nuts, a bit of red onion and a dressing of olive oil and balsamic vinegar (2:1).

Here is a picture that was made by my colleague Sylvia that she posted on Facebook

Roasted Cauliflower with chickpeas 

A top recipe from Gwyneth Palthrows latest book It's All Good (in Dutch: (H) eerlijk eten).
I make this in a big wok pan and serve it with grilled white fish; an idea by Cooksterella.
You can find the English recipe via Google on different foodblogs.

Braised Chicory with Ham and Cheese

A favourite for many years. I always ate this with potatoes and even some extra meat. Now I just enjoy the best part of the meal. I make 3 chicories per person and use this recipe (in Dutch) from Belgian top chef Peter Goossens.
I will publish the slightly adapted recipe here soon in English.

Off course tips for tasty, low carb recipes are more than welcome!

Amateur or professional chef?!

Why don't I start cooking professionally? As in; quitting my day-job and doing what I like most.
I asked myself this question many times in the past few years.
Well as I know now; it's so much more than just cooking!

I was one of the 18 lucky people who got the chance to experience a whole day in the restaurant 'In de Keuken van Floris' (translated as: In Floris' Kitchen).  On the occasion of the World Food Festival weeks in Rotterdam from Wednesday 18th September until Friday 25th October 2013,  they offered a one-day internship in their professional kitchen.

I had dinner in this restaurant before and I loved the concept, the food and the wines.
The concept: The beautiful and modern kitchen is standing in the middle of the restaurant and all the guests
(a maximum of approximately 40) are sitting around it. There is only one 9-course menu, the same for everyone, which you can choose to be completely vegetarian. It starts at 19.00 pm and everyone is served the same dishes at the same time.
On quiet evenings chef Floris Versluijs, sous chef Mathieu Roza and sommelier Mathijs Struik run the restaurant themselves. When fully booked there is some extra help called in.

An impression of the restaurant; kitchen in the middle and tables around it

The food: The chef is cooking what he likes; and these are not the most simple dishes. Floris did internships in world famous restaurants like Noma in Copenhagen and Alinea in Chicago. He has his own touch and is constantly thinking about new ideas and experimenting with things he finds in nature. And I really love the fact that he is cooking a lot with (less known) vegetables. Absolutely delicious and inspiring.

The wines: Off course on the day I worked there I did not have any of the wines served with the food. But I still remember the Champagne we had during our last visit in 2012. It was something I had never tasted before: Champagne with the taste of a sweet sherry! (Michel Gonet 2004, Blanc de Blancs, Grand Cru, Brut) This was during the Champagne flight we ordered before the dinner started. If you choose the wine pairing menu there will be served a matching wine with every dish. And they have also thought about the people who don't drink alcohol.  For those there is the choice of a juice pairing menu, with homemade juices.

So there I was, Wednesday morning 11.00 am,  ready to watch and learn.
And I learnt a lot;
- how they remember which guest has which allergy (counting clockwise)
- about 'French' mushrooms and melons ;-)
- that if a table of four leaves because they don't like their place in the restaurant there is more to taste for the staff (lucky me!)
- but that it also means a big loss of revenue (while costs are already made and the table is empty for the rest of the night)
- about working 14 hours a day with just two short breaks to eat something (and drinking lots and lots of espressos!)
- puzzling with space
- about vacuuming food and preparing it 'sous-vide'
- about negotiating with suppliers about just a few cents
- about the fact that Black Grouse birds have a penetrating odor
- and that you can still taste this terrible smell once it's prepared (as you probably figured this was not my favorite dish)
- that there is really no time to do some nice food photography during the service.

Some of these things are just really nice to know, for any chef.
But a lot of it you just don't have to worry about as an amateur chef.
If it's your hobby you just cook for fun. Because you like to cook, not because you have to earn a living out of it. Even if you master the same techniques and are able to cook on the same level as a professional chef, that is the big difference.

I have a deep respect for all professional chefs working on this level; continue to develop new dishes, new combinations and new techniques every day. In the meanwhile cooking for their guests plus dealing with A LOT of other stuff!

But besides the fact that cooking for a living is so much more than just cooking. Maybe even more important to me for choosing not to follow my passion, is that my current job gives me the opportunity to take a long time of to travel. And guarantees me that I still have a job when I come back.
Because if there is anything in the world I love as much as cooking it's travelling!

It was great to have this experience; I would definitely do it again if I get the chance. Although I've been cooking for many years there is no better and faster way to learn than in a professional kitchen.
To answer the first question; I really wonder if I would still be as passionate and enthusiastic about it.

With Chef Floris & Sous Chef Mathieu after a 14 hour shift (and they were not ready yet)

During my 1-day internship there was really no time to take any food pictures. Luckily friends who had dinner in the restaurant that night took some action-pictures. To give an impression of the dishes that are served In de keuken van Floris I post a few pictures of my dinner in 2012.

Note to reader; when I applied for this one-day-job I applied as 'Ilona' not as 'Crazy Dutch Foodie'. 
I wanted to be chosen as someone with a passion for cooking not as someone who might write a nice blog about the restaurant and maybe would be treated differently. 

Amuse bouche 2012

Main dish 2012

Vegetarian dish with pasta, artichoke, dried olives, dried tomatoes and Parmesan

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)!

The Perfect Afternoon Tea?

I love to enjoy a nice afternoon tea once in a while. In the Netherlands it's mostly called 'High Tea' and apparently we are not the only country who does that.

Also the Lonely Planet wrote an article about the worlds best high tea's.

On this website I found an extensive explanation about the history of English afternoon tea, which is really interesting to read.

I never really realised that this English tradition is spread around the world and you can have excellent afternoon teas in many places. Definitely an extra activity for future culinary travels.


It's actually pretty popular to enjoy an afternoon tea, especially by women. Between 14.00 and 17.00 you will see a lot of women meet each other in a nice tea- or lunchroom, even on weekdays. Some places are so popular you have to make reservations way ahead! 
But what makes it so appealing? And what makes a perfect afternoon tea?
I decided to do some research.

In the last few years I have tried lots of them in different cafes and restaurants. Through all these experiences I became a bit of an afternoon tea critic. And although there were some really good afternoon tea's with perfect tea, food and service (like The Ritz in London).  There were also a lot less authentic experiences where either the food and tea were good but the service was bad.  Or the food was not suitable for a tea; like little lamb kebab with yoghurt or soup. And countless of afternoon teas where the food was not homemade and cheap tea bags were served…
It's so simple! And not even that expensive.  

This is not what you like to get served as tea during an afternoon tea

A perfect afternoon tea definitely has to include good quality loose leaf tea!

And with that I mean tea leaves served in a tea infuser. Preferably from different tea producing countries to choose from (Argentina is one I did not know).
Unfortunately I seldom get this served during an afternoon tea.

Most of the time it's just regular tea bags L

That's so disappointing, why would anyone want to drink regular (in the Netherlands we drink a lot of the Pickwick brand) teabags when they can have that at home or work all the time?

Besides good quality tea I also think unlimited tea should be included in the price.

It's crazy to pay a lot of money for an afternoon tea and then only be served one pot or cup.

Then on to the food; typically it consists of: sandwiches, scones and sweet pastries.  

For me that's perfect. Sometimes you get served soup and/ or a salad first. But that just doesn't blend with tea and has nothing to do with a traditional afternoon tea but more with a normal lunch. Although savoury snacks are not always included, a little quiche is a good balance for all the sweet stuff. They should be served with the sandwiches; savoury before sweet! 

Popular sandwich fillings are egg-salad, smoked salmon and cucumber. Although some variety is seen here with carpaccio, tasty (Cheddar) cheese or chickenbreast chutney-like fillings.  

The bread is traditionally white, thinly sliced, and buttered. The crust is cut away cleanly from the sandwich after the sandwich has been prepared, but before serving.

I prefer to taste different flavours of  'finger sandwiches' also known as 'tea sandwiches'. Those are just small portions of normal sandwiches.

Finger sandwiches, on different bread,  served at Ritz Hotel, London

Then on to the one item that makes or breaks the perfect afternoon tea; scones with jam and clotted cream! Without freshly baked scones accompanied by jam or lemon curd and clotted cream it's not the real thing. The Cornish clotted cream served in the Ritz Hotel was as thick as butter :- ). Unfortunately that kind of clotted cream is hard to find in the Netherlands. You can substitute with whipped double cream mixed with mascarpone. (Note to Dutch readers: some of the large Jumbo supermarkets do have clotted cream in their assortment!) 

And to finish the tea sweet pastries and cakes are served.  Whatever these are, from cakes to chocolates, I always really appreciate it if this part is also home made. Although some things can be perfectly bought at a good quality patissier or chocolatier. Lately I also see some delicious macarons and mini cupcakes in this part. 

Maybe not traditional,  but certainly makes it an extra festive moment, is serving a glass of Champagne or other sparkling wine at the start of an afternoon tea.

Any suggestions for a nice place to try an excellent afternoon tea, anywhere in the world, are always welcome; please leave a comment! 

Recipes to make a perfect afternoon tea at home follow in future blog posts.

Cookbook recommendation: 
* The Ritz London book of Afternoon Tea Including a great collection of their recipes.