Bear Hunt to the Bear's Head

Cream Tea Bear

Just a little hanger-on to the previous post…. I found a rather cuddly cream tea bear in a wander about Brereton, a small village just outside of Congleton. Every other year all the residents of Brereton including farms and the church get creative and display bears in any fashion on their front lawns, hanging out of windows and even on trees!

Beartown

This madness, or cuteness, stems from Congleton’s famous nickname ‘Beartown’. The preferred story goes that in the 15^th century we sold our town bible in aid of gaining money to buy a dancing bear (a lot more fun and tourist friendly for the medieval folk!) I am, however, led to believe that the truth is that the money which had been saved for a new bible was spent on the bear instead. Either way, the 21^st century inhabitants are more in favour of the morally ambiguous tale.

To read the amazing bear poem, click on the link!! 

http://www.congleton-cheshire.co.uk/beartown.htm

The walk was very refreshing. Lots of green fields, cows and the odd bear. Just your normal ramble around the Cheshire countryside.

The British Pub

And as all country walks should, we ended up at a nice pub for a spot of lunch and a cold cider in the beer garden. A walk around Brereton doing the bear trail could only mean one pub, The Bear’s Head. It is a quirky, black and white building with dark corners, mismatching wooden chairs, afternoon horse riders nipping in for a swift one and ladies who lunch. I have only ever been there in the depths of winter, when the Elizabethan character, wood burning fires and mulled wine on tap do a good job of defrosting your wintry toes. So it was a lovely change to be outdoors with a trusty wooden spoon to guide the waitress to our table.

Summery Europe has terraces, huge open grass spaces where BBQ-ing is not prohibited and thereby owns a relaxed and bubbly feel; I think summer and England are married well in the beer garden. There are different genres of beer garden though. Perhaps the Bear’s Head represents a country residency; polite conversation in the sun with Pimms, fruity cider or maybe even a spritzer. There are trees and flowers in disarray around large parasols placed suitably in the middle of huge family sized bench, or you could choose to sit on wicker chairs perched by smaller and more delicate tables.

Another beer garden could be described as the no-garden beer garden. Essentially a paved area out-back where in the winter smokers gather under heaters before rushing back in to their pints and in the summer a handful of chairs and tables appear for those wishing to take advantage of the sun trap.

There are also the family (and dog) friendly beer gardens, which usually have a small area for the kids to mess around in, although I would say these are around less and less these days. The family vibe is fittingly finished off with pooch, probably after a short walk the family and dog need to stop off at the watering hole for refreshments and as dogs are not allowed indoors, the beer garden is the only option.

 Whatever the vibe of beer garden, nothing changes the pub grub menu. I really don’t want to sound anti-British or anti-cheap food (as sometimes that is really all you want and need) yet, for me, those are the only things I expect now from a chain British Pub. The Bear’s Head is one of those. Even after months of craving pub food I surprised myself when fish and chips, hunters chicken, steak and ale pie etc. really were not taking my fancy. In fact Sophie and I scoured the menu for an age before deciding on a sharing a Meze platter with a bowl of onion rings. It was actually lovely for around £10 each including drinks. One thing can be said about pub food- it is good value for money, you do get what you pay for, and I don’t mean that in a negative way. When living in Nantes and Amsterdam, I could not find any equivalents in price, everything was so expensive. However the quality was much greater and I preferred it. The pub type places weren't selling gourmet food fit for a food critic, yet the menus were smaller, more manageable and you certainly didn't get the feeling that somebody was just reheating something they prepared earlier in the microwave. I could be wrong- I never stepped into the kitchen.

If anything, I think that with British chain pubs, you should take a bit of care in what you decide to order. If you go for a pub classic with chips, deep fried stuff or a burger, you can’t go wrong, but if you attempt the special vegetarian chilli, Jamaican style stew or Boeuf Bourguingon, there is a small chance that it was made on premises (which doesn’t mean that it can’t taste good!) These chain pubs vary. It is impossible and wrong to make sweeping generalisations.

On the other hand, if you go to an independent pub in Britain you are more likely to get a great eating experience. The pub I worked at in the past, The Plough Inn, had its own pastry chef, made its own sauces down to the tartare sauce, and cooked everything on premises. The better quality shows, as does the price.

This was a risky post as I feel like I have critiqued my own country’s cuisine. But putting it all into perspective, we do have a terrible reputation for food (amongst other things) and I believe that it is because of two main reasons: Firstly, we do not take time to shop and cook appropriately, think about flavours and what is good for our diet, and secondly, tourists on the whole, eat at the wrong places and do not get to see what we actually have to offer. I know that Britain has great chefs and fabulous eating places and closet wannabe cooks creating near masterpieces in the kitchen. But pub grub will always be right in the centre of our hungry hearts. I, for one, will be eating in pubs for as long as I live on this Island.

To finish off, bear hunts are a lot of fun, so go and find 'one bearection', 'bear of steel' and the 'bake off bear' in the countryside near us!!

Jo *

English Cream Tea

Changing times

Since my last entry I have returned to British shores. My year in Amsterdam was up and now it is time to start a real career hunt (times is hard though- we shall see what happens!) There were so many more things that I wanted to write about the Netherlands yet I came across a very boring and tedious issue in that I have no pictures. I had my camera stolen in January meaning I could not take any more photos. Luckily my techy Megan was around to fill in the picture gap but with her return back to the US of A I have been picture-less, which does not make for interesting blog entries. My intention is to keep them in the pipe line and in the mean time I have my smart phone back with a fully working amazing camera. It is time to discover a Brit summer, and for the first time since I was about 8 years old, we are actually having a real life near tropical summer!

The beautiful scone

I think I mentioned earlier that my French hosts were in love with the English scone and rather enjoyed a nibble on them for breakfast. The traditional way, however, is to indulge in an afternoon tea with scones probably around four in the afternoon such as the French gouter or quatre-heures (see, we aren't that different after all!).

The cream tea or ‘Devonshire tea’ originated in the South West of England, so Devon, Cornwall and Somerset. When foreign friends ask me which part of England they should visit I always suggest this area: it is a pretty, quaint and almost untouched part of our Isles, where there is a better than average climate, thatched cottages, sunny beaches good enough for surfing and very English cream teas. We have had a couple of brilliant family holidays down there and without an ounce of guilt we ate a cream tea nearly every day.

There has been historical intrigue in Devon regarding the cream tea. When looking through old manuscripts from Tavistock’s Benedictine abbey dating back to the end of the Tenth Century, historians found that after a Viking attack in 997AD, locals, as well as Ordulf Earl of Devon, rallied together to rebuild the destroyed Abbey to which the grateful monks fed them ‘bread, clotted cream and strawberry preserves’.  Even though this is the earliest recorded evidence of a cream tea and arguably does not prove its true origin, isn’t it just awesome to imagine monks handing out scrummy offerings, which haven’t changed very much in over 1,000 years, to fill the stomachs of and slowly gather morale in a community facing hardship. Food is truly amazing.

For more information on the history of the cream tea, including Cornish links to Afghanistan and Syria (pretty interesting) check out these websites:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/devon/news_features/2004/tavistock_cream_tea.shtml

http://creamteacafe.com/history/

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2010/may/20/devon-cornwall-cream-tea

There are many variations on the cream tea, but in my opinion there has to be a big pot of tea, a couple of scones with strawberry jam and thick clotted cream on the side to spread freely on the scones as you please.

It is a little pick-me-up in the afternoon when the hunger pangs appear well before tea (dinner) time, or even if you aren’t hungry it is a slice of devilish decadence as what we experienced when holidaying down in those parts.

The cream tea is simple and sweet not only for the palate but also to create in your own kitchen too.

Sunny, strawberry Saturday

With all of that tasty history stuff in mind, last weekend  I was more than happy to help out at my Grandma’s annual garden cream tea organised by her mission group. I would have been happy to help out in any case, yet when slogging away trying to find the career you so long for, nothing makes you feel more inspired than getting involved and doing something worthwhile- also, with a year away from England I was pretty desperate for some of Grandma’s scones, fresh strawberries and a cuppa tea!

The event was put together in aid of a children’s charity. It cost £5 per person and included a scone with butter and jam, two shortbread biscuits, a portion of strawberries and cream and a cute cup of tea. There was a group of us volunteering plating up the food bits and pouring the teas. It was a lot of fun, and of course, we got our very own cream tea at the end! All of the scones were homemade and the shortbread too, making it a super, sunny, strawberry Saturday. Over all the cream tea made £400, which will be put to very good use.

Recipe time

I made scones a lot when in Amsterdam. The whole family adored them and when the first Marks and Spencer in Amsterdam opened, Peggy was straight down there in the first week purchasing scones and other treats. Home-made versions always look far more crazy and cool.

My favourite scones have raisins in them. Since forever I have detested the weird glacé cherries, which can be put in scones and fruit cakes of all kinds, therefore they are not appearing in this recipe. But of course you can swap the raisins for cherries or just leave the scones plain- the choice is yours.

Ingredients

§  225g self-raising flour

§  55g butter

§  25g caster sugar

§  150ml milk

§  1 egg beaten

§  Pinch of salt

§  Teaspoon baking powder

§  75g sultanas/raisins

How to make

1.       Turn the oven on to 220 degrees celcius and grease a large baking tray.

2.       Mix the flour and salt together in a big bowl. Take the butter out of the fridge, chop it up with a knife into little cubes and add into the flour. Rub the butter and flour mixture together with your fingers to make breadcrumbs- just like the first stage of making pastry.

3.       Measure out the sugar and raisins and stir it into the breadcrumb-like mixture with a knife. If you would like more or less raisins, cherries instead of raisins, or just to keep the scones plain, change it accordingly.

4.       At this point it is time to add liquid, milk. Be careful that you don’t add it all at once, you may not need the full amount listed. A soft dough will form and at this point do not add any more liquid.

5.       Flour a clean surface and put the dough ball out onto it and knead gently for a couple of minutes. After this, roll out the scones to the thickness you want. I would suggest about 3 cm. Then cut out the dough into scone circle shapes. You could take a glass rim, a cutter, or just make it up with your hands- totally up to you and what you have available.

6.       Place the scones on the greased baking tray and finish them off with a beaten egg wash.

7.       They will probably take 15mins to cook depending on how big you made the scones so keep an eye on them!!

Happy Baking

Jo*

Home is where the hearty lasagne is

Keep Cooking and Carry on!

When motivation and spirits are down and when times are dull or stressful, nothing is more inspiring than food, friends and fun. Similarly to a good old English cuppa, a nice big meal really solves anything and even just thinking of the evening in which this luscious lasagne was created (a couple of months ago now) is cheering me up, reminding me to ‘keep cooking and carry on’. If the baking industry can take on world war two propaganda then so can I, and as they say, an army marches on its stomach, and so into battle against the bad times we must go.

To ease us all back onto the food platter I thought a nice dollop of Italian would do the trick. This food blog wasn’t necessarily about sharing recipes, however, the night we all gathered in Petra’s kitchen there was an ambience of contentment spurned on by a couple of bottles of red wine, good chats and the promise of a better-late-than-never spring, which really brought this authentic lasagne to life. It is not that I want to say that this recipe is the best, just that there aint nothing that can compare to home cooking from scratch where all you need is to invest a little bit of time and effort.

Delia Smith is starting a campaign on bringing cooking back into the home and away from easier and readily available food products. She is additionally trying to tackle the myth that cooking at home with fresh produce is more expensive than these other options, when actually it is far more economical to buy, cook and eat fresh. Money issues aside, we need to see the eating table as a time and place for bringing people together and for enjoying each other’s company. Whether your dinner table is filled with arguments about politics, drunken chatter, the top 40 charts or whether to get a pet chinchilla or not, the one point in common is the food table; sharing it with others is paramount to our survival as a civilised race.

On this particular Saturday night we took advantage of having a house with no ‘host parents’ where we could relax in knowing that we weren’t going to disturb them or the children and could experiment vivaciously dans la cuisine.

Petra had never made a lasagne before and wanted to give it a go. Wasting no time we nipped to Albert Heijn for the ingredients and invited a few people over to enjoy it with us. Hey presto, spontaneous cooking eve achieved, and a sunny one it was at that.

Making a lasagne can take time because of the chopping, making the saucy bit, making the cheesy béchamel topping, layering it and then cooking it in the oven. This does, however, mark out five easy steps to fashioning a pretty fabulous lasagne. Let’s begin with the ingredients and then go through the steps.

Ingredients

Bolognaise sauce

400g minced beef

2 large carrots chopped into tiny pieces

1 onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves,chopped

1-2 cans of chopped tomatoes or passata

1-2 tablespoons tomato puree

A handful of fresh basil ripped into random pieces

Salt and pepper for seasoning

Tad of oil for frying if needed

Cheeky dash of red wine if it is about!

Béchamel sauce

I usually just make this a bit spontaneously…. But around

30g butter

4 tablespoons flour

3/4 pint of milk

200g strong grated cheese

Salt and white pepper to taste

Pinch of grated nutmeg

Also… don’t forget the lasagne sheets. Either dried or fresh, you will need a big box/packet.

Step One: chopping for the Bolognaise

    I would most definitely recommend getting all of your ingredients chopped and ready for the bolognaise sauce before beginning to cook it. This simply means that your attention can be given to the food that is in the pan and prevents you from having a decapitated finger infecting the onions and garlic on the chopping board.

      The onion needs to be finely chopped and the garlic however you wish. Keep it chunky or thinly sliced (the smaller the piece the more flavoursome).

      I would cut the carrots into thin rings and then cut those rings into quarters. If you looked at a clock, you would have little 15minute chunks. The carrots will cook more easily like this and adds a little texture to the dish. Of course, cut em how you like though!

      The basil just needs to be torn into random sized pieces. Nothing too strenuous.

Step two: Making the Bolognaise Sauce

§  Take a large frying pan with high sides or just a deep pan and start to cook the minced beef on a medium heat. I usually dry fry the mince first so that the other ingredients can then fry/cook in its fat, meaning that I don’t have to add any extra oil. Feel free to add any oil if you think it needs it.

§  When the mince is browned, add your onions and garlic, mixing them in thoroughly.

§  After about 5 minutes add the carrots.

§  Another 5 minutes later add in your tomato puree, salt and pepper, can(s) of chopped tomato or passata and cheeky dash of red wine if you wish. Mix them all in together, bring to the boil and then simmer for about 20minutes. Quickly throw in the basil when simmering is underway.

Step Three: Making the cheesy béchamel sauce

      This is the creamy white sauce that goes on the top of the lasagne. I add cheese to mine (technically making it a Mornay sauce if you wanna be all French about it!), if you are doing it the cheesy way like me then it is the same as before, be prepared and grate your cheese before getting started on the sauce.

      Take a medium sized pan and melt the butter on a medium heat. Add in the flour and mix it constantly with a wooden spoon.

      When nice and mixed, add in the milk gradually, bringing the heat up and keeping stirring.

      Making this sauce does take a bit of practice as you have to feel when the sauce is reaching the correct thickness. Hopefully your sauce will start to look (and feel when stirring) like a thickish blended soup. At this point you can take it off the heat add the cheese, salt, pepper and nutmeg seasoning.

       If your sauce does not reach this thickness after 10 minutes of stirring on a high heat then add another tablespoon of flour and continue stirring. Keep stirring it for a further 5 minutes and if there is still no improvement, add another tablespoon. So on and so on.

      If it all goes wrong you can always start again, no panic. My Dad attempted a béchamel sauce many times in a row once and completely failed. That night we had toast for tea and we will remember it forever. Look on the bright side- you have a bolognaise sauce that you can just eat with pasta ;)

Step Four: the Big Layer up

§  Take a casserole dish/lasagne type dish… you all know what they look like! And put 1/3 of the sauce on the bottom. Cover the bolognaise layer with lasagne sheets.

§  Copy this another 2 times.

§  On top of the final layer of lasagne sheets, pour on the cheese sauce so that the lasagne is covered.

Step Five: Cooking

      The wonderful thing about a homemade lasagne is that you don’t have to oven cook it immediately. You can make it the night before or in the morning of. In which case, when you are ready to cook it, preheat the oven to 180 and then cook for 30-40 minutes.

      If preparing and cooking the lasagne in the same innings, turn the oven onto 180 just before you begin making the cheesy béchamel sauce and then it will be nice and hot in time.

      When cooking the lasagne please don’t be so complacent as to go shopping, natter upstairs with your flatmate or get distracted watching The Voice, keep an eye on it as all ovens and all lasagnes are different. If the top begins to burn yet the inside is not cooked enough, simply cover it with Kitchen foil.

Buono appetito!

Mmmmm what a delicious meal it was. Don’t forget you can be all English about it and have some garlic bread on the side, or a little bit of cold, crunchy, cucumber infused salad to complement the hot tomatoey lasagne.

Good home-cooked masterpieces are back in business. Keep it up guys and when the going gets tough, flee to the kitchen, rest up, cook up a storm and venture back onto the path with energy, direction and a happy tummy! 

Jo*

Café Brecht

A Little bit of Germany

I was recommended Café Brecht by an English friend also living in Amsterdam. She is an artsy person, in fact she studied Art in the same University city as I did but we didn't know each other until moving here. I expected something quirky with lots of character because I know the kind of places Steph likes and also from taking a look at the café’s website. As always, you cannot judge a book by its cover (and that is what a flyer/website/business card is to an establishment) yet the home page description got me excited and I couldn’t wait to step into the ‘Berlin style living-room cafe’ with ‘no forced trendiness yet timeless romance’.  It sounded like we would quite possibly be stepping back in time as well as crossing the German border- any historian’s dream. 

I am bit of a German lover too. I haven't really visited much of  the country, yet I have several close friends from there and it was a place I really wanted to try out... There are hundreds of tapas bars, Asian restaurants, French cheeses and wines, but I have never seen anything relating so specifically to the German culture apart from bierkeller! Kind of had to see what all of the fuss was about.

Finding the place was a bit of mission. Not because of the distance, it is actually only a 3 minute cycle from my house, but as a result of the inebriated state I was in when I walked past it at 3am. The following afternoon consisted of an unsuccessful wild goose chase trying to find it again. That night it was rowdy, buzzing and the vision of ‘timeless romance’ faded quickly away and was replaced with a carefree party spirit. Either is fine by me. The café became a mirage, a shifting image of a lost Germany that was literally impossible to pin down. Anyhow, reverting to the modern world I Google-mapped it and hey presto we arrived one Friday afternoon.

The inside was most certainly living-room style and the randomly picked Grandma sofas, cute coffee tables, long-backed chairs, swanky lamps and countless little touches completely reflected the owners adoration of everything old and German. We were sat next to a bookshelf full of German books and old maps; it was rather precarious almost toppling over onto our knees. I like bookshelves which look like people actually read the books on them! The ambiance was entire, everything in Café Brecht echoed its purpose. Even the brick work was coming off the walls in some places: Germany in economic crisis, post-WWII bombing, or they just couldn't be bothered to patch it up, I’m not sure, but I liked it!!

The menu as well as the walls were covered in quotes from Brecht’s plays, ‘so wie es ist, bleibt es nicht’ (it is as it is, it will not stay) and the owners’ love of Goethe and Man as well as Brecht was apparent. They say that ‘In Brecht we want to highlight Germany in a positive way because we believe the time is right for it. Regularly in Brecht there's something going on that in one way or another, has something to do with Europe and Germany'. If I was going to open up an English café in Amsterdam I would want it to be filled with the same love and passion as was ebbing in and out, up and down this place. I felt like we were on the set of a 1930’s style theatre production; Liza Minnelli could have strolled in at any time singing mein lieber herr or maybe even Daniel Brühl could have joined our table… just because he is German and HOT!!

My expectations were satisfied, this was a little bit of Germany in the middle of The Netherlands.

Getting back to what we actually ate there: the drinks menu was packed full of beer, beer and more beer- must have been why everyone was so drunk there the other night, another German typicality achieved. As it was a lunchtime visit I just had an apfelschorle. The food, however, was essentially non-German. Rather strange considering so much work had been put into creating an almost eccentric Germanic atmosphere. Instead they offered Italian flat bread, piadina's, with a selection of refreshing Mediterranean fillings. I had a healthy dollop of pesto, fresh mozzarella and basil leaves amongst roasted red peppers and courgettes. Nom.

It was such a nice change to the never ending cycle of Dutch Broodjes and toasties. I know that in Britain we typically eat a sandwich for lunch, but I am beginning to get pretty bored of the bready attitude here. There are of course some really interesting variations of the sandwich (The bar next to Café Krull in de pijp is amazing!!) but when venturing out for a spot of lunch I want to be slightly more excited by what a place has to offer… moan over, I still love Holland.

Whilst waiting for the food to arrive, I spotted a huge pile of board games sitting on the piano in the corner. I absolutely adore places that accommodate this semi-pretentious, geeky yet funky fun pastime. The bars and cafes at Hyde park corner in Leeds used to be like that, we would drop by for some nachos and play cards at the same time- how cool and hip we were ;) Café Brecht was getting to be a very nostalgic trip indeed! In the end we decided on scrabble to feel intellectual. This was the result:

All in all it was a very lovely lunch. There were no chairs outside which was a bit of a shame for taking profit of long sunny afternoons, and I can’t comment on the evening side of the café apart from they certainly seemed to be rockin’ away when I wandered past it in the early hours! It would be awesome to check out the events too, which include poetry, drama or concerts according to their website.  If you want a German-Europeanesque experience you should certainly get on down to Weteringschans 57 and find yourself in this unique front room!

Curious and cute, just another fine example of the little treasures tucked away in Amsterdam.

http://www.cafebrecht.nl/index.php?id=1

Jo*

Hagelslag: choccie breakkie

Sprinkles anyone?

Basically a big box of chocolate sprinkles- Hagelslag is the food which makes me truly believe that the Dutch are tall and incredibly beautiful umpa lumpas that escaped from Charlie’s chocolate factory.`

If you open a Dutch kitchen cupboard you will find a children’s wonderland: milk, dark and white chocolate hagelslag, then vanilla, raspberry, mixed fruits, strawberry flavours, all in different shapes, sizes and colours. The list is endless. This Dutch treat belongs in a Disney film or fairy tale and it is not reserved for children only, oh no, this is normal adult grown up food too.

Hagelslag are chocolate or fruit flavoured sprinkles that are typically sprinkled over butter covered bread or toast and eaten for breakfast.  We may think of chocolate sprinkles as a tasty accompaniment to ice-cream or to decorate a cake with yet these Dutchies, big and small, munch on this for their breakfast , and as I have seen in a few Dutch households, for a snack throughout the day.

Little digression… a few months ago I sent my sister a packet to try. She is a sugar lover and I thought it would answer her prayers for a high glucose start to the day, nonetheless she only uses them for making hot chocolate à la hagelslag (not even sure she has attempted the correct usage). Interesting. She made me some of said hot chocolate and I honestly haven’t tasted anything so awful ever, at all. She filled about 1/3 mug with the sprinkles, added milk and then put it in the microwave. It had a disgustingly sweet, silky texture with a grainy not-quite-melted hagelslag lumps running through. I had a couple of sips and threw it away. Sorry Sis!! I guess that is one way of using the chocolate bits… who is to judge, hot chocolate made out of sprinkles or chocolate sprinkles on bread??

Back to the slag, my first impression was of slight horror. I think the main issue was with the sheer amount of sprinkles that were needed to cover the bread to eat an authentic breakfast: I felt like a naughty child opening presents on Christmas morning before everyone else was awake. This was a fantasy, something I would not have had at home!!

It was good, in fact surprisingly moreish and I ate at least two slices for breakfast for a couple of days running. Since living with a French family though there has been no hagelslag in sight (their sweet toothed start to the day bizarrely stretches to eating scones for breakfast- that is another story though!) so I found myself buying a packet to feel Dutch and to relive that crumbly but smooth, sickly and mischievously gratifying chocolate sensation. I am heartily disappointed to say that the little Albert Heijn encrusted box is still sat in my cupboard- not sure I am totally a sweet-breakfast convert yet. Yup- eggs and bacon it is haha ;)

 I am glad to say that I am not the first to be bowled over in dismay though…. My friend Petra’s brother arrived in The Netherlands and on the first morning with his host family he was so shocked to the core at the hagelslag sight, he called Petra for advice. She was confounded also (she lives with Frenchies comme moi) and told us all excitedly on a post-school session coffee that her brother was extremely worried about the health of these kids…. Ahh the humour. It is just one those Dutch things.

Some Facts

• ·         ‘Hagel’ can be translated into English as ‘hail’, which explains the name-shape of this interesting breakfast stuff.
• ·         It was first made in 1936 by Gerard de Vries for Venz, a Ducth company made popular by said treat.
• ·         English speakers may call them sprinkles or hundreds and thousands, in French they are known as nonpareils or dragée. Wikipedia knows everything.
• ·        Traditionally in the Netherlands, blue hagelslag are served up in celebration of a a new baby boy and pink for a girl. It sounds very cute and I hope to see this for real one day.

Enjoy your breakfast’s guys!!

Jo*

Ethiopian Eats

Walia Ibex

After the first week of arriving in Amsterdam, so in September 2012, I made very good friends with Megan AKA Megzymoo etc. She lives in De Pijp, as do I, and we both hit it off with a nice cold beer in Rembrandtplein after she retaught me how to ride a bike (one of the scariest things about living in NL- having to get back onto that childhood play thing as a competent adult). On our way home she showed me where she lived so that we could meet again. That fateful day led to two discoveries…. Taart van mijn tante and Walia Ibex. We will return to the funky cake café on a later date- today’s post is all about the Ethiopian!!

Situated on Eerste Jacob van Campenstraat right opposite Marieheinekenplein, it has a perfect de pijp centrality yet off the main street giving a little more of a quieter eating experience; as it was, excellent for a Wednesday evening.

I had eaten Ethiopian before when I was studying at the University of Leeds. I went to a talk by Oxfam discussing land grabs and Ethiopia is a country targeted in that unjust mess. After lots of interesting debates and discourse the evening was completed with live African music and an amazing buffet put on by a local Leeds Ethiopian restaurant, Merkato. For any Leeds people out there, click below to get the address and read a review (they don’t have their own website), just lovely people and exceptional food.

http://leedsgrub.blogspot.nl/2009/10/merkato-ethiopian-cafe.html 

It was great!! I love spicy food and curry flavours, and it didn’t disappoint. Having said that, the Ethiopian food I have tried has not been over spicy at all. Comparing it to Indian curries, I would say the spiciest Ethiopian food was about a Dopiaza. Perhaps thi sis typical or if I have just been choosing the wrong things off the menu! Anyway, I happened to be with a vegetarian at the time and sometimes a veggie can be in despair at buffet style events- ‘what if I can’t eat anything’- Ethiopian food is traditionally vegetarian friendly because of its Muslim, meat fasting connections, and so there was much to offer. Of course, lots of meat dishes too.

Okay, so that was my first experience. The second, and certainly not the last, was at Walia Ibex in Amsterdam.

Megz and me strolled into the restaurant at 20:15 and sat in a cosy window seat. There was only one other table occupied, 4 Dutchies chatting away, and we opened up the menu after being greeted by the friendly owner. The first thing to contemplate unsurprisingly was what to drink!! We wanted to try something that would go with the food and what do we usually have with a good curry? A good beer! The menu gave us four options for African beers- quinua, coconut, palm and banana. Flippin’ heck banana beer! Underneath the list, Megan noticed in smaller writing, ‘please ask if you would like to drink your beer out of a coconut’… yes please. So we did and it was awesome. Throughout the night we tried the quinua, coconut and banana, and personally the banana was the best. It wasn’t too sweet for my taste (maybe for others) and I think that people who usually don’t like beer would actually quite enjoy this one mainly because it wasn’t hoppy. The quinua was essentially just a normal white beer- and coconut beer being drunk out of a coconut- ingenious!

If it didn’t take us long enough to choose a beer, then the food was an age. What a selection! The menu was split into meat options and vegetarian options, we could choose just one dish (pretty much always being served alongside cottage cheese and spinach) or we could have a combination of two for the same price, but smaller portions, or a combination of four, smaller portions still. We struggled long and hard to decide and even had the owner over to give us recommendations because there was so much yummy sounding stuff on there. The meat choices were lamb, minced beef, beef chunks and chicken, the vegetarian ones were full of lentils, pumpkin, green beans and potatoes- literally I wanted it all. In the end Megan got two meat options: Minchetbish, which was ingra served with beef mince in an Abyssinian red sauce and Ye Beg Alicha a dish of fried chopped lambs meats in a curry sauce. I got A Tekilt, ingra served with vegetables including potatoes, cabbage,carrots and green beans, then a chicken and egg dish served with the spicy Abyssinian sauce called Doro Wot.

                                                                                                   

When our food arrived the guy gave us a demonstration of how to eat it! As you can see on the pictures, the food is placed on flat bread called Ingera and we were given a couple more of the flat breads each to use to eat with. He tore of a little bit of bread from his Ethiopian eating demo kit and used it to pinch some food. We did the same and he was happy enough that we could manage and started to walk back to the kitchen but not before quickly turning around saying, ‘if you find it too difficult I can give you a knife and fork!’

We started to eat, pinching bits of each other’s plates (one of the best things about these kinds of food) and spreading the food across the bottom piece of bread. The guy told us to do this as when we got down to eating the last piece of bread, all of the flavours and juices would have soaked in- he was not wrong. My chicken dish was quite spicy, yet not over powering. Megan isn’t a big fan of too much heat and she tried some with no difficulty. The mixed vegetable curry was chunky and textured making it easy to grab between the bread, and the cottage cheese and spinach were perfect compliments and found their way into our mouths with ease.

One of the funniest things about eating with the bread was working out how to pace it-we didn’t want to run out the bread and equally not devour all the curry leaving only bread left.  I feel practice makes perfect here but we managed well for a first sit down Ethiopian meal.

In the middle of the evening I glanced around the room and enjoyed the decorations, elephants made out of wood, big green plants with floppy leaves and bright yellow wall paint. It was a fun place to be eating. On a door leading upstairs to a private area, I noticed a poster advertising their homemade Ethiopian wine which was made out of honey. Well I couldn’t go home without trying it so when the waiter came over to ask us how it was all going I asked for a glass. When he brought it over I was surprised to see a thick, opaque, yellow liquid in a wine glass. However, when I tasted it there were amazing flavours of honey which reminded me of mead really. What a find.

After the meal when we were paying, I had a jolly good chat with the guy and found out all about the place. We only ever saw him and we began to contemplate if he was doing all of the cooking as well. Turned out that there was someone else in the kitchen, but everything was so chilled out. All night we were given space and time for everything. I am never very quick and choosing what to eat(!) and he was patient, letting us ask questions and even demoed the eating technique. There was gentle African music playing in the background and we weren’t forced to leave as soon as we finished, in fact our plates were left untouched in front of us while we chatted away. I really enjoy that relaxed feel.

I didn’t get the owners name, but they have been in business for over 8 years and intend to stay. They do buffet meals, which he agreed were lots of fun, and he explained how he made the honey wine. Just lovely service by a family run restaurant where we felt entirely introduced to the Ethiopian cuisine. They do not have a website at the moment so here are the details:

Address: Eerste Jacob van Campenstraat 41, 1072 BD, Amsterdam
Phone: 020 671 3466
Opening Hours: Monday-Sunday 5pm-10:30pm

On an au pair wage (next to nothing) I felt that it was a nice place to go to try something new and have fun for a special occasion. For two drinks each, two Ingra and the food we paid 20.20 per person, not including the tip we left. I can understand that for some people paying that amount on a Wednesday night isn’t their ideal thing- but that is what I like to spend my money on!!!

It was a quiet, chatty sort of evening and so if it is a boisterous pre-party meal you are looking for, then I am not sure it is the right place. However, walking past Walia Ibex on a Friday and Saturday night, it is full to bursting.

Hope you can check the place out at some point and there are a handful of other Ethiopian restaurants in Amsterdam as well. Let’s enjoy those Ethiopian Eats.

Jo* 

Stroopwafels: biscuit paradise

Stroopwafels

Quite sure that I am going to win this debate (if there is one): these are the best sweet things to have come out the Netherlands. These bad boys don’t exactly look spectacular, none of that artistic precision like a French patisserie… but my goodness they are heaven’s version of a caramel biscuit.

They come in many sizes yet always the same shape. Round with two biscuits squashing a layer of yummy caramel. Fantastic with a cuppa or a coffee and once you open a pack they aren’t going to last long.

Whenever I head home to England I take back a bountiful supply for my sister and Dad as they are hopelessly addicted, as so many are. When stalking the shelves of Albert Heijn I literally have to avoid the biscuit aisle or I would be the size of three whales by now. Nevertheless, a biscuit a day keeps the doctor away and I take that very seriously.

In fact, I just did a little google search and up popped the ‘Assosiation of Stroopwafel Addicts’. Their only rule of membership is that you have eaten a Dutch stroopwafel (no other kinds are applicable!). Check it out…

http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Association_of_Stroopwafel_Addicts

Small History

So as with all little specialities, there is a story. The stroopwafel originated in Gouda in the late 18th century. A baker collected all the leftover crumbs and spices, turned it into a wafel and then proceeded to fill it with syrup. Thanks will eternally be to that Mr Baker Gerard Kamphuisen and his biscuit epiphany! As they were made out of cheap ingredients they were affordable for the poor. They still are a tasty but not an expensive treat unless you buy the amazing tin boxes and tourist type produce. Albert Heijn sells them for about 64 cents a  packet (if you want to be a real Dutchie and hold on tight to those purse strings!) So yeah, I am probably going to head to Gouda pretty soon for some cheese and stroopwafel fun :)

So where can you get 'em from?

Well any supermarket or shop sells stroopwafels, and like I said just before, they are cheap and in large supply so beware of your waistline. We have similar products back in England which are most likely called syrup waffles. I have seen them in Marks and Spencer and they just aren't as good. You need to get yourself over to the Netherlands and have a fresh one from a market.

All sellers are using slightly different recipes and even with secret ingredients etc. At this point in time I am not too bothered about making them; I just want to put them in my mouth, chew, swallow and enter a euphoric state that beats downing a kilo of chocolate!

The Albert Cuyp market has a fresh stroopwafel stand. The same cheeky chappy is always there spending his days serving up little round bits of heaven for the passers-by. A week is not a good one if a stroopwafel has not been munched. He gets two parts of the biscuit mixture and places them in the wafel making machine or pizzelle iron. When they are cooked he opens the irons, drizzles warm caramel over one of the biscuit halves and next places the second biscuit on top to make a caramel biscuit sandwich. He then hands it over and the nomming commences. On the Albert Cuyp market a fresh stroopwafel is just 1.50 eur and it is huuge! You can pay an extra 50 cents and get half of it dipped in chocolate- decadence I tell you. 

They are best enjoyed warm so if you have bought a packet, pop a stroopy or three in the microwave for a few seconds to get the juices flowing and then enjoy alongside a warm beverage, resulting a solemn moment of pure contentment with the world... ahhh. Although once you have tried them fresh nothing will compare so I would suggest making the most of this Dutchie delight while you have the chance. 

A Little Recipe

I haven’t tried this as I don’t own the correct wafel equipment (yet!) however it comes from a trustworthy foody lady…. Let’s give it a gander.

Ingredients

For The Wafels:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 package active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water

For The Filling:
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1 cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons dark corn syrup
1/2 cup finely ground hazelnuts, optional*

Method

Preheat pizzelle iron.

Dissolve the yeast in the warm water.
Cut 1 cup of the butter into the flour. Mix in the sugar, cinnamon, eggs and yeast mixture. Mix well and set aside to rise for 30 to 60 minutes.

Roll dough into 12 small balls, squeeze each ball into the preheated pizzelle iron and bake for about 30 seconds. Cut the wafels into two thin wafels and spread with filling.
In a saucepan boil the brown sugar, the remaining cup of butter, cinnamon, and dark corn syrup until it reaches the soft ball stage (234-240 degrees F 112 -115 degrees C). Stir in ground hazelnuts at this point, if using.

To Assemble
Cut each wafel into 2 thin wafels and spread with filling. Repeat this process until all the filling is used. 

Give it a go!!!

There is nothing much else to say about this orgasmic treat that I can put into words. So eat one.

Oh yeh, they also do stroopwafel ice-cream :) :)

Recipe from:

http://www.dianasdesserts.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/recipes.recipeListing/filter/dianas/recipeID/694/Recipe.cfm 

Jo*