Category: all year

Alain Passard Receives the Johannes van Dam Prize 2019

19 November 2019

Symposium on the History of Food

On Friday November 15th and Saturday 16th 2019 the annual Amsterdam Symposium on the History of Food took place at the main auditorium of the University of Amsterdam. Such a pleasure to listen to great papers presented, discussing (post-) colonial foodways; creating, negotiating, and resisting transnational food systems. Two award ceremonies are part of the symposium.

Joop Witteveen Prize

Maarten Hell, author of De Amsterdamse herberg 1450-1800: geestrijk centrum van het openbare leven (published by VanTilt, Nijmegen, 2017) was the winner in the Academic category, the Joop Witteveen Prize. A book that discusses not only the history of food and drink as served in the inns in Amsterdam between 1450 and 1800, but also the development of what we would call hospitality.
The prize is named after culinary historian and author Joop Witteveen (1928-2016). Together with his partner Bart Cuperus and Johannes van Dam (see below) he founded the Dutch Gastronomische Bibliotheek (gastronomic library), now part of the historical collection of the University of Amsterdam.

Johannes van Dam Prize

Alain Passard received the prestigious Johannes van Dam prize. The jury, chaired by professor Louise O. Fresco (President of the Wageningen University & Research Executive Board), mentioned his impressive contribution to international cuisine. She highlighted that many years ago Alain Passard shifted towards vegetables, creating a new balanced cuisine, without banning fish and meat from his menu. The vegetables and fruit are organic and produced on his own three farms. His combinations and flavours are exceptional, just think about a side dish with haricots verts, almonds, white peach and basil.
His second important contribution to today’s cuisine is to introduce colour and art as elements of cooking, next to flavour, shape, odour, temperature and texture. His approach is unique and his recipes are a tribute to vegetables, fruit, flavour and colour.
The prize is named after culinary writer and critic Johannes van Dam (1946-2013) who was not only known for his reviews of restaurants but also for his massive collection of books on food and drink plus his passion for tasty, good food. Amongst his favourite dishes were the typical Dutch kroketten (‘croquets’ in French). Normally a cheap and fat snack, but Johannes van Dam was convinced that it is a true delicacy provided – of course – it is prepared the right way.
Mr. Passard was clearly very happy, proud and touched to receive the prize. In his speech he emphasized the importance of the season. He mentioned that nature is a cook book in its own right, one that is beautiful and should be followed.

We couldn’t agree more.

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Fried Oyster Mushrooms

13 November 2019

Cotoletta alla Milanese and Wiener Schnitzel are based on a similar concept: breaded and pan fried thin slices of veal or pork, served with a slice of lemon. The most obvious variation is Pollo alla Milanese which is made with chicken. A very special variation is Cotoletta di vitella di latte alla Milanese, as described in 1891 by Pelligrino Artusi (1820-1911) in his book La Scienza in Cucina e l’Arte di Mangiar Bene (The Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well). The book is a must have for every serious food lover, so buy the book! It is very well written and contains over 700 recipes from Italy. Before breading the meat Mr. Artusi coats one side of the veal with a mixture of finely chopped fat ham, parsley, grated Parmesan cheese and truffle. Delicious no doubt!

The variation we prefer is made with Oyster Mushrooms, so Cotolette di Funghi Pleurotus alla Milanese. It is very tasty and the juicy and meaty structure of the oyster mushroom in combination with the crispy crust makes it into a much-loved starter. No need to deep fry: a hot pan with olive oil and butter is all you need.

The key to an excellent Alla Milanese are the breadcrumbs. Make your own breadcrumbs with yesterday’s bread and compare the result with the cardboard crumbs you can buy. Flavour! Texture!

Wine Pairing

A fresh, not too complex white wine will be great with the fried oyster mushrooms. Soave, Burgundy, Loire: all good.

What You Need
  • 150 grams of Oyster Mushrooms
  • One Egg
  • Three Slices of Yesterday’s Bread
  • Olive Oil
  • Butter
  • Black Pepper
  • Lemon Juice
  • Parsley (optional)
What You Do

We begin by making the breadcrumbs. Toast the slices of bread and let cool. Cut in smaller bits and then using a cutter or blender make the crumbs. Whisk the egg. Feel free to add some water if you need more volume. Remove the stems from the mushrooms. Make sure your pan is hot, add the oil, the butter and start breading (coat the mushroom with egg, then with breadcrumbs) and frying. When nearly ready remove the pan from the heat, add some lemon juice and move the mushrooms in the pan. The idea is to add a touch of lemon to the taste and to keep the mushrooms crispy. Add black pepper and serve immediately on a warm plate. We don’t serve with additional lemon because adding lemon juice later on will make the wonderful crunchy crust of the soft oyster mushrooms soggy. Sprinkle with chopped parsley (optional)

Pellegrino Artusi - De weteschap in de keuken en de kunst om goed te eten
Ingredients of Fried Oyster Mushrooms © cadwu
Fried Oyster Mushrooms © cadwu

Dashi

16 October 2019

For most of us ‘stock’ begins with a combination of fish or meat with vegetables such as carrot, onion, leek and celery together with herbs like bay leaf, thyme and parsley. Dashi, the classic stock from the Japanese cuisine, is very different: it takes between one and four ingredients and takes only 30 minutes to prepare. The ingredients are kelp (kombu), dried small anchovies or sardines, dried shiitake and dried bonito flakes (katsuobushi). The simplest dashi is made from kombu only. Its taste is gentle with a touch of umami. Great vegetarian stock.
The best known is awase dashi and it’s made from kombu and katsuobushi. This one is the basis for Oden, miso soup and many other dishes. It’s also the basis of our Dashi with Matsutake and Shrimps and for Dashi with Nameko and Shrimps. If you add a splash of dashi and some Japanese mustard (karashi) to your mayonnaise you can make your own Japanese mayonnaise.

Katsuobushi is made from bonito or tuna. It’s a complex and time-consuming process, so don’t be surprised to pay between € 10,00 and € 15,00 per 100 gram. For one litre of dashi you only need 20 gram, so don’t worry too much about the costs. And you can make a ‘second’ dashi by repeating the process with the same kombu and katsuobushi.

A true Japanese chef will begin her or his day with shaving katsuobushi. We simply buy shaved katsuobushi. It comes in bags of 25 or 40 grams.

What You Need
  • 1 liter of Water
  • 20 gram of Kombu
  • 20 gram of Katsuobushi
What You Do
  1. With a wet cloth gently clean the kombu
  2. Put the kombu in the cold water and heat slowly to 80° Celsius or 175° Fahrenheit
  3. Take you time!
  4. When the temperature has reached 80° Celsius or 175° Fahrenheit, remove the kombu (and store for using it for a second dashi)
  5. Bring the liquid to the boil
  6. Immediately reduce heat
  7. Add the katsuobushi
  8. Bring to a boil
  9. Immediately remove from heat
  10. Let sit for 10 minutes or so until the katsuobushi has sunk to the bottom
  11. Pass the liquid through a sieve
  12. You can also use a clean cloth, but don’t squeeze it. You want a clear broth
  13. The dashi can be used immediately, stored in your refrigerator for a few days or kept in the freezer for a few weeks (not preferred)
Ingredients of Dashi © cadwu
Heating Konbu ©cadwu
Katsuobushi and Konbu ©cadwu

Duck with Ginger, Mirin, Soy Sauce and Yuzu

26 September 2019

Obviously Breast of Duck is great when combined with an orange sauce (or even better, with Mandarine Napoléon). Or combined with a Green Pepper Sauce, or with hoisin, soy sauce and five-spice powder (as used for Peking Duck). We combine the duck with fresh ginger (a bit spicy, but since the ginger is cooked in the sauce it will be very mild), yuzu (citrus fruit originaly from Japan, Korea and China) and sweet mirin and soy sauce. The cabbage comes with tamari and sesame oil, so this dish is full of wonderful flavours. Have we mentioned the pickled cucumber?

Wine Pairing

You could combine the duck with white wine, provided it has lots of character, for instance a Gewürztraminer. A red wine is the more obvious choice: a rich, warm Carignan will do nicely. The wine needs to combine with the richness of the dish and of course the sweetness of the soy sauce and the mirin. Duck is somewhat sweet in its own right and the sauce amplifies this. The wine should be fruity (plum), spicy and definitely not too woody.

What You Need
  • 1 Breasts of Duck (250 grams)
  • Soy Sauce (we prefer the version with less salt)
  • Mirin
  • Yuzu
  • Ginger (fresh)
  • Water
What You Do
  1. Check the breast of duck for remainders of feathers
  2. Remove the vein on the meat side of the breast (and the odd membrane you don’t like)
  3. Put on a dish, cover and transfer to the refrigerator
  4. Leave in the refrigerator for a few hours, making sure it’s nice, firm and cold. We want crispy fat, so we need to fry the meat relatively long. In order to get the right cuisson, we start with cold meat (so not your normal room temperature).
  5. Fry the duck in a hot, non-sticky skillet for 12 minutes on the skin side
  6. Reduce the heat after a few minutes. You don’t need oil or butter, the duck fat will do the trick
  7. Flip and fry for 2-3 minutes on the other side
  8. Remove from the pan and cover the meat with aluminium foil in such a way that the crispy skin is not covered. The foil should only cover meat
  9. You may want to remove some fat from the pan
  10. Add water (2 tablespoons) and a generous amount of grated ginger (let’s say 3-4 centimeter), stir, add mirin (2 teaspoons) and soy sauce (1 tablespoon)
  11. Keep warm
  12. Add liquid from the duck to the sauce
  13. After 10 minutes or so the ginger should be soft and the flavours integrated. If not, just give it a few more minutes
  14. Remove the breast from the foil and slice
  15. Make sure that any liquid left is added to the sauce
  16. Quickly stir the sauce, add a bit of Yuzu (1 teaspoon) to bring acidity to the sauce, heat a bit more, dress on a plate and put the slices of duck on top of it.
  17. PS quantities of soy sauce, yuzu and mirin may vary depending on the brand, sweetness, saltiness and the quality of the meat
Serve with…
  • Vegetables
    • Oxheart or Chinese Cabbage
    • Olive Oil
    • Tamari
    • Sesame Oil
  • Rice
    • Whole Grain Rice
    • Pickled cucumber

Grate the cabbage. Fry in a warm skillet in some olive oil. Add some tamari. Taste and adjust if necessary. Before serving add some excellent sesame oil. In parallel cook the rice and add some chopped pickled cucumbers to the rice.

Duck with Ginger, Mirin and Soy Sauce © cadwu
Duck with Ginger, Mirin and Soy Sauce © cadwu

 

No-Knead Bread – UPDATE

25 September 2019

Slow Rise Fermentation

A few months ago we shared a recipe of no-knead bread, based on the recipe courtesy of Jim Lahey, owner of Sullivan Street Bakery, New York. It was published in the New York Times in 2006 and can also be found in his book My Bread. It takes a bit of planning but preparing no-knead bread is simple and straightforward with a great result. We truly love it.
The recipe is based on slow rise fermentation. With only one gram of yeast in combination with 18+2 hours of rest, the yeast will do a wonderful job. The dough will be perfect. And kneading, as you would expect, is not required.

UPDATE – Talmière

Recently when enjoying the luxury of having a classic French bakery around the corner of our holiday apartment, we explored a range of beautiful French bread. One of these was the Talmière. It is enriched with various seeds, such as poppy seed, linseed, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds. Sometimes honey is added. The Talmière came with a beautiful crust and a rich taste. The bread is a bit compact compared to the usual Baguette or Tradition, probably as a result of the seeds in the dough.
We combined our ingredients with blue poppy seed and brown linseed.
Our best bread ever?

What You Need

  • 430 gram of Flour (we use 200 gram of Whole Grain Flour and 230 gram of Plain White Flour of French T65 Flour)
  • 25 gram Blue Poppy Seed
  • 30 gram Brown Linseed
  • 1 gram Instant Yeast
  • 4 gram Salt
  • 355 grams Water
  • Additional All Purpose Flour
  • Bran

What You Do

The easiest way is to read and follow the recipe and video as provided by the New York Times.
Or if you feel confident: mix flour, seeds, yeast and salt. Add water and create one mixture. Let rest in a bowl covered with foil for 18 hours. Dust your worktop with a generous amount of additional flour. Remove dough from bowl and fold 4 times. Let rest on a towel also generously dusted with flour and bran for 2 hours. Heat your oven to 230˚ Celsius or 450˚ Fahrenheit. Make sure the pot is also hot. We used a 20 cm Le Creuset Cast Iron Round Casserole. Put the dough, seam side up, in the pot, close it and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the lid and bake for 15 minutes until it is nicely browned. Let cool on a wire rack for at least an hour before slicing you no-knead with blue poppy seeds and brown linseed.

No Knead Bread with Poppy Seeds and Lineseed © cadwu
Dough After Resting For 18 Hours © cadwu
Flower and Seeds No-Knead Bread © cadwu
No-Knead Bread Ready For The Oven © cadwu
Dough Ready For Second Proofing © cadwu
Dough Before Resting For 18 Hours © cadwu

Monkfish Spanish Style

11 September 2019

Rape a la Marinera

In October 2016 Jamie Oliver was criticised for making paella the wrong way. He dared adding chorizo to one of the most Spanish dishes ever. Paella should be made with rabbit, snails, chicken, beans, saffron and rice. How dare he insult all of Spain by adding chorizo to his Paella? Naked chef or not, ambassador of healthy food or not, no one touches Paella.

Rape a la Marinera is among our favourites because it’s all about monkfish, which is such a tasty fish. The monkfish is presented with a generous tomato sauce, large shrimps, vongole and bread. What better way to enjoy life!

In this recipe we will probably do a few things very wrong, but never mind, simply don’t tell your Spanish friends.

Wine Pairing

We very much enjoyed a glass of Spanish Verdejo. In our case a bottle of Monteabellon Rueda. In general wines made from the Verdejo grape combine very well with fish. The wine comes with the right acidity, giving freshness to the wine. It has floral aromas typical for the Verdejo grape. You may recognize the aromas of banana and exotic fruit.

What You Need

  • Monkfish
  • Olive Oil
  • Optional
    • Bay Leaf
    • Saffron
  • 4 Large Shrimps
  • Vongole (clams, Vongola Veraci)
  • White wine
  • Bouquet Garni

What You Do

The day before serving Rape a la Marinera make the tomato sauce.
Start by cleaning the monkfish and remove the skin where necessary. Clean the shrimps by removing the intestinal tract. Leave the head and the tail. Check the vongole and discard ones that are broken. In general vongole don’t need much cleaning. Vongola Verace are tasty, slightly sweet and juicy; great for Spaghetti Vongole and Rape a la Marinera.
In a large skillet fry the monkfish. When coloured add the sauce. Gently heat the sauce and cover the fish with it. Baste (arroser) and continue to do so. In parallel add some wine to a pan with a bouquet garni and let gently cook for 5 minutes.
Now it’s about timing! Add the raw shrimps to the pan with the monkfish, cover the shrimps with the sauce, continue basting both the fish and the shrimps. Add the vongole to the pan with the white wine. Cook quickly until open. Add some of the cooking juices of the vongole to the tomato sauce, mix, taste and add a touch of pepper. Serve the vongole on top of the monkfish and shrimps.
Serve with crusted bread.

Monkfish © cadwu
Tomato Sauce © cadwu
Vongole © cadwu
Rape a la Marinera or Monkfish Spanish Style © cadwu
Rape a la Marinera or Monkfish Spanish Style © cadwu
Verdejo Monteabellon Rueda 2016 © cadwu

Flan with Prawns, Blue Cheese, Spinach and Dill

4 September 2019

Something on a Spoon

A glass of white wine, perhaps a glass of Crémant d’Alsace or maybe even a glass of Champagne; such a great way to start dinner (or lunch when you feel like treating yourself). You enjoy some bread with homemade Tapenade, or a few nice olives. All good. And then suddenly the chef presents you her or his Amuse-Bouche. Something very special and an indication of the chef’s talent. But in most cases it’s something on a spoon and not very special.

A bit of background: amuse-bouche is actually not a French term. Restaurateurs made it up because they think amuse-gueule (the correct term) is a bit harsh. ‘Gueule’ can refer to both humans and animals. And ‘ferme ta gueule’ is far from polite. So restaurateurs started using ‘bouche’, to eliminate the impression that they think their guests have a snout.

Some say the concept of the amuse was invented by the Nouvelle Cuisine in the 1960s. Not really. In 1946 Francis Ambrière, in his book Les Grandes vacances, writes “… Une côtelette à midi. Quelques amuse-gueule à l’heure du goûter. Et le soir, ô splendeur, un gigot bien saignant, le premier gigot depuis l’an 40!”

Today’s amuse-gueule is a dish in its own right that amuses the mouth, fools your appetite and makes you want to start on the first course. Small, tasty, full of flavours and maybe a bit out of the ordinary.

We use a traditional coddler for this amuse-gueule, but you could also use a small ramequin. No spoon, please.

Wine Pairing

Typically the amuse-gueule is combined with your aperitif. We combined this amuse gueule with a glass of German Sekt, to be more precise with a glass of Reichsrat von Buhl – Pfalz – Sekt – Spätburgunder Brut rosé 2016, which is a superb pale pink wine, made from 100% Pinot Noir and produced by one of the leading wineries in Germany. Think red berries, brioche, a delicate texture with a nice mousse, fresh acidity and a long-lasting aftertaste.

What You Need (for 4)

  • One Egg
  • Four Medium Sized Raw Prawns
  • 75 grams Spinach
  • ½ Shallot
  • A Generous Tablespoon of Crème Fraiche
  • Dill
  • Blue Cheese
  • Chives
  • 4 Edible flowers

What You Do

Start by cleaning the prawns, removing the head, the shell and the vein. We used Argentine red shrimps. The meat is fairly soft and they become beautifully red when cooked. Fry the shrimps is some olive oil for 3 minutes. Remove the shrimps from the pan, set aside and let cool. Gently fry the shallot in the same pan for 10 minutes until glazed. Remove from the pan and let cool. In a different pan quickly cook the (dry and clean) spinach in some olive oil. Keep stirring! Drain if so required, set aside and let cool.
Cut the prawns in smaller bits. Chop the spinach using a large knife. Whisk the egg until completely smooth. Now add the (cool) bits of prawn, the spinach and the shallot. Whisk with a spoon. Add the Crème Fraiche. Add some chopped dill (depending on your taste), a bit of blue cheese (not too much, just to add a dimension to the dish) and a generous amount of chives. Mix. Coat the coddlers or ramequins with butter. Add the mixture to the coddlers or ramequins. Heat your oven to 170° Celsius (or 340° Fahrenheit). Place the coddlers or ramequins in a shallow dish. Add boiling water up to 2/3 of the height of the coddler or ramequin. Close the oven and reduce the temperature to 120° Celsius (or 250° Fahrenheit). After 30 minutes au bain marie your amuse-gueule should be ready. Test with a needle. Let cool.
If using a coddler, remove and dry the lid, add the flower and close.

Amuse-Gueule © cadwu
Amuse-Gueule © cadwu

 

 

 

Grilled Octopus Tentacles

28 August 2019

Portugal

The Portuguese kitchen is not known for its subtleness or refinement. But that should not stop you from enjoying it! Portuguese cuisine comes with powerful flavours, lots of fish of course, bacalhau, Caldo Verde, octopus, cuttlefish, and the well known chicken piri-piri and pastel de nata. Same for Portuguese wine: perhaps not the most subtle wine (apart from Madeiras and Port wines), but how about an excellent Vinho Verde, a red wine from the Dão region made with Touriga Nacional or a red wine from Alentejo? We love flavors and we very much enjoy the bold dishes from Portugal.

Recently when in Brussels we booked a table at Chez Luis, a Portuguese Bar à vin and Restaurant. Tasty dishes like Pasteis de bacalhau, Cassolette de palourdes and Polvo lagareiro. Served with Portuguese wine, of course. And Chez Luis has an excellent choice! So we drank a vibrant espumante and a refreshing Vinho Verde (Longos Vales Alvarinho 2016). The Polvo made us think of one of our favorites: Octopus with summer vegetables. And since one octopus is way too much for two people, we simply bought two cooked tentacles. Feel free to buy a whole octopus, clean it, cook it, braise it and then follow the recipe below.

Wine Pairing

A Portuguese white wine will be a excellent choice, for instance a Vinho Verde like we enjoyed at Chez Luis. You could also go for a Spanish Verdejo from Rueda. Look for characteristics like fresh, fruity, clear acidity, subtle bitterness and full bodied.

What You Need

  • 2 Octopus Tentacles (cooked)
  • 1 Tomato
  • 1 Red Bell Pepper
  • 2 gloves of fresh Garlic
  • 1 Spring Onion
  • Jerez Vinegar
  • Black pepper
  • (Optional) Parsley
  • Lemon
  • Olive oil

What You do

Clean the red bell pepper and slice in 4 to 6 chunks. Grill it in your oven until nicely burned. Transfer to a plastic container and close the lid. Wait a few hours before peeling the bell pepper. Slice it into cubes (not too small). Remove the pits from the tomato. Slice in similar cubes. Slice the garlic (again, not too small). Slice the spring onion. Mix the vegetables and fry gently in a hot pan with olive oil. Set to low heat. In parallel heat your grill pan. Remove the gelatinous substance from the tentacles, dry them, coat with olive oil and grill for 4*2 minutes, creating a nice brown criss-cross pattern. It will not be very visible, but it will be crunchy. Just before serving the dish, add some Jerez vinegar to the vegetables, turning it into something like a salsa. Perhaps some parsley and black pepper. Serve the hot tentacle on the vegetables and add a slice of lemon.

grilled octopus tentacles

Risotto with Mushrooms

7 August 2019

And on the 8th day he remembered he had forgotten to create food. So he quickly created something so simple, so tasty, so fulfilling that he knew people would still enjoy it, many, many years later. He called it Risotto.

Five Challenges When Making Risotto
  1. We’re always too busy! We are tempted to buy risotto rice that cooks quickly and can be served in under 10 minutes. Never rush a risotto!
    And by the way, what is so important that you don’t have 34 minutes to cook your own lovely, genuine, risotto? Why would quick be more important than tasty?
  2. And since we are too busy: why look for fresh cèpes if you can buy a pack of risotto rice with cèpes. Second mistake. You will not taste cèpes but a series of nasty E numbers and salt. Just look at the package! It will probably contain 0,01% of cèpes.
  3. We think risotto is too basic, so we’ve decided to prepare a luxurious version. Let’s add tomatoes, or salmon, or spinach and pumpkin, or chicken, or saffron, shrimps and peas. Please don’t. It will only ruin the lovely combination of rice, butter, stock and Parmesan cheese.
  4. Risotto is too heavy, too rich. Let’s use crème fraîche or Mozzarella and not Parmesan and not butter, let’s simply skip the butter. Fourth mistake: butter and Parmesan cheese are essential, for the taste, the mouthfeel and the consistency.
  5. Buy risotto-rice without checking if it’s the right rice. We use beautiful Carnaroli rice, superfine quality, produced by Acquerello. It doesn’t come cheap (we pay € 11,95 per kilo) but why would you not treat yourself to the best risotto rice? It has all the right qualities and the taste is outstanding.
Wine Pairing

We enjoyed our Risotto with a glass of Soave. Some acidity, touch of bitterness, nicely balanced with the butter and the cheese. It’s light and fruity; it elevates the risotto.

What You Need
  • 70 grams of Acquerello rice
  • 1 Shallot
  • Butter
  • Olive Oil
  • 100 gram of Shiitake
  • 200 gram of mushrooms, for instance Chestnut Mushrooms
  • optional: 100 gram of Cèpes
  • Chicken Stock
  • Parmesan Cheese
What You Do
  1. Peel and chop the shallot
  2. Add butter and olive oil to the pan and glaze the shallot
  3. In parallel clean and slice the various mushrooms. Feel free to use other mushrooms as well. We think the Shiitake is an important one because it adds depth to the taste
  4. Bring the stock to a boil
  5. After 5 minutes add the mushrooms to the pan and fry gently for 5 minutes
  6. Add the rice to the pan and coat the rice for 2 minutes
  7. Start adding the stock, spoon by spoon and stir the rice frequently
  8. When using Acquerello rice it takes 18 minutes
  9. Check the rice
  10. When okay, transfer the pan to the kitchen counter top and leave to rest for 2 minutes.
  11. Add chunks of butter, stir, add a bit more butter and the grated Parmesan cheese
  12. Stir, a bit of black pepper, add more butter or Parmesan cheese if so required
  13. Serve immediately.
Ingredients of Risotto with Mushrooms © cadwu
Ingredients of Risotto with Mushrooms © cadwu
Risotto with Mushrooms © cadwu
Risotto with Mushrooms © cadwu

Amuse-Gueule

24 July 2019

Something on a Spoon

A glass of white wine, perhaps a glass of Crémant d’Alsace or maybe even a glass of Champagne; such a great way to start dinner (or lunch when you feel like treating yourself). You enjoy some bread with homemade Tapenade, or a few nice olives. All good. And then suddenly the chef presents you her or his Amuse-Bouche. Something very special and an indication of the chef’s talent. But in most cases it’s something on a spoon and not very special.

A bit of background: amuse-bouche is actually not a French term. Restaurateurs made it up because they think amuse-gueule (the correct term) is a bit harsh. ‘Gueule’ can refer to both humans and animals. And ‘ferme ta gueule’ is far from polite. So restaurateurs started using ‘bouche’, to eliminate the impression that they think their guests have a snout.

So the correct French term is amuse-gueule. Some say the concept of the amuse was invented by the Nouvelle Cuisine in the 1960s. Not really. In 1946 Francis Ambrière, in his book Les Grandes vacances, writes “… Une côtelette à midi. Quelques amuse-gueule à l’heure du goûter. Et le soir, ô splendeur, un gigot bien saignant, le premier gigot depuis l’an 40!”

Today’s amuse-gueule is a dish in its own right that amuses the mouth, fools your appetite and makes you want to start on the first course. Small, tasty, full of flavours and maybe a bit out of the ordinary.

We use a traditional coddler for this amuse-gueule, but you could also use a small ramequin. No spoon, please.

Wine Pairing

Typically the amuse-gueule is combined with your aperitif. We combined this amuse gueule with a glass of German Sekt, to be more precise with a glass of Reichsrat von Buhl – Pfalz – Sekt – Spätburgunder Brut rosé 2016, which is a superb pale pink wine, made from 100% Pinot Noir and produced by one of the leading wineries in Germany. Think red berries, brioche, a delicate texture with a nice mousse, fresh acidity and a long-lasting aftertaste.

What You Need (for 4)

  • One Egg
  • Four Medium Sized Raw Prawns
  • 75 grams Spinach
  • ½ Shallot
  • A Generous Tablespoon of Crème Fraiche
  • Dill
  • Blue Cheese
  • Chives
  • 4 Edible flowers

What You Do

Start by cleaning the prawns, removing the head, the shell and the vein. We used Argentine red shrimps. The meat is fairly soft and they become beautifully red when cooked. Fry the shrimps is some olive oil for 3 minutes. Remove the shrimps from the pan, set aside and let cool. Gently fry the shallot in the same pan for 10 minutes until glazed. Remove from the pan and let cool. In a different pan quickly cook the (dry and clean) spinach in some olive oil. Keep stirring! Drain if so required, set aside and let cool.
Cut the prawns in smaller bits. Chop the spinach using a large knife. Whisk the egg until completely smooth. Now add the (cool) bits of prawn, the spinach and the shallot. Whisk with a spoon. Add the Crème Fraiche. Add some chopped dill (depending on your taste), a bit of blue cheese (not too much, just to add a dimension to the dish) and a generous amount of chives. Mix. Coat the coddlers or ramequins with butter. Add the mixture to the coddlers or ramequins. Heat your oven to 170° Celsius (or 340° Fahrenheit). Place the coddlers or ramequins in a shallow dish. Add boiling water up to 2/3 of the height of the coddler or ramequin. Close the oven and reduce the temperature to 120° Celsius (or 250° Fahrenheit). After 30 minutes au bain marie your amuse-gueule should be ready. Test with a needle. Let cool.
If using a coddler, remove and dry the lid, add the flower and close.

Amuse-Gueule © cadwu
Amuse-Gueule © cadwu