Sharing our love for good food and excellent wine with you: mushrooms, sauces, forgotten vegetables, pies and tartelettes. Join us and Cook and Drink with us!
A few weeks ago Gido and Lien, owners of the now closed vegetarian restaurant Betty’s in Amsterdam, mailed us a recipe for Zhoug (also known as Zhug, Skhug or Schug), a hot sauce from Yemen. It combines cilantro, parsley, red or green peppers and various spices. Lien and Gido use a combination of spices known as Serinissima, produced by the French company Roellinger. Not something we have in our cupboard, so we used the ingredients as mentioned by Roellinger.
Zhug is spicy, bold, bright and intense. We enjoyed Zhug with crusted bread. We could imagine it’s also very tasty with falafel, grilled fish, oven roasted vegetables or fresh tomatoes.
What You Need
30 grams of fresh Cilantro
15 grams of fresh Parsley (leaves only)
Excellent Olive Oil
1 small clove of Garlic
½ Jalapeño
2 teaspoons in total of
Clove
Ginger Powder
Melegueta Pepper (Grains of Paradise)
Saffron
Cumin
Black Pepper to taste
½ teaspoon of Salt
Lemon Juice to taste
What You Do
Grate the cloves, ground the Melegueate pepper and the cumin
It’s always a great idea to combine seasonal ingredients: asparagus and morels, strawberries and rhubarb, summer truffle and golden chanterelle. The season of the chanterelle runs from June to December. It’s a firm, bright yellow mushroom with subtle earthy, fruity flavour. It’s native to North America, Europe and Asia. Summer truffles can be found between May and August. Their aroma and taste is very subtle. If slightly warmed, the flavour is more present (a bit nutty). If heated, the truffle loses its flavour.
The combination of chanterelle, truffle and cream is elegant and complex. The chanterelle gains depth from the truffle and vice versa. The pasta and the creamy sauce support the flavours beautifully.
Wine Pairing
We suggest a fruity, dry, red wine, with light tannins, for instance a Pinot Noir or perhaps a Gamay. We enjoyed a glass of Domaine Coudoulet Pinot Noir. This is a light, red wine from the Pays d’Oc in the south of France. It has a nice, light colour, aromas of strawberries, it’s refreshing and has a long finish. To be served somewhat chilled.
What You Need
200 grams of Golden (Yellow) Chanterelle
20 grams of Summer Truffle
1 Garlic Clove
Stock (vegetable or chicken)
Cream
1 teaspoon of Mustard
Parmesan Cheese
Spaghetti
Olive Oil
Butter
Black Pepper
Salt
What You Do
Add olive oil to a heavy iron skillet. Set on low heat
Slice the garlic in 3 or 4 and add to the oil
Leave the oil on very low heat for 10-15 minutes
Clean the chanterelle with a brush. Take your time!
Cut the chanterelle in 2 or 4, depending on the size
Clean the truffle
Grate a quarter of the truffle, slice the remainder
Grate some Parmesan cheese, just to thicken and gently flavour the sauce
Cook the spaghetti in boiling water with some salt until al dente, according to the instruction on the package
Remove the garlic from the pan
Add some butter to the pan and increase the heat
Fry the chanterelle
Reduce heat
Add stock, mustard and cream. Combine
Add Parmesan cheese. Combine
Add the spaghetti to the pan
Taste and adjust
Just before serving add black pepper and grated truffle
Œufs Dur Mayonnaise is a classic French bistro dish. Beginning of the 20th century the instruction was simple: make mayonnaise (egg yolk, white wine vinegar, oil, salt and white pepper), quarter or halve hard boiled eggs and place these on a layer of mayonnaise. Today’s versions use mayonnaise with mustard. Delia Smith adds garlic to her mayonnaise. Presentation-wise the eggs are topped with mayonnaise and served with lettuce, cornichons or olives. Another possibility is to serve the halved eggs as a dome, covered with mayonnaise.
Œufs Dur Mayonnaise may look simple, and perhaps you think it’s too simple to be a starter on its own. It’s actually very nice, if you use quality ingredients and make your own mayonnaise. Its simplicity doesn’t allow you to cheat (boil the eggs days in advance, overcook them, use cheap eggs, use ready made mayonnaise etcetera).
Today’s recipes suggest leaving the egg yolk slightly creamy. After having tried a number of cuissons (donenesses if that’s a word!) we think it’s best to use hard boiled eggs. We rely on our Emerio egg cooker to create the perfect egg!
Drink Pairing
The taste of Œufs Dur Mayonnaise is savoury, mineral and rich. The mayonnaise gives a velvety mouthfeel. As this is a classic bistro dish, we suggest a simple white wine, nicely cooled, or a beer, or a glass of cold water.
What You Need
fresh, organic Eggs
Mayonnaise
(optional) Chervil
What You Do
Prepare mayonnaise. We suggest adding a bit more mustard and vinegar than usual
Prepare hard boiled eggs
Peel the eggs and let cool
Halve the eggs and add some mayonnaise on top
(optional) decorate with chervil
PS
The number of bistro’s in France went down from some 170.000 in the 1960’s to 35.000 in the 2020’s. Œufs Dur Mayonnaise became unpopular: eggs contain a high amount of cholesterol and mayonnaise is high-fat food and calorie-dense. In 2018 L’Association pour la Sauvegarde de l’Œuf Mayonnaise (the association to protect Œuf Mayonnaise) was founded, to promote the dish and bring it back to the table. The Association organises an annual championship. The 2026 winner of the award was restaurant Au Rêve in Paris (Œufs Mayonnaise is on the menu for 4 euro).
In the 1860’s Lucien Olivier was chef of the restaurant Hermitage in Moscow. The restaurant served a dish with luxurious ingredients, such as pheasant, caviar, lobster, tongue, potatoes, pickles and lettuce with a sauce, perhaps sauce Provençal. These ingredients were served separately on one plate. One evening some of the guests combined the ingredients into one dish, which was not the intention of chef Olivier, but when he tasted it, he found that the blend worked very well. He improved the sauce by adding one or more secret ingredients and the Olivier Salad was born! It quickly became a very popular dish at the restaurant.
Sadly the recipe for the original Olivier Salad is not known. One of his sous chefs, Ivan Ivanov, wrote down what he thought was the recipe (without the secret ingredients, obviously), became head chef at another restaurant and sold the recipe to various publishers. It became known as Russian Salad. As more often, the popular version is made with less expensive ingredients, such as ham, chicken, carrots, green peas and mayonnaise.
In 1909 Tsar Nicholas II visited King Victor Emmanuel III in Racconigi, some 35 kilometres south of Turin. Russian chefs explained to their Italian colleagues how to prepare Russian salad. The Italian chefs used vegetables from the royal gardens such as carrots, peas, beans and potatoes (which we think is a bit odd given the luxurious ingredients of the original). The salad was decorated with cream to evoke the snow of the Russian steppes. It became very popular in the Savoy region, a region that included the Principality of Piedmont and the County of Nice, among others. In the south of France it is known as Salade Piémontaise.
The anecdote about the creation of the Olivier Salad seems credible, but is it? The second edition of The Modern Cook by Charles Elmé Francatelli (chef to Queen Victoria) was published in 1846. Recipe number 1215 is for…. Russian Salad! It is made with lobster, thunny (‘tuna’ we think), anchovies, crayfish, prawn tails, stuffed olives, capers and red mayonnaise (a combination of lobster coral, mayonnaise, cayenne pepper and mustard), to be served in a vegetable border (made with cauliflower, asparagus, beans, peas, potatoes, artichoke bottoms and aspic). Two great chefs think alike?
We can’t recreate the Olivier Salad, but we can follow Francatelli’s instructions and make an original Russian salad. Anyone?
Our version of the Salade Piémontaise is based on the salad as sold by the Boucherie de France in Nice. It’s a surprisingly light dish that allows you to enjoy all ingredients, thanks to the lemon juice and the fairly neutral mayonnaise.
Wine Pairing
Piemonte is well known for its great wines, such as Barolo and Barbaresco, both made with Nebbiolo grapes. We decided to go for a more simple wine from the region, produced by Fontanafredda and made with 100% Barbera grapes. A wine that is fruity (black berries, plums) with low tannins and a relatively high acidity, which is very nice with the salad.
De-seed the tomatoes and slice, same size as the potatoes and the ham
Steam or boil the egg, let cool and dice
Slice the cornichons
Combine the ingredients
Coat with mayonnaise and mix gently
Add lemon juice, black pepper and adjust
Leave in the refrigerator until cool
Serve with crusted bread
PS
In 1852 Francatelli published A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes to help poorer members of society. The book contains 241 recipes with inexpensive ingredients. Not just royalty and exclusivity for him!
Over the years we wrote about a range of sauces, from very classic Béchamel to intriguing sauces like Kimizu and Cameline. But for some reason we never wrote about mayonnaise! The average Dutch person consumes some 2.2 kilo of mayonnaise per year, same for the US. These figures are based on mayonnaise produced by companies like Hellmann, Kraft, Heinz and many others. They all claim to produce ‘real mayonnaise’.
The historical back ground of mayonnaise is full of anecdotes as you would expect. Its origin could be a sauce from from Bayon (France, Bayonaise), or from Mahón (Spain, Mahónaise) or perhaps it goes back to aioli (another sauce we need to write about!).
In 1828 Antonin Carême published a recipe for magnonaisse in his book Le Cuisinier Parisien, ou l’Art de la Cuisine Française au Dix-Neuvième Siècle. He describes three methods for making the sauce. The first combines two egg yolks, tarragon vinegar, oil (from Aix en Provence), salt and white pepper. Interestingly he suggests making the sauce in a terrine on crushed ice. He also describes what to do if the sauce splits: put a spoonful of cold béchamel with an egg yolk in a bowl, plus a spoonful of the magnonnaise (with the wooden spoon), and you stir this mixture vigorously, which becomes smooth and velvety. You mix in part, the magnonnaise, which by this work becomes again what it was at first.
Mayonnaise is an emulsified combination of egg yolk, oil, vinegar, salt and white pepper. Adding a teaspoon of mustard kickstarts the emulsification. The recipe below is for a neutral mayonnaise. It is velvety, soft and creamy with a subtle, pure flavour. It’s easy to adjust to your taste or to the dish you want to use it for.
We use a hand (immersion) blender to make our mayonnaise. The cup must be slightly larger than the head of the blender. For some reason you have to use a whole egg. We tried it with egg yolk only, which didn’t work.
What You Need
1 organic Egg
2 teaspoons of Mustard
3 teaspoons of White Wine Vinegar
pinch of Salt
300 ml Oil, for instance Rapeseed Oil or Canola Oil
White Pepper
What You Do
All ingredients must be at room temperature
Add egg, mustard, white wine vinegar and salt to the cup
Gentle pour the oil on top
Lower the blender into the cup
Place the head of the blender against the bottom of the cup
Start at the bottom on medium speed
Move the blender upwards, very slowly, this may take 30 – 60 seconds
You may want to increase the speed, going upwards
When ready, add white pepper
Put the mayonnaise to a bowl and transfer to the refrigerator
The mayonnaise will last for 3 – 7 days, provided you use fresh ingredients and you store it at 4 °C (40 °F) or lower. However we suggest eating it within one or two days, because it’s so very tasty!
PS
Hellmann’s original mayonnaise also contains water, sugar, flavourings, paprika extract and antioxidant; Heinz Seriously Good Mayonnaise also contains water, sugar and spice. Kraft’s Real Mayo also contains water, sugar, dried garlic, dried onion, paprika and natural flavor. If you want real mayonnaise, simply make your own!
We love refreshing chilled soups during summer. Could be gazpacho, could be avocado and cucumber soup or this classic. It’s delicious and uplifting when it’s really warm. Serve with crusted bread for a lovely, light starter.
What You Need
1 small Shallot
1 clove of Garlic
400 ml of Vegetable Stock
175 grams of (frozen) Peas
handful of fresh Mint
Lemon Juice
Black Pepper
2 tablespoons of Cream
Olive Oil
What You Do
Chop the shallot, the garlic and the mint
Heat the oil in a large pan
Add shallot to the pan and glaze for a few minutes
Add garlic to the pan and gently sauté for one or two minutes
Pour in the stock and bring to the boil
Add peas and reduce heat
Leave for a few minutes until the peas are relatively soft
Add mint and cream
Allow to simmer for one or two minutes
Add some lemon juice and black pepper
Hand blender until smooth
Taste and adjust (mint, lemon juice, black pepper)
Pour into a large bowl and allow to cool
Cover and chill in the refrigerator for three or more hours
Spoon the soup into cold soup bowls and decorate with a sprig of mint
PS
Don’t overcook the peas. If you do, the soup will become too smooth and it will not be bright green.
You could add some olive oil just before serving and pulse with a hand blender. This will give the soup a velvety, rich feel plus it will make the taste more complex.
We wanted to celebrate the end of the Dutch season for white asparagus with something special, perhaps grilled asparagus with Parmesan cheese or asparagus with miso. Normally the season ends on June 24th, the feast day of Saint John the Baptist. This year the season started very early (March 7th) and probably ended early, so we were too late. No final dish with white asparagus this year!
We decided to prepare a very tasty salad with green asparagus, oregano, basil and black olives. A very limited list of ingredients, but there is no need to add anything else. The olives bring umami, the asparagus sweetness and bitterness, the basil and oregano are aromatic, sweet and a touch peppery. A very uplifting combination.
Wine Pairing
We enjoyed a glass of Verdicchio, a dry white wine made by Tenuta Colpaola in Italy. The wine has a very nice balance of fruit (green apples) and acidity, body and freshness. The wine has a beautiful, deep yellow colour, medium body and complexity, making it ideal with the various flavours of the dish. In general we suggest a dry white wine with sufficient acidity and character, to balance both the asparagus and the olives. You could also serve the salad with a glass of dry, crisp, floral and flavourful rosé, for instance Monte del Frà Bardolino Chiaretto. It has delicate aromas of berries accompanied by light and refreshing hints of green apples and subtle spicy tones. The refreshing acidity works very well with the salad as a whole.
What You Need
350 grams of Green Asparagus
10-15 Black Olives (Taggiasca preffered, pitted)
1 generous teaspoon of Dried Oregano
Basil
Black Pepper
Olive Oil
What You Do
Pre-heat your oven to 190 °C or 375 °F
Wash the asparagus and dry
Remove the bottom of the asparagus. Be generous, you don’t want to serve a chewy salad
Halve the olives
Slice the asparagus (chunky)
Add asparagus, dried oregago and olives to a (cast iron) oven dish
Cherries, cherries, cherries! We love their rich, sweet taste, the touch of tartness and their firm, succulent texture! They just want to be eaten, one after the other. So what better summer dessert than Clafoutis?
Should you use whole cherries or pitted ones? Not removing the pits is less work for you (obviously) and it reduces the risk of a soggy Clafoutis. Unpitted cherries will give a subtle almond flavour to the clafoutis. On the other hand, you don’t want to bite into a pit while enjoying your dessert. Also important: the pits contain amygdalin, a toxic compound that can also be found in almonds, apple seeds and apricot stones. We decided to pit the cherries and compensate for the lack of almond taste by adding some almond flour to the batter. If you decide to remove the pits, make sure you remove all of them!
Finally, yes, you can replace the cherries with fresh apricots, berries, peaches or prunes. The result is called a Flaugnarde. But nothing as tasty as Clafoutis made with fresh cherries!
What You Need
2,5 dl of regular Milk
2 Eggs
30 grams of plain Flour
10 grams of Almond Flour
20 grams of Sugar
500 grams of Cherries, pitted
10 grams of Butter
What You Do
Pre heat the oven to 180° Celsius or 350° Fahrenheit
Whisk together the eggs, plain flour, almond flour and sugar
Bring the milk almost to a boil
Stir the milk into the mixture
Butter a large, shallow baking dish, add cherries to the dish
Make sure the bottom is nicely covered with cherries; no need to have two layers of cherries
Pour the mixture over the cherries
Bake (lower third of the oven) for 20 minutes
Add a few dots of butter
Continue baking for another 20 minutes or until the Clafoutis is golden
Leave to cool for 60 minutes or so, this will enhance the taste
A few weeks ago John Rieber wrote about the miracle of garlic. He also explains the 10-minute rule and the way it creates additional benefits when using garlic. His post includes a recipe for a garlicky soup, a variation of Avgolemono.
The post made us think of ‘knofsoep’ (in English it would be ‘garsoup’) as described by author, poet and performer Johnny Van Doornin 1988. He was known for his ecstatic performances, enabled by the use of various substances. His knofsoep, based on a recipe from Roman times, helped him through the day. The soup is uplifting, supports overall health and more specifically the liver. It is to be served with crusted bread and a glass of wine. We adjusted the recipe slightly by using vegetable stock and adding some chives. The soup has a very mild, sweet garlic flavour (thanks to not roasting or frying the garlic) and complexity thanks to the herbs and the clove.
The original recipe (in Dutch) is available in his diary Door de Weken Heen, available for 5 euros, second hand only.
What You Need
500 ml Vegetable Stock
8 cloves of Garlic
1 starchy Potato
Olive Oil
Bouquet Garni (Thyme, Sage, Rosemary, Parsley, Bay Leaf)
1 Clove
2 crushed Black Peppers
Parmesan Cheese
Chives
(optional) Black Pepper
(optional) Salt
What You Do
Bring the stock to a boil
Add garlic and potato
Reduce the heat
Add a small tablespoon of olive oil
Add bouquet garni, clove and crushed black peppers
After 40 minutes pass the soup through a sieve
Use a spoon to capture all the flavours of the ingredients
The aromas and flavours of Mapo Tofu are powerful, also thanks to the use of Sichuan pepper. It gives the dish a floral, citrusy touch. The combination of silky, soft tofu with ground pork, Chili Bean sauce and scallions is very rich. It’s a delicious, heart-warming dish. In this version we replace the meat with mushrooms (Wood Ear turned out to be the best choice, but Shiitake will also be fine). We think it’s a lighter, equally tasty but different, version of Mapo Tofu.
Sichuan pepper is not related to black pepper or chili. It’s actually not spicy. It causes a pleasant numbing sensation on your tongue and lips, for a few minutes only, which is surprisingly nice when eating spicy food. We recommend lightly toasting the peppers before grinding or crushing them.
Serving Mapo Tofu with rice is a great idea. Or enjoy it with some Bok Choy (Pak Choi) simmered in a combination of oyster and soy sauce.
Drink Pairing
Jasmine tea is an obvious choice. It has a nice aroma and floral taste. The combination with the spices and the Sichuan pepper works really well.
