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Sharpening Global Knives – minoSharp

I love my global knives and use them a lot. Especially the GF-33 chef’s knife is in constant use and requires maintenance and sharpening.

The web site of Yoshikin, the manufacturer of global knifes, provides advice on maintenance. Sounds good in theory. But in reality it requires purchasing several ceramic sharpening whetstones; setting them up rather precariously on a wooden board as foundation, near the sink with water running for rinsing during sharpening; and finally meticulous sharpening technique to get the angle of the blade just right while sharpening.

Simply too difficult.

So instead I would bring my knife to the shop for sharpening about once every six months. This worked fine for me although I always thought it was expensive (EUR 10+), below expectations in sharpness and also meant not having my knife for at least a few days.

So I was quite happy when recently I discovered the minoSharp – a handy little tool specifcally made for sharpening global knives.

It has two ceramic whetstone wheels – a coarse and a medium one – mounted at exactly the right angle. You fill it with water which will rinse the whetstones wheels when they turn during sharpening. Simply draw the knife through the wheel seven or eight times and voila!

The minoSharp is super easy to use, less than 15cm large and also a good deal for about EUR 20!

Mi Sueño – good, honest steak

Sometimes I feel like having a good steak. And with good steaks, the secret is in excellent quality meat, cooked exactly right and no frills.

There are few places in Amsterdam that fit the bill. Mi Sueño is one of them.

I went for the rib-eye because I like a little fat around the meat for extra flavor and juiciness. Mi Sueno got that right! Where many restaurants in Amsterdam use rib-eye as a poor excuse for poor quality, fatty meat, Mi Sueno served a steak with the right amount of fat.

As usual, I ordered my meat medium rare. You wouldn’t believe how many restaurants get that wrong and most often I end up with meat that is solidly past medium and on its way to well done. Again Mi Sueno delivered and cooked it just right.

And side dishes are entirely up to you. If you want the steak and just the steak, that what you’ll get!

Next time you feel like having good honest steak, I recommend a trip to the Rivierenbuurt.

Google maps: Maaststraat 40, 1078 HK Amsterdam

Web site: http://www.mi-sueno.nl

Weihenstephan racks up award in Amsterdam

Weihenstephan has racked up several awards around the world and in Amsterdam.

At the “Australian International Beer Awards” the Weihenstephan „Kristallweißbier“ won the overall price of best beer. The “International Beer Challenge” in Great Britain awarded Weihenstephan a gold medal for its “Hefeweißbier”. And the Weihenstephaner “Kristallweißbier” received a gold medal during the yearly Stockholm Beer & Whisky Festival.

And finally it was the Dutch’s turn to praise Weihenstephan during the Bockbier Festival in the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam in late October. Of a total of 60 sampled beers, only two were placed in the “worldclass”: Weihenstephan’s “Vitus” and their double bock “Korbinian”.

If after all the awards you crave a fresh and tasty Weihenstephan you can check out my September post about places in Amsterdam that serve Weihenstephan.

Het Stuivertje – will try again!

Went to Het Stuivertje last night, a traditional eetcafe in the Jordaan, with kip sate, tournedos and dorado on the menu, all dishes served with fries, and lots of old photographs and pictures on the wall.

Anyway, the dinner went wrong: It took forever to get the rather straightforward dishes; the mobile phones at the neighbouring table kept ringing; and the rib-eye I had ordered was hard and full of tendons.

So all I wanted to do was pay, get out of there and never come back. The waitress came, we asked for the check, she asked whether we liked our food.

Now it gets interesting. I always give detailed and specific feedback to restaurants, no matter whether I liked the food a lot or not. Amazingly, most of the time the personnel seems surprised and overwhelmed and quite simply unable to do anything with that feedback. It really seems like the question is only asked out of courtesy not to solicit an actual answer.

Not so tonight. Our waitress wanted to know what I didn’t like. So I explained and when she came back with the check, the rib eye had been taken off.

I must say that I was very surprised. This does not happen often.

And I must also say that it worked. Instead of going home with the intention to never come back, I will now try again and hope for a better experience next time around!

Red Bergerac 2005 at Tromp Winkel

I have always liked red Bergerac wines – strong, aromatic wines from the region east of Bordeaux, along the Dordogne river. Bergerac wines are usually made mainly from Cabernet and Merlot grapes. They are tannin-rich and fruity with red fruit, black fruit and vanilla aromas.

Bergerac wines are not as dry as Bordeaux wines and much more easily combined with many sorts of dishes. They are great for meat and cheese and also go very well with pastas or risottos with cream sauce. Some people will even combine a red Bergerac with fish in a buttery sauce.

Another advantage is that – as a region – Bergerac is a lot less famous and renowned as Bordeaux. So while you pay for the reputation of a Bordeaux, you mainly pay for the quality of a Bergerac. My price range for buying an everyday wine is usually between 5 and 10 euros. Anything below 5 euros is too risky – there might be some great finds but the majority is just plain bad. And spending more than 10 euros is not only a lot of money for drinks. But also not many people have a fine enough palette to taste the difference every day.

So I was quite pleased to find a great Bergerac at the Tromp Winkel – a cheese store on Beethovenstraat – the other day. It’s a 2005 Chevalier de la Rogère, made by a Dutch couple who emigrated to the south of France to make wine:

The Tromp winkel on Beethovenstraat frequently has some great wines next to its great selection of cheeses. The Chevalier de la Rogère will set you back 9,95 euros per bottle. During the special offer in October you can get 24 bottles for the price of 15.

The wine has a dark red color and is full of fruity aromas. I find that it still has a rather alcoholic nose, so I might leave it in the cellar for another one or two years. It’s made almost 100% from Merlot grapes.

One of my favorite restaurants, De Witte Uyl, used to have a great Bergerac, the Château Grinou 1999, which was 100% Merlot. Guess I was not the only one who liked it – they ran out.

If you like red wine and cheese, head over to Tromp for some Epoisse and a bottle of 2005 Bergerac before they run out, too!

Samosas – easy and yummy

I find starters the best every time I eat at an Indian restaurant. The bhaji, pakoras and samosas are often so good that I end up having too many of them and feeling somewhat full even before the main course. All the starters are delicious, but samosas – Indian, fried, triangular-shaped pastry with a spicy potato and veggie stuffing – are my favorite.

The other day I decided to try making my own samosas. At that time, I wasn’t really sure what I was getting myself into. But was pleasantly surprised to find out that samosas are actually quite easy to make. Most of the ingredients are easy to find and it took me less than an hour to make 8 super yummy samosas. The dough was made in minutes and the stuffing is very easy, consisting of only potatoes, veggies and spices. Folding and stuffing the samosas took a little trial and error, but proved quite doable. I definitely recommend trying it: they are super yummy and something you can impress your friends with!

One thing that helped greatly was watching a video of an expert doing it. I found two great ones on youtube, with expert Manjula – a lovely Indian lady with a cute accent – demonstrating all steps of making samosas. They are quite funny, but even more so instructive and spot on. I am including them below. The first video is 8:30 minutes and shows how to make the dough and the stuffing. Part 2 lasts 5:30 minutes. It starts with Manjula folding and stuffing the samosas and ends with the frying process.

I only made two changes, substituting corn starch for semolina flower (which I didn’t have in the house) and using broccoli rather than green peas (which I simply preferred).

The hard to understand ingredient is “garam masala”, a mix of spices that is used a lot in Indian dishes and good to have at home. Among many other spices it includes cumin, clovers, and cardamom. And I also made some tamarind sauce, by mixing tamarind paste with some water and sugar. You can get both garam masala and tamarind paste at your local toko or Indian / Asian store.

Oh, and in case things go wrong, here is a great place for Indian delivery. Just give Indian Express on Pieter Langedijkstraat, behind Overtoom, a quick call. And they will bring you some great samosas, bhaji and pakoras. And they will even be happy to bring a main course if you still feel like having one after all those super yummy starters.