CHEF and blogger Paul James writes for our paper.
IT HAS been 40 years since I first visited Holland, I was around eight or nine 9 years old.
I’ve been a few times since and found it a charming country.
Beautiful and quaint towns and villages such as Marken, Volendam, Leiden and Lisse where my sister Lorraine lived for a couple of years.
The most popular attraction in Lisse is Keukenhof, open only during spring when the tulips are flowering.
Also each spring, a parade of flowers, known as Bollenstreek, Is held through the main streets of Lisse.
Plus in August, the Castlefest is held in the gardens of Castle Keukenhof.
Another attraction, the Madurodam has been built to recreate miniature replicas of famous Dutch landmarks and notable places around the world.
It was a visual sight of amazement to witness the miniature version of Schiphol airport with its passengers, pilots and aircraft doted around the scaled down runways.
Recently a 3D photo booth called Fantasitron has opened so you can purchase miniature 3D versions of yourself.
Another place I can recall visiting when I was younger was the seaside resort of Zandvort, with its famous nudist beach!
That brings me nicely onto Amsterdam which – it’s only fair to say – has a modern outlook on life but as a little lad I was more interested then in the musical street performers, colourful characters and of course the food.
I was amazed and intrigued even at a younger age that you could go into a cafe, put a ‘Guilder’ into a small compartment and purchase croquettes, fries, pastries and other delicious food from an array of other compartments placed around the walls of these type of eateries.
It was a huge vending machine, questions filled my innocent-minded brain – how small were the people behind there, replacing all the food as it was taken out?
I had visions of Oompa-Loompas such as the ones in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory dancing and singing in my thoughts. Surely not?
Anyway, being dragged away from investigating anymore by my family to put satay sauce on my fries and curry mayonnaise on my Frikandel brings me to this dish I tried to recreate.
Frikandel is a cylindrical chewy, skinless, dark-coloured sausage-like meat product which is usually eaten warm.
The famous Frikandel speciaal is usually served with chopped raw onions that fit into a cut inserted into it prior to frying.
Usually the Frikandel is usually long and thin, but dishes are there to be changed, so I did to a smaller stubbier morsel.
As with all recipes it changes through history, researching Frikandel I found in older recipes they added orange peel, which I have included also.
Another interesting fact I found was that a writer called PC Hooft called ‘fricadellen’ a recipe for old spinsters.
On that note I left my researching and carried on cooking.
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Frikandel
Ingredients
400g pork mince
1 onion finely sliced (keep a little back for serving)
1tsp coriander powder
1tsp of garlic powder or paste
1tsp nutmeg
1tsp of mustard powder
1tsp of clove powder
20g of bread crumbs
1tbsp Soy sauce
Pinch of salt and pepper to season.
Finely sliced orange peel.
Method
1. Place the mince into a bowl and add all of the ingredients, reserving a few of the onions for later.
2. You can by all means use a food processor, but If you feel lazy like I do, mix well in the bowl with your hands.
3. Lay some cling film onto a clean work surface and roll the mixture into a sausage shape.
4. Wrap the Frikandel tightly in the cling film and secure each end with a small knot.
5. Place gently into simmering boiling water and poach for 45 minutes.
6. After you have finished poaching remove from the water and pat dry and leave to cool down a little before you remove the cling film.
7. Cut the frikandel about half way down lengthwise.
8. This will open up your sausage while it’s frying.
9.Fry the frikandel in a little oil till warmed through and golden brown.
10. Serve with raw onions and some chips and some curry mayonnaise.
Serve and enjoy.
