A quick trip to Holland

Dissertation time has begun at last! And I’m feeling it, rushing off to archives across the country (well, Liverpool and Manchester). It’s an excellent experience but so exhausting! I feel like I’m cramming the history of the world in my head. But it’s just cotton brokers. And man, they are cool. But enough about that. I went to Amsterdam with Roger for a few days to visit our friend Lawrence, who’s teaching children how to be excellent to one another. He lives outside of the city, in a little town called s-Hertogenbosch, which was like a continental version of York! A very cute little place, with a bustling town centre market and a lovely little Cathedral.
My culinary adventures weren’t exercised so much in Amsterdam, I must admit. Back in my parent’s old haunts, we were splendidly ripped off for breakfast and one evening meal I ate was raw. Shudder. And Anne Frank was everywhere, which well and truly spooked me out. Damn nightmares.

We did have a lovely wander down the floating Bloemenmarkt though, and after visiting the Van Gogh museum, we had a great time wandering through the Albert Cuyp-Market, trying deep fried mussels, tasty fresh fruit juice, cones of chips with mayo and huge blackberries! And after that we went off to visit Lawrence, where the food was amazing!

His housemates were lovely, German, and studying vertical farming of all things. But they were also into their food and football. As a result, a huge spread was laid out for a Germany vs. Germany football match, where we ate  chilli, lentil curry and deliciously chewy bread, all “washed down” with homemade chocolate brownies and cheesecake. If we hadn’t gorged in town on ice cream and schnitzels earlier that day, I think the experience would have been less traumatic, but as it stands, it was still an amazing evening of football and food. Not so much football for me and Lawrence, thank God; we spent the evening chatting, eating and arousing hostile glances from everyone who wanted to watch the football IN SILENCE. Oh well. We came, we saw, we ate.

Sadly, Roger and I had to rush off early the next day because it looked like the trains had gone to pot, but not before we tried some cheese that one of Lawrence’s friend had made! He had been working in a dairy and was experimenting with unpasteurised milk. He told us that pasteurised milk, as a result of the heating process, can make cheese waxy and tasteless (this is exactly how I feel about most Dutch cheeses!). As a sample, he gave us some slices of cheese he’d helped to make, all with milk that hadn’t been heated above the cow’s body temperature. What delicious morsels! One strong and rich, one with the delicate hint of asparagus, one rougher and malty- made with beer, and the crowning glory, a cheese studded with black truffles and Prosecco! I was in very heaven. Good luck to the guy, those cheeses were amazing.

Feeling inspired by a lovely bunch of people all following their dreams (so what if it’s corny? It’s true!), Roger and I chugged back to Amsterdam on the train. While we were waiting for the train to the airport, I had something else delicious: Dutch apple cake, something which, rather weirdly, I hadn’t been able to find earlier, but right on the station, there it was. Tucked up right on the platform of the busy train station was a place called “Grand Cafe-Restaurant 1e klas”; we’d come in a few days before to enjoy the fin-de-siècle style interior, as well as the chocolate cake and screeching cockatoo.  The waiters were decked out in long aprons and bow-ties. It was that sort of place, but lovely! So to wish our trip farewell, I tucked into a slice of apple cake at last. And it was good. When I find a decent enough recipe, I’m definitely making one. Cinnamon, sultanas, sugar, soft apples..

One recipe I can post now is the simplest of all recipes: fresh mint tea. It’s stupid that I’ve never thought of making it, to be honest, but believe me, it’s good. I made some for Mum-y when she had a sore tum, as mint’s good for the digestion and it worked a treat! Simply stew some mint leaves in hot water and add honey to taste. While stewing, cover the top of the cup to prevent the mint leaves from turning brown. That’s it. But so delicate, I’d recommend it to anyone. Sloo!