pork – Cook and Drink

How to Make a Roulade (Part 1)

10 July 2025

Butterflying meat is a technique that allows you to turn a thicker piece of meat (for instance pork tenderloin or turkey breast) into a piece that you can use to make a roulade, without damaging the texture. The first step is to slice the meat lengthwise, but not through and through. The second and third step are a bit more challenging: take your knife and half the meat, again lengthwise, from the centre to the right and then from the centre to the left. Basically, you have now quartered the meat but it still in one piece. Difficult? This helpful video shows you how to do it.
Some instructions stop after the first step and use a meat hammer to flatten the meat. Nice, but the result is not even close to the real thing.

Once the pork tenderloin is butterflied, it’s time to add the filling, on the outside. Sounds odd, but our butcher was right, if you fry the roulade inside-out, you get a much better result.

We have made pork tenderloin roulades with various fillings. This recipe is for a Mediterranean approach. You could also go for a spicy mixture with red pepper paste, garlic, onion, ginger and soy sauce.

Wine Pairing

In general both red and white wine can go very well with a roulade of pork tenderloin. It all depends on the filling. In case of this Mediterranean filling, we would suggest a more robust wine, for instance Syrah. This is a full-bodied red wine with medium to high levels of tannin. It has fruity flavors and a slightly peppery finish.
In case of a filling with red pepper paste, garlic, ginger and soy sauce you could pair the roulade with a more spicy red wine, for instance Zinfandel, or with a white wine with a touch of sweetness (Riesling, perhaps Viognier).

What You Need

Pork Tenderloin
Black garlic
Sage
Black Olives
Rosemary
Fennel Seed
Pancetta
Black Pepper

What You Do

Butterfly the meat
Devein and chop the sage
Halve the black olives
Crush the fennel seeds
Make a mixture of black garlic, sage, black olives, rosemary, fennel seed and black pepper. It should be a powerful mixture
Spread the mixture over the meat. Keep the edges free.
Cover with slices of pancetta.
Roll up the meat
Tie with kitchen twine
Tightly wrap in plastic foil and transfer to the refrigerator for at least 2 hours
Remove the roulade from the refrigerator and allow to rest at room temperature for 30 – 60 minutes
Preheat your oven to 160 °C or 320 °F
Fry in the oven until the internal temperature is between 65 °C and 75 °C, or 145 °F and 165 °F (pink and well-done respectively)
Transfer to your worktop, wrap in aluminium foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes
Slice and serve on a warm plate, for instance with green peas, or pommes dauphinois, or a salad or ratatouille. Just think about the filling and be inspired!

butterflying meat allows you to create a roulade

Peaches with Lavender

19 September 2024

The cookbook review project hosted by Bernadette has come to an end, unfortunately! It was inspiring to read cookbooks from chefs that were new to us, like Patricia Wells and Nagi Maehahi. It was fun preparing dishes for our esteemed panel and sharing their views with you. Thank you so much Bernadette, for running the project!

Our suggestion to the cookbook review team was a book mentioned by Sheree: José Pizarro’s book Basque: Spanish Recipes from San Sebastián & Beyond, published in 2016. It’s a beautifully designed and edited book with a range of diverse dishes, for instance Veal Chops with Black-Eyed Peas, Pan Fried Cèpes with Egg Yolk and Cream Cheese Ice Cream with Blackcurrant and Camomile Syrup. The book is recommended by Claudia Roden (‘José Pizarro is an amazing cook who has brought us the best of Spanish food’) and Rick Stein (‘José’s recipes take us to the very heart of the best Spanish cooking’).

José Pizarro was born in the Extremadura region in Spain. Currently he owns seven restaurants in the UK and one in Abu Dhabi. He published six Spanish cookery books, received various awards and is often credited with making Spanish food popular in the UK.

We decided to make two dishes from the book, Grilled Octopus with Peppers and Aubergine and Roasted Lavender Peaches with Baked Custard. As a main dish we served Pork Belly with Sherry, Chickpeas and Chestnuts, following a recipe published in the Guardian. Our panellist Jan and Anton were happy to provide their feedback.

The starter: Anton mentioned the octopus was tasty, with the right texture and nicely grilled. Jan was also pleasantly surprised by the octopus and its flavours. We all felt the dish as a whole could do with a bit more flavour and some acidity. We also expected the parsley oil to bring the various components together, but that didn’t really happen.

We enjoyed our starter with a glass of Portuguese Vinho Verde, made by Cazas Novas. It comes with floral and fruity notes, has some acidity and a medium body with a good texture and a fresh aftertaste. In general, you’re looking for a wine with freshness, minerality and some acidity.

Pork with Chestnuts, Chickpeas and Sherry ©cadwu

The dish with the pork belly strips was nice. Jan would have preferred the pork to be crispy. Perhaps prepare the stew and the pork separately? Anton enjoyed the chickpeas in the rich combination with sherry, onions, spinach and thyme. Surprisingly flavourful.

The recipe suggests leaving the pot in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes. The next day we decided leaving the leftovers in a warm oven for a few hours. The result was a very nicely integrated stew; a tribute to all ingredients. Next time we will prepare the vegetables a day ahead with some of the pork, perhaps allow for more time in the oven and serve with crispy fried pork.
We enjoyed the dish with a glass of Portuguese red wine, produced by Vidigal. The wine is made with aragonez, castelão and cabernet grapes. The wine has a nice red colour and aromas of fruit and herbs. Its taste is light, with some tannins and a touch of oak. In general, you’re looking for a smooth, easy to drink red wine with character.

Time for dessert. Peaches with Lavender? Four peaches and a tablespoon of lavender? Served with custard? We were intrigued.
We looked at the list of ingredients and noticed Patxaran, a sloe flavoured liqueur from the Basque country, normally served as a digestif.
Even more intriguing.

The combination of peaches, lavender, patxaran and custard was a winner. One night we served it with vanilla ice cream, which was a nice and tasty combination. We served our panel the peaches with home-made custard, following the recipe of José Pizarro. It’s a delicious combination. Rich, smooth, silky custard with uplifting, sweet and aromatic peaches. The sauce is a mixture of honey, patxaran and peach juice. Like us you would probably expect the lavender to be over the top, but it worked brilliantly. A winner! Our panel was very pleased and enjoyed the combination.
“Lovely custard, great way to prepare peaches, interesting how the lavender is supporting the fruit, present, never overwhelming, could I have another glass of patxaran?”
Of course you can!

Bernadette final review-question was: should this book be on your shelf? Our answer would be yes, because of the inspirational recipes, the use of ingredients and the beautiful pictures of food and the Basque country.

Basque: Spanish Recipes from San Sebastián & Beyond is available via your local bookshop or the usual channels for 15 euro or 40 US dollar. You can also enjoy the recipes José Pizarro publishes on a monthly basis in the Guardian.

Pork with Enoki

21 December 2023

It’s nearly the end of the mushroom season in Europe. It’s hard to find chanterelle (girolle), and nearly impossible to buy fresh cèpes. The black winter truffle (Tuber melanosporum) is an exception. It’s available until March, but the price may be prohibitive. Better to focus on cultivated mushrooms, such as enoki, available at your local Asian supermarket. A delicious mushroom with a pleasant texture and aroma. Its flavour is mild, a bit sweet and fruity. You can use it raw in a salad, in a soup or combine it with soba noodles. A few weeks ago, we wrote about an omelette with enoki and a light soy sauce. The result is a lovely sweet, rich and intriguing dish.
Combining enoki with pork is also a great idea. Feel free to adjust the recipe and make the sauce spicier or sweeter or thicker. The result will be tasty given all three elements in the dish bring some kind of sweetness.

Wine Pairing

You could emphasize the Asian influence by serving a glass of Pinot Gris, Riesling, Chenin Blanc or perhaps Soave. In general you’re looking for a light or medium bodied, unoaked, dry white wine with nice acidity. Benefits are minerality and florality. A glass of Côtes de Provence rosé will also be a good choice.
If you want to focus on the flavours of the pork, we suggest a glass of Beaujolais or a glass of wine made with Grenache (France) or Garnacha (Spain) grapes.

What You Need

Organic Pork Tenderloin
100 grams of (Golden) Enoki
Soy Sauce
Light Soy Sauce (we used Tentsuyu)
Stock
Oyster Sauce
Black Bean Sauce (optional)
Red Chili Paste (optional)
Olive Oil

What You Do

Fry the pork in olive oil until pink. Turn on a regular basis. Remove the stem (bottom) of the enoki. Fry in olive oil for maximum one minute. Add some (vegetable stock), soy sauce, oyster sauce, black bean sauce and red chili paste and create a not overly sweet, intense sauce. We like some spiciness, hence the chili paste. Serve the meat on top of the enoki mixture.

Pork with Clams

6 April 2023

A delicious classic dish from the Portuguese Alentejo region. A region known for its long coastal line, its beautiful nature and very small villages. Loved by sun seeking holiday makers and those who want to escape from busy metropolitan areas. A region not known for its culinary tradition except for Porco Alentejana, a very tasty combination of pork and clams, supported by red bell pepper paste, white wine and onion. Forget about those unlikely surf and turf combinations and enjoy Porco Alentejana!

Wine Pairing

Combining clams (and shellfish in general) with red wine is not the best idea. The tannins in the red wine can cause a metal-like taste, which is not very pleasant. Best is a full-bodied white wine with some acidity. We opened a bottle of Chateau Mourgues Du Gres Rosé. A wine with an intense pink colour, aromas that made us think of strawberries and lemon and with a fruity, long taste with a hint of pepper. The wine is made from syrah, grenache en mourvèdre grapes.

What You Need (for 4 persons)

800 grams of Organic Pork with lots of lovely Fat (Tenderloin or Sirloin)
1 Large White Onion
Red Bell Pepper Paste
White Wine
2 Bay Leaves
2 Garlic Cloves
800 grams of Clams or Vongole
Cilantro
Olive Oil

What You Do

Cut the pork into 2-centimetre cubes. Finely chop the garlic. In a bowl combine the garlic, four tablespoons of red bell pepper paste, white wine, bay leaf and pork. Cover and transfer to the refrigerator for 24 hours. Gently mix every 2 – 4 hours.
The next day coarsely chop the onion. Use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the marinade. Heat olive oil in a large pan and fry the meat until nicely brown. Remove the meat and add the chopped onion to the pan. Glaze. Return the meat to the pan, add the marinade and leave to simmer for two or three hours, depending on the meat. Taste and perhaps add more red bell pepper paste. When the meat is ready, check the clams, discard broken ones and ones that remain open. Take a large pan, add some water and a tablespoon of red bell pepper paste. When the water is boiling, add the clams to the pan, close the lid and cook until the clams are open, perhaps 2 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the clams to the other pan. Use a large spoon to add some of the cooking liquid of the clams to the stew. Taste carefully; the liquid could be very salty and you don’t want to ruin the stew by adding too much. Decorate with cilantro and serve with crusted bread. We enjoyed a carrot salad with fennel seeds as a side dish.

Sand Carrots

6 February 2023

We were chatting to our favourite greengrocer. Anything special this week? Yes, absolutely, we’ve got Carottes des Sables, also known as sand carrots. The carrots grow in sand in the French Normandy region. The sand has been fertilized with seaweed for many years. The carrots grow slowly and don’t develop a fibrous core, as other carrots do. Furthermore, they are not stored in cool warehouses. Immediately after the harvest they are transported to the greengrocer or the kitchen, covered with sand, to keep them fresh and aromatic. A culinary treat, appreciated by Michelin star chefs.

The carrots are simply delicious and look wonderful. The colour is vibrant orange. We tasted carrot as carrot should taste, crunchy, a touch sweet and fresh.

You could braise the carrots in stock with star anise and finish with butter. We decided to keep it simple and give all credits to the carrot. We served them with a pork medallion with apricots and prunes. A combination that worked very well.

Wine Pairing

The sweetness of the carrots is leading. We opened a bottle of St. Amour, one of the ten crus of the Beaujolais, produced by Maison Jean Loron. An elegant red wine with aromas of strawberries, cassis and chocolate. The tannins are soft and pleasant. The taste is a wonderful balance of strawberries, raspberries and blueberries.

In general you’re looking for a light or medium bodied wine, with character and fruity aromas. Could be a Malbec, perhaps a blend of Syrah and Grenache?

What You Need

Sand Carrots
Butter

What You Do

Wash the carrots carefully, slice, add to a pan with a bit of water and butter. Cook until you’re happy with the firmness of the carrot. By then the water should have evaporated. You could serve them with fresh parsley, cilantro, cinnamon or black pepper. We were perfectly happy with this simple preparation.

Fairy Ring Mushroom with Pork Chops

26 May 2021

Spring brings us several edible or even delicious mushrooms, such as the Fairy Ring Mushroom, Morels and the Mushroom of Saint George.

The Fairy Ring Mushroom is a very common mushroom in many countries. The name is not very helpful since many mushrooms grow in the pattern of a ring. The German and Dutch names (Rasen-Schwindling and Weidekringzwam) are more helpful; these refer to the fact that they grow in meadows and lawns.

In France the Mushroom of Saint George is called mousseron and the Fairy Ring Mushroom faux mousseron. But because of the limited availability of the Mushroom of Saint George the faux (false) is dropped in the second name and the Fairy Ring Mushroom is often referred to and sold as mousseron.

It’s a small, very edible mushroom, available from early spring until late autumn. Its taste is a bit sweet and perhaps that’s why some people suggest using them to make sweet cookies. Hm, we think you can do better than that!

We combine the Fairy Ring Mushroom with excellent organic pork (also a touch of sweetness), cream, white wine, fresh sage and a splash of cognac to give the dish a nutty component.

Wine Pairing

We enjoyed our Fairy Ring Mushrooms and pork with a glass of Austrian Zweigelt, produced by Weingut Prechtl. This red wine is fruity and elegant with notes of blackberry and cherry. The tannins are well structured but not overly present. In general you’re looking for a full bodied red wine with fruit and not too much acidity.

What You Need

2 Organic Pork Chops with lots of nice fat (Sirloin or Shoulder)
100 gram of Fairy Ring Mushroom
Half a glass of Dry White Wine
Fresh Sage
Chicken Stock
Crème Fraîche
Splash of Cognac
Olive Oil

What You Do

Start by cleaning the mushrooms with kitchen paper. Remove the stems. Fry the caps in olive oil. When the liquid has evaporated, add some dry white wine and two finely chopped leaves of sage. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes or so. Add some crème fraîche and a few moments later a splash of cognac. Stir and leave to simmer for another 5 minutes. In parallel fry the pork chops until brown and leave to rest in aluminium foil. Remove the pork fat from the pan and deglaze with chicken stock. Reduce. Now add the liquid from the pan to the mushrooms, add more finely chopped sage and some black pepper.

Zweigelt made by Weingut Prechtl

Kimchi Soup

6 February 2018

Kimchi Soup

A very tasty soup, nice as a starter to your Korean evening or as a quick and nourishing lunch. Kimchi soup can be made with pork belly or with tofu. We prefer the vegetarian option.
It’s not difficult to prepare kimchi from scratch (see below) but you can also buy kimchi from your local Korean shop.

Here is what you need (soup)

Kimchi
Onion
Garlic clove
Spring onion
Soybean paste (Korean Doenjang or Japanese Miso)
Red chili paste (Korean Gochujang)
Fish sauce
Tofu

Start by chopping the onion, the garlic and the spring onion. Keep some spring onion for decoration. Fry the garlic and onions in some oil. Add the soybean paste, the red chili paste and the chopped kimchi. Stir fry the mixture because this will enhance the flavours. Add water and leave for 15 minutes. Taste the soup and add fish sauce, soybean paste or red chili paste to your taste. Leave to simmer for another 15 minutes. Then add chunks of tofu and allow to simmer for another 5 minutes. Decorate with spring onion.

Kimchi background

Hipster food or the traditional Korean way of preserving cabbage? The latter of course. But we must admit, all the foodie-talk about Kimchi inspired us to join a workshop at Mediamatic in Amsterdam. Marrit Kuyng Ok Schakel ran an excellent workshop and not only did she share her passion for Korean food and Kimchi, she also showed us how to make our own Kimchi using white cabbage.

Making Kimchi is all about fermentation: a controlled biological process to change ingredients into food that can be preserved. Fermentation is at the heart of our food production. Beer, cheese, wine, bread, yoghurt, tea, coffee, classic Dutch haring et cetera: fermentation is an essential aspect.

Here is what you need (kimchi)

Chinese Cabbage
Salt
Garlic
Ginger
Red chili paste (Korean Gochujang)
Fish sauce
Spring Onion

The quickest way to make kimchi is by thinly slicing the cabbage, add salt, grated ginger, sliced garlic, red chili paste and fish sauce. The preparation is simple: just mix with your hands (do so for 5 minutes) store in a jar and wait for 5 – 10 days. The fermentation will produce some carbon dioxide so make sure to open the jar on a daily basis. The smell could be rather powerful in the beginning. In this case the amount of salt required depends on how much fish sauce was used. We suggest tasting the mixture and expect between 1% and 2%.

The better way to make kimchi? Slice the cabbage, starting at the bottom, but not completely. Tear the halves apart. Leave the cabbage in water with salt (5% is recommended) for 1-2 hours. Remove the cabbage, wash with cold water and taste if not too salty. If so, wah a bit more. Make a mixture of red chili paste, fish sauce, garlic and ginger. Using your hands, gently work the paste into the cabbage until all leaves are thoroughly coated. Move to a jar and leave to ferment

Also try making kimchi with Daikon, White Cabbage or Pak Choi. We will continue the experiment by using chicory.