14th March 2021

Axoa, a Basque veal dish

I had been reading a book that involved a police woman from the Basque country and I wanted to prepare something of the local cuisine. Axoa is a dish of simmered shoulder of veal with peppers, chili and Espelette chili powder. I first cut a red and yellow bell pepper into small squares and chopped up a large onion. Then I sliced the veal in […]

31st December 2020

Tournedos Rossini

This exquisite dish lends its name from Italian composer Gioachino Rossini who lived in Paris for two long periods in his life.

It is not only exquisite but also extravagant as it combines three nobel and expensive ingredients — beef filet, foie gras and truffle.

7th September 2020

Borlotti bean soup with vegetables and sausage

The farmers where we buy vegetables had returned from a short week off to visit their family and when they re-opened there were a lot of fresh new products among which several kinds of beans. Borlotti beans look nice with their purple etchings on a white background. Hariciot coco Borlotti in French, they can be used in stews and dried for later use in winter. […]

1st April 2020

A simple aïoli

For many people aïoli is a garlic sauce that goes over fries, kebab or shawarma. But in the Provence, aïoli is more than that and can be an entire festive meal with fish, snail, squid, artichokes and other vegetables with a dollop of the creamy garlic sauce.

22nd December 2019

Pancakes!

In France, people eat a lot of pancakes. They are flat and called “crèpes” and can be sweet of savoury. In Breton pancake eateries they have savoury “sarazin” crèpes that could rival with pizzas. The “crèpes Suzette” is an alcohol soaked sweet desert. In the Netherlands where I grew up, the pancakes are thicker and can be baked with slices of lard or apples. I […]