food Archives - Page 10 of 13

Tarwebloem Schijven met Zeewolf

Yes, I am talking about catfish tacos. They are very popular in the US, found on many southwestern and tex-mex menus. I can’t recall having seen them anywhere in Amsterdam, so I decided to make my own.

Luckily there are plenty of recipes available online. I liked the catfish tacos with thai cabbage slaw by Whole Foods Market. The Thai slaw dressing with coconut milk and peanut butter is a nice twist. The catfish is grilled. And there is a nice video that explains very nicely how to make the catfish tacos.

There is no Whole Foods Market in Amsterdam, so I set out to procure the ingredients elsewhere. The good news is that everything is available in decent quality and easy enough to find!

The biggest obstacle? Finding out the Dutch word for catfish – zeewolf. I always struggle with translating and remembering fish names. When I have to, I turn to a handy brochure published by visbureau.nl – a Dutch fishermen’s marketing organization – that not only lists all fishing companies but also has an extensive appendix with fish names in English, Dutch, German, French and Italian. Well prepared linguistically, I got some nice zeewolf at Marqt, expensive but very good in fish and herbs. I also got fresh cilantro there.

I wasn’t sure about availability of flour tortillas. But it turned out to be easy, too. Sandwich wraps are very popular in Amsterdam and all supermarkets carry soft tortillas nowadays. While at the supermarket I also picked up peanut butter and honey.

My Turkish corner shop usually has the best fruit and veggies and I went there for avocado, limes, red cabbage, carrots, radish and red onion. And the Toko across the street stocks fish sauce, sesame oil, red chili paste, coconut milk and red pepper flakes if you don’t have them in the house.

Here is a picture of my stash of zeewolf, tarwebloem schijven and more, ready to be turned into yummy catfish tacos.

The recipe is quick and easy and can be done in less than 30 minutes if you are well organized. Make sure you have plenty of catfish so that the the flavor of the slaw will not be overpowering. And simply broil the fish at the highest temperature in the oven if you – like most Amsterdammers – do not have a grill.

With the tacos, we had a lovely bottle of the Pacherenc du Vic Bilh that we bought at Gall & Gall the other day. The pungent and mineral-flavored Pacherenc worked very well with the catfish and the Thai dressing.

Enjoy! Eet smakelijk!!

Turkey – the Bird, Bird, Bird ;-)

For thanksgiving I wrote about turkey. My point was that there are lots of turkey recipes and that everybody seems to have their own secret trick on how to prepare the perfect turkey. However, in the end it’s all about the turkey. If you find a good bird, your chances of a good thanksgiving dinner are high. If not, forget about it.

So basically, it’s all about the bird. The bird, bird, bird 😉

Coolio, of Gangsta’s Paradise fame, and currently venturing into cooking with Cookin’ with Coolio, has a hilarious video about cooking the bird. The bird, bird, bird.

It’s so fun. You must watch it.

Pacherenc + Ripasso + Celeste = Gall & Gall Card

If there are two things I hate about food shopping in Amsterdam, it’s (a) Dutch super markets and (b) bonus cards.

For the non-locals: Dutch food shops are generally small, focused on low cost and much more concerned about the expiration date than the quality of food. And all of them offer some sort of bonus scheme that provides discounts in return for loyalty. ‘Spaart u zegels’, anyone?

I generally prefer the Turkish corner shop over Dutch darling supermarket Albert Heijn and my local liquor store over AH’s cousin Gall & Gall. I might pay a little more but the quality is much better and the service much friendlier and more knowledgeable.

Today, however, I bought seven bottles of wine at Gall & Gall and subscribed to their bonus card scheme! How did this happen?

Well. I went to the large Gall & Gall near the Dam to pick up a bottle of Pacherenc du Vic-Bilh. The same ‘Torus’ I bought a few months ago and enjoyed a lot. I did enjoy it enough to pick up three bottles instead of the intended one. On the way to check-out, a bottle of Masi Campofiorin caught my eye. Only two days ago I had posted about how much I love Ripasso wine and that I never had tried one from Masi, the vineyard that invented the Ripasso technique. So I definitely had to get two of those. And right next to it, perfectly placed, I spotted a Torus Madiran. A red wine made by Brumont who also produces the Pacherenc. So I also had to get two of those bottles.

Über-happy with my unexpected stash of seven bottles I finally made it to check-out. Fully prepared to decline the usual offer for a bonus card. The friendly customer service representative, however, explained to me that it would be rather foolish to decline. A Gall & Gall card, he continued, costs € 10,- and entitles me to a 10% discount on each purchase for the next 12 months. And with my current shopping basket, I would be almost even immediately.

I went for it.

Did I give in to the system?!?

Pacherenc + Ripasso + Celeste = Gall & Gall Card

If there are two things I hate about food shopping in Amsterdam, it’s (a) Dutch super markets and (b) bonus cards.

Today, however, I bought seven bottles of wine at Gall & Gall and subscribed to their bonus card scheme! How did this happen?

I went for it.

Did I give in to the system?!?

Complexities and Cost of Sous-Vide Cooking

Sous-Vide – or under vacuum – is the latest rage in cooking techniques. Sous-vide cooking involves sealing the ingredients in an airtight plastic bag and cooking them for extended amounts of time at temperatures well below boiling. The intention of sous-vide cooking is to preserve the flavors and aromas of the ingredients and to heat them up equally, e.g. to prepare meat that is perfectly medium-rare everywhere.

Michelin decorated chefs like Bocuse or Robichon have been using the technique for many years but it never entered private use because of complexity, high cost of equipment and safety concerns. Reading the excellent practical guide to sous vide cooking practically requires a science degree to successfully navigate the government pasteurization tables and decipher the mathematics of sous-vide. And in a recent Wired Magazine I read how former Microsoft CTO Nathan Myhrvold was spearheading efforts to make sous-vide accessible for hobby chefs.

Essentially sous-vide requires two pieces of equipment: a vacuum food sealer and some device for controlling temperature accurately over long periods of time. Vacuum food sealers are easy to find and have been used by private households for sealing and storing foods for a while. But finding a temperature regulator remains difficult.

Wired recommends an Auber temperature controller that looks more like laboratory equipment than cooking device. It has a thermometer to measure the temperature and switches electricity on and off to maintain constant temperature. You can use it with a rice cooker by plugging the cooker into the outlet of the controller. Alternatively, German control instrument manufacturer Julabo has a whole range of sous-vide equipment that might be usable in your kitchen but clearly looks aimed at the professional market. On kookforum.nl user Maurits on made a list of alternatives including slow-cookers and second hand lab equipment that leaves much to be desired.

It’s very tempting to try out sous-vide. But given the cost and complexity of the equipment, I will continue to rely on professionals to prepare sous-vide food for me for now!

Unusual Pasta at Puyck

Last weekend, I discovered an unusual type of pasta at Mediterranean restaurant cum deli Puyck on Ceintuurbaan in de Pijp.

My regular source for ingredients for Italian food is Feduzzi on Scheldestraat near the RAI. They have the best Parmaham and Parmesan in Amsterdam. I was, however, in de Pijp on the other side of town. And simply in need of some decent tomato sauce. Feduzzi was too far away and I remembered a little Italian traiteur by Sarphatipark. It’s called Puyck and belongs to the restaurant with the same name on Ceintuurbaan.

So I went there, had a look around, and discovered an unusual type of pasta – gnocchi filled with basil and mozzarella. Unlike regular gnocchi, they have a round shape. The flavor and texture is almost like German-style dumplings. And they have a mozzarella and basil filling.

Other than that, I thought Puyck was ok but certainly not worth going out of my way to pick up ingredients. The service was obnoxious. I was asked if I needed any help and replied that I wanted to have a look around. Unfortunately, the owner followed me around the entire store, breathing down my neck and commenting on everything. He was knowledgeable, but also annoying. Puyck has a large selection of different kinds of olive oil that they fill in little bottles. And they sell all the wines that the restaurant has on its wine list. It’s an interesting selection and I went home with a bottle of Sicilian Viognier that I have not tried yet.