Othello & Desdemona

Leeanna Walsmann as Desdemona,Wayne Blair as Othello.

Merritt Janson as Desdemona and John Douglas Thompson as Othello, photo Kevin Sprague

Eamonn Walker and Zoe Tapper. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Othello on the big screen: Irene Jacob and Lawrence Fishburne

I just woke up desperate for some Romeo & Juliet. Why do I need a sugar boost, and Romeo & Juliet, I have no idea. If you don't have a clue about what I am talking about, have a look on the pic below:

Romeo & Juliet are simply put: a slice of guyava paste and a slice of white cheese, typical from Brazil countryside. If you ever visit Brazil or a Brazilian restaurant in your country, do not forget to check wheter this is on the menu. It goes very well with coffee (Iago ?). In Amsterdam you can find "Goiabada" in Finalmente Brasil shop. I have to stock some more of it !

But because Brazilians are a creative people in the kitchen, they experiment several other ways of playing with the guayva paste and the white cheese. One interesting variation of Romeo & Juliet above: a condensed milk pudding with a thick guayava syrup. Below: a cheese souffle with hot guayava sauce.

Below: Romeo & Juliet crepe. It is stuffed with cheese and... yep, you guessed it right: topped with guayava sauce.

Oh, well... I guess by now you can find what the main ingredients of the Romeo & Juliet ice cream above are...

Being impossible to find some guyava paste ad Minas cheese in my neighbourhood (come on, I have been living the last decade in Holland, remember ?) I decided to please myself with a toast topped with plum jelly and a slice of Dutch goat cheese.

It is not exactly a Romeo & Juliet but... It tastes wonderful ! Yes, it does !
(Creativty is indeed the mother of all inventions.)
And so Othello & Desdemona were re-created and re-united in the kitchen paradise.

****
Cara de pau minha ? Pode ser.
Ah, eu não sou do tipo que fica com desejo e não faz nada a respeito !

E olha:

## quemnãotemcãocaçacomgato ## 

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Dutch Pastries (Zoete Koeken)

Texto em português clique aqui.

Pastries and pies are not my thing- definitely, I am no cookie monster. I easily prefer hearty small fast food, canapes or sandwiches.

Anyway, I think it is important in a blog about all things Dutch to bring here something about sweet delicacies. The Dutch patisseire is very vast - therefore impossible to cover this topic in one or two posts. Although the strong French influence, there are also MANY typical Dutch creations. In another post I can talk about Dutch pies and desserts. Here I give you some examples of everyday cookies and pastries:

SPECULAAS: a thin and crunchy biscuit, its main ingredients are brown sugar and spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamon and white pepper). It can have the shape of a windmill, a doll, a tower, or an animal. There is the version for kids called speculoos, also very nice. Speculaas is great with coffe or tea.  Highly addictive according to this gentleman.

TOMPOUCE: the ones found at any filial from HEMA department store are the most popular. A tompouce basically consists of two layers of mille-feuille with a vanille chantilly cream in between. It is topped by a pink icing - that can be orange during and after the Queen's Day festivities. Very difficult to eat tompouces: you bite the hard rectangle and the soft filling goes out into the sides - very irritating. Because of that, I have made a fool of myself a couple of times. Read more here. I have already published a pic with mini tompouces (made of marzipan) here.

GEVULDE KOEK: It is a large round pastry - 10cm diameter -  stuffed with a mix of sugar and almonds. It can be flat but also a small high cake (rondo) or flat and long (called then kano). More pics here.  Always decorated with a half almond. I do not know why but for me gevulde koeken are only for winter/Christmas time...  Note: “koek” means “sweet pastry, or cake”. The short form “koekje” originated the word in English... “cookie” !

BOSSCHE BOL: a very large profiterole (12cm diameter) stuffed with cream and dipped in pure chocolate. Almost impossible to be eaten with the fingers. When ordered in a cafe you will have it on a plate, accompannied by fork and knife, thanks. City of origin: Den Bosch. It is difficult to be found in the rest of the country - but no impossible. You should definitely give it a try.

STROOPWAFELS: Originary from Gouda, consists of two layers of baked batter with a caramel-like filling. They can be big enough to cover your cup of tea, or very small - like coins. I personally like to pop them for some seconds in the microwave and enjoy my stroopwafels with coffee. Suzanne loves it too ! Fact: kids & adults love them, foreigners & cloggies love them. Extremely easy to be found in supermarkets in all the Netherlands.

To be continued...

Playing With Your Food

Bilingual post (English - Portuguese)

Because this couple is expecting a baby for 11/11/11 I have already started to search for a pretty gift. My parents are coming to Holland in July/Aug. and I will send via them something special to my brother - I mean, his baby.

Because I still do not know whether it is a boy or a girl, I preferred to opt for a "neutral" present. I am enjoying so much the news about this baby... I am going to by an aunt again ! On the other side, it is sad that I will not follow his/her growing up phases. The downside of living abroad...

Below, I photographed some examples from the package box to give you some ideas of how to be creatie with food presentation for kids:

Who said kids shouldn't play with the food on their plates ?
The plate cost me15 euros at this amazing department store.
Many discounts up to 12th of April.

Como meu rimão esta ligeiramente grávido (calculado para 11/11/11) eu já fiquei toda animada para enviar algo especial aqui da Holanda. Meus pais vem me visitar  no verão e levam de volta um presentinho pro baby. Decidi optar por algo “neutral” já que não sei se e’ menino ou menina. Na Bijenkorf (uma loja de departamentos com várias filiais pelo país)  encontrei esses pratinhos de porcelana por 15 euros, resistentes a máquina de lavar e ao forno. Na caixa da embalagem há varias sugestões de carinhas com comida. Em casa, eu fotografei bem de perto os exemplos de carinhas para que as pessoas possam copiar as idéias. Uma especie de "tutorial", hahaha ! Acho que meu rimão e cunhada vão adorar.

(Agora... quem disse que criança não deve brincar com a própria comida ? )

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It is Giveaway Time !

On February 13th Greetings From Holland will be completing 2 years ! My sincere "thank you" to all followers and those bringing their "two cents" !

With my blog I have met virtually and/or personally many bubbling personalities and discovered many interesting blogs made by creative, enthusiastic, critic, passionate and very opinionated people around the world. I have done a lot of research and learned even more interesting things about the Dutch culture and myself...

In order to celebrate the two years of G.F.H. I will be giving away two books. The title is "Dutch Cooking Today" and has easy-to-prepare, modern interpretation of traditional Dutch recipes. Thus no granny food - although one can label Dutch food as "comfy food". The book is in ENGLISH. I have gotten one as a present many years ago and prepared so far many yummy recipes. So I bought two units and decided to give them as presents this month.

Above, zebras. It is a starter made of rye bread and a mixture paste consisting of cream cheese, dill and salm. No frying, no cooking - and you can prepare it with a certain advance in time. If you do not like to use salm you can use a white fish of cooked chicken instead - it is goingto look even whiter and become more "zebra-ish" !

Above: chicken and salm soup. Very low fat, very surprising ! Please explore my blog clicking on the labels "restaurants", "recipes", "food"  on the right side of this page if you are not familiar with Dutch foods/meals/delicacies/street food.

Above: pear stewed in red wine, cloves and cinnamon. I prefer curd with prunes - also found in the book !

"Poffertjes": tiny pancakes. Found in all Dutch supermarkets and also during fairs and quermesses around the country, during the whole year. Serve them topped with butter and sugar. Notice the recipe has three paragraphs. I told you: the Dutch recipes are simple AND the Dutch cuisine is so much more than just mashed dishes and pea soup ! The brilliant thing about this book concept is that there are NO Indonesian foods (it is a very strong ethnic cuisine in Holland), NO Belgian foods (which is very lovely cuisine from a neighbouring country and uses liqueurs and beers) or from other countries  at all - and these days Italian and French have lots of influence on Dutch cooking styles. The book is all about pure ingredients and honest flavors in a 1-2-3 step.

Book contents: classic basic sauces, breakfast/brunch/lunch, cakes with tea or coffee, appetizers and snacks, soups, one-pan dishes, main courses, vegetables and side dishes, desserts. All recipes come with a photo. There are also art photos in the book with Dutch themes / landscapes / sceneries.

And the lucky winners get also one plastified bookmarker with magnets, so that you can place it on your chosen recipe page. You can also write some notes inside the bookmarker.  Everyone, living in any part on planet Earth can participate on it. Here are the simple rules to participate in this draw, step-by-step:

1) Become a follower of Greetings from Holland right now if you are not one;

2) Place a quick comment in English (on this post only) up to 16th February, not forgetting to mention your name, city and country. Example:
Hi there Anita ! I just discovered your blog, and I already love it !  I also would love to win one of the books. I am really interested in preparing some Dutch food. My fingers are crossed ! Good luck with your blog. Nigella, London, UK;

3) You can also write about this giveaway on your blog, Facebook, Orkut page or Tweeter. After that you can come here and publish the link (do not forget to mention your name, city and country). Like that you can participate as many times as you wish !

4) When I publish on the lucky winners' names on the 16th February they have two days to react, placing a thank you comment. In case one or both winners do not react then I will make another draw. The presents will be sent via mail as soon as I get the winners addresses.

This is so exciting ! Good luck to all participants !

Happy Sweet Year (Feliz Ano Doce)

Bilingual Post

Post bilíngue. Texto em português após as fotos.

Appelflappen, appelbeignets, appelbollen, kaas (cheese) or saucijs (sausage) broodjes...

My faves ? Oliebollen ! With raisins, please. But you can try "naturel" - without raisins - too.

Very caloric everything - but then we have the excuse it is so cold and you need more food (ha ! There is warming on everywhere: cars, buses, trains, buildings, houses...)

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E’ tradição na Holanda comer diversos itens de pastelaria assim que as temperaturas caem e a festa de Sinterklaas no início de dezembro acaba. São produtos especiais, vendidos em grandes lojas de departamentos, lojas de tortas e pastelaria (as chamadas “banket bakkerij” ) e quiosques pelas praças das cidades e vilas.

Os mais importantes são:

Kaasbroodjes: pãezinhos de massa folhada com queijo derretido. Servidos quentes. Uma variação e’ o saucijzenbroodjes, cujo recheio e’ de uma lingüiça de carne moída.

Ananasbeignets e appelbeignet: almofadinhas de massa recheada com uma fatia grossa de abacaxi ou maçã.

Appelflappen: triângulos de massa de ovos e trigo recheados de cubinhos de maçã e canela. Tanto o appelflap quando os beignets são fritos em óleo quente e polvilhados de açúcar cristal.

Oliebollen: bolinhos de óleo. Parecem intermediários entre uma massa de bisnaga e uma rabanada. Podem ser sabor “natural” ou com uvas-passas. Polvilhados com açúcar em pó - são os meus favoritos para acompanhar um chá ou café.

Appelbollen: uma bola de massa recheada com pedaços de maçã, amêndoas e canela.

Todas essas delícias devem ter um milhão de calorias - e ainda bem que só são vendidas durante um mês por ano. Mas debaixo do frio e neve não há nada melhor do que se abrigar em um quiosque e comer unzinho. Ou então em casa diante do aquecedor ou da lareira. Com gluhwein (uma espécie de quentão) nem se fala...

Um doce e feliz Ano Novo a todos os leitores. Gelukkig Nieuwjaar !

Brigadeiros (Brazilian chocolate truffles)

Why not enjoying some brigadeiros during the 1st of January ? It is so easy to prepare that even a eight year old kid can do it (ooops, and I have to start teaching it to my son asap). Three ingredients: cocoa powder, 1 can of condensed milk and chocolate sprinkles. Maybe some butter too, depending on the quality and consistency of the condensed milk you are going to employ. Believe me: the Dutch love this. I regularly make brigadeiros for birthday parties at home. I will do some for the New Year's Eve as well. I think they are very yummy and look fab & festive - but unfortuanltely are very understimated. Here I am with my humble blog telling the world to try it ! I am helping to spread some Brazilian gastronomy knowledge.   

Above, I hold one brigadeiro between my fingers, so that you can see how big they are. They should be firm and round - and stay firm and round even after a couple of hours. If you make them and they get flat after a while then you need more practice and cook them longer.

Here you see them placed in mini cups, ready to be served. I have bought such mini cups in Brazil, but you can serve them directly on plates, like on my first photo. Or maybe on pretty spoons, such as amuse bouche and hors d'oeuvres served at cocktail parties.

I have found this video on youtube in English. The teachers Luciana, Bethania and Vanessa from Street Smart Brazil course will tell you on a humorous way how to prepare them. Boa sorte e bom apetite !



I have so many years of practice doing brigadeiros that I arrived to the point I do not need unsalted butter, a non-stick pan or wodden spoon. I use a regular pan and spoon. But if you are preparing it for the first time just follow all Bethania's advices. For a larger image double click on the video quickly. This trick will lead you to the youtube page where you can enjoy a wider screen.

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Feliz Natal [Merry Christmas]

Bilingual post Portuguese / English

Encontrei panettone no supermercado Dirk van den Broek hoje por apenas 3 euros a unidade, de uma marca italiana chamada GranDuCale. O Bauducco chega na loja Xenos e acaba, virou lenda urbana pra mim. Estava mesmo pensando em preparar panettone eu mesma quando felizmente encontrei no supermercado Dirk, urruuuu ! 
E aqui termino minha mini postagem desejando a todos os leitores um Feliz Natal !

I have heard that Xenos shop in Holland is selling panettone, Bauducco brand. I have been there twice and didn't find it - so it has become an urban legend for me. I did found another brand of panettone at Dirk van den Broek supermarket today for only 3euros. Nothing can go wrong now...
This mini post is to wish all the readers who celebrate Christmas a gezellig celebration !

Valencia: What to Eat, Where ?

When in Valencia, from Monday to Friday you can pay much less for lunch than on the weekends. Everywhere there is a "menu del dia" (daily specials) with prices starting at 8 euros up to 11 euros per person. It may include wine, taxes and dessert. Spaniards go for a decent meal during lunch and some tapas on the evening - just the opposite of the Dutch. Cloggies get satisfied with a simple sandwich and are prepared for the warm meal very early in the evening.

Just two blocks from our hotel we found a bar serving lunch (starter, main course, dessert and a glass of  wine at 8,50 euros). Our starters: gazpacho manchego (above) for me and paella for hubby (bellow). I thought I was going to get a chilled tomato soup, the famous gazpacho andaluz,  but instead I got a broth with chicken (and rabbit maybe?) and pasta - or another sort of dough. Exquisite. A typical autumn dish !  I do not recommend you have a paella for one person though- probably they make a big dish and re-heat it during the day or maybe is even from the night before.

The first evening we opted for tapas at a restaurant downtown called Baldo, in a contemporary decor. Must try: croquetas.  Just like it is made in Brazil: golden outside, soft inside - so different from the brown-almost-black-hard-outside Dutch kroketten.  Another delicacy is calamares a la plancha: squid lightly baked and served with garlic and parsley. The fried anchovies were also great. We spotted a couple of Dutch tourists who were in the airplane with us eating hamburgers with French fries also at Baldo. Oh My !

On the same street of the Mercado Central there were lots of paella pans and clay pots. I think I have enough clays pots but I started to caress some paella pans... My husband is my conscience and started to whisper "C'mon, you have a very good one at home".

How can use use gian paella p in aconventional stove ? Here is the answer (below).

Whoah ! This is what I call a giant paella. Spotted at the harbour area. It was noon and two men were already throwing pieces of frozen meat into the pan in order to make a huuuuge paella for the evening.
Downtown Valencia we had excellent paellas at two traditional, small places: Gres de Sabra (or Gris de Sabre ? just near the souvenir shops and where the bus turistic departs). A wonderful (and a bit too salty) paella with lobsters.  And paella de mariscos - my ever favourite - at Tasca located on Calle Corona 7, parallel to Quart Caballeros street. Just go there for lunch and ask to the owner behind the counter a paella dish for two (around 18 euros per person). At both such small restaurants the paellas were fresh - the cooks started the preparation the moment we had ordered them. Toasted on the borders and bottom, creamy in the middle of the pan, very aromatic...

Mediterranean food is wonderful, but my husband's taste buds ask now and then for something oriental. When we were at lunch time checking the menus and prices on the streets he started to talk to me about this oriental restaurant well recommended on his pocket guide: Feng. During the week, for just 8 euros something you can choose from 80 dishes - including desserts, a sweet liquor and taxes, excluding drinks. Really, you could pick as many cold dishes and salads from the belt as you wanted and also order warm dishes to the waitresses. They were Japanese and could communicate in a broken Spanish - but had a very good will and patience.

Wanna go for a change while in Valencia ? Feng is quite reasonable, calm and has elegant decor: dark wall with delicate Japanese decorative pieces. Calle Conde Altea 19, L'Eixample district. Metro stop: Colon.

Gourmet souvenirs ? I suggest you search for some turrones. A turron is a sweet bar with roasted nuts. It can be hard and crunchy (a chocolate one with almonds, for example) or soft, with or without egg yolk. Downtown Valencia, just near the bus turistic it was 13,50 euros. I refused to buy any. In a shop on the way to Plaza de Toros we  saw a shop with sweets and a turron was 3,50 euros. My husband exclaimed: "It cannot be ! I think she said trece and not tres. Go ask again.". I asked the girl behind the counter and she repeated: "Tres. Tres euros coma cinquenta".  Incredible ! I have bought five different ones, and back at home I gave soft ones to a friend of us and my parents-in-law (I prefer the hard ones cause I am a wild person - my mother-in-law even calls me barbarian, hahaha! But the soft one with walnuts surprised me and maybe became my favourite). In Holland you can find smaller, soft and chewy version of turrones at HEMA - they use rather the French name of it...  nougat.

Valencia: Mercado Central

Lets pay a visit to Valencia most important market, the Mercado Central or in Valenciano simply Mercat Central. Above, the principal entrance. The building dates from 1914 and has a structure in iron and impressive artnouveau details. Address: Baron de Carcer, center. Very near Plaza de la Virgen, there are boards on the streets indicating the way. www.mercadocentalvalencia.es (history, photos, restaurants and recipes). Do not mistake it by another market, situated in another part of the city:  Mercado de Colon - very beautiful but it has rather chic, modern restaurants and cafes than a place for fresh, raw produce.

Truly amazing central section, with an equally amazing dome. The photo cannot give you an idea how truly impressive and beautiful it is. Below: another angle of the market.

Let's start visiting the fish stalls, shall we ? Everything super fresh and clean - but hold your breath anyway.

Above: this is called in Dutch something like "shaving knives". I had seen a lot of such shells when I visited the Dutch islands of Texel and Terschelling. They are not native from (European) Northern Atlantic waters. It seems this sort of shells were first brought to Europe in the beginning of last centry when an American cruise ship which had departed from N.Y. arrived in France. After that, they rapidly spreaded around European waters - and the Mediterranean. The idea that you can eat such thing... bleargh ! I do eat octupus, squid (yum!) though... go figure.

THIS SECTION of the market is avegetarian's worst nightnare. Believe me: it is a fantastic market, far different from anything I have seen in Europe and in other parts of the world - and have seen a lot of food markets around the world.  I am not that shocked anymore. I have spared the readers of this blog from the most shocking photos.  And I am against humiliating food.

Ham !

OF COURSE you can also find herbs and spices in this market.

I was happy to quickly find a stall displaying spices called "La Parada de las Especias". I started a conversation with the vendor, who was a bit uncertain to do it in English - therefore I quickly shifted it into Spanish. He told me the difference of first quality saffron and a second quality one (he sold both) and to always pay attention to the expiry date. I bought a little box with 0,8g of superior quality saffron - enough for preparing three big paellas. He told me how to prepare a basic paella (duh! as if I had never done it before) and how to crush the saffran into powder  (ahn!? I had never done that), using a mortar or placing it inside of a folded paper and rolling a pen in order to crush it.
"Ah, si ? Not dissolving it in hot water ?" I argued.
"No !" - he replied.
"Muy bien. And where does your saffran come from ?" I asked.
"Toledo" - he answered.
"Oh, I am used to saffran from the Middle East, Egypt, Iran..." a silly comment of mine that made his wife turn her face away making a disgusting face as if the air was suddenly stinking. "
This is excellent Spanish superior saffran !" - he crossed his arms seriously and started to nod heavily.
At this point more clients - chic ladies in their 60's with lots of make up - were gathering around me and guaranteeing that it was the best saffron ever and that from other parts of the world were just crap.
"Bueno ! I have the best saffran to make the best paella in Holland ! Muchas gracias señor. Adios y un buen dia a todos!" -  and I exit just in time cause my husband coudn't understand a thing and was getting preocupied with so much talking.

Above: I have also bought this type of rice for paella, called Bomba.
The vendor advised me to add more water than usally needed for other types of rice. I wanna be the paella queen !