Gerookte Paling

"They'll be in next week", the fishmonger said when I called to see what happened to my order. "We're flying them in from Atlanta, so they'll still be alive when they get here. You don't mind killing them yourself, do you?". And he excused himself and hung up.

I sat there for a minute, wondering. I love food, and I love to eat. But I'm not very good at killing things. I mean, I don't mind squishing the odd ant that has found a way into my kitchen, or making a mosquito shaped splash on my bedroom wall, but anything bigger than that.....not so much.

So I talked to Frankwin, a Dutch friend who grew up in the province of Zeeland and had experience with these things. And to our sous-chef who was going to go into this eel adventure with me. And I looked online to see what the most humane way to have an eel go from icky slimey to yummie smokey was, and it seemed that there was no easy way.

All week I read about eels. How they start as little glass eels and swim their way around the ocean before finding a place to grow and get fat and tasty. How they have two skins, the outer one a slimy, icky one and a thinner black one, and that you have to strip the slimy one before you can do anything with the eel. And that there are very few eels left and so the price is high and the availability scarce. And how there's a better availability in other areas of the United States but somehow Idaho was not on the eel-map. Chris, a kind and encouraging reader of the blog, would even send me pictures of how to smoke eel (something he does frequently, and well!) and give me tips and suggestions for when the precious cargo would arrive.

Try to get the biggest pieces
But I did not get eel. Somehow the order was messed up, or they lost them on the plane, or something happened somewhere, but no eel for me. Which, quite honestly, was a bit of a relief, because I had not yet decided how I was going to tackle this whole eel-killing business. Phew!!

Nevertheless, the desire for smoked eel kept making waves in the back of my head, figuratively speaking. Imagine my surprise when I walked into the Asian market in Boise, shopping for completely unrelated items, and my eye spotted the word "eel" on a package in the freezer. Yes!!! Yellow eel steak from Vietnam, neatly cut into four inch pieces, peeled off its squishy coat, and best of all, frozen stiff. Deader than dead, and ready for cooking.

Smoked eel is a Dutch delicacy. The eel is long, fat and meaty, and one eel will easily feed two people. Gerookte paling, or smoked eel, is available at the visboer (fishmonger) or at one of the many local herring shacks around town. It's one of the many types of fish that people buy as a snack, much like the smoked mackerel or herring. Yellow eel is a younger, therefore thinner eel, but will do to get a taste of gerookte paling.

Gerookte Paling
Swimming in brine
2 packages (14oz each) frozen yellow eel
2 cups water
1 heaping tablespoon salt
Hickory chips

Thaw the eel, rinse it and place it in a container. Dissolve 1 tablespoon of salt in two cups of water and pour over the eel, making sure they're covered. Brine the eel in the fridge for at least three hours but not much more.

Pour off the brine, rinse the eel, pat it dry with some paper towels and allow it to air dry on a cookie rack or grill rack, something that will allow for air circulation. Smoke will adhere best to dry matter, so make sure the eel has a chance to dry on all sides. A small fan placed on the fish will speed things up. Don't spend more than thirty minutes.

Start the smoker and place hickory chips on your tray. Place the eel on the racks, close and smoke on low temperature for approximately 30 minutes. The skin will be golden and slightly wrinkly. Don't smoke the eel too hot, because the fat will cook out of it, and you'll be left with fish sticks, and not the right kind!

To eat the eel, especially the thinner yellow eel, it's easier to insert both thumbs into the rib cavity and gently pull the sides apart. Peel the meat off the skin (or the other way around, whatever comes easiest) and snack away! Bones and skin are not edible.

Eet Smakelijk!


Paasbrood

Previously published in the magazine Dutch, issue March/April 2012

The gathering of family and friends around the breakfast, lunch or dinner table is always a feast on First Easter Day. It was, especially for the Roman Catholic areas in the country, the first celebration after Lent and the one that broke the 40 day fast. For those that didn’t fast during that time, it was a Spring time event that warranted celebrating just for the sheer joy of better times ahead. The stark diet, whether for religious reasons or because winter rations were running out, was replaced by a day of abundance and good cheer. Children had saved their candy during Lent and were now allowed to dig into their sweet savings, and adults splurged on meat, eggs and fresh spring vegetables.

Eggs were, by definition, a sign of new life and a great source of protein to strengthen and gather energy after a cold, dark winter. Breads were enhanced with sugar, dried fruits and almond paste, and meat-filled soups were part of the tradition: all to celebrate with abundance the arrival of Spring, of new life and of warmer weather.

During these Easter days generally all stores are closed. Children are out of school during this time, and will dress in their "Paasbest" (Easter Best) with new clothes and shoes. Eggs are colored, hidden and if lucky, all found. Many remember missing at least one or two eggs: leave them be for several weeks and they’ll be hard to miss!
First Easter Day is usually celebrated with an extensive brunch. The table is set with the best china and some Spring flowers, and the spread will consist of luxury rolls and of course paasbrood, a cinnamon flavored rich bread, studded with golden and dark raisins, currants and citron and orange candied peels. The table would not be complete without various cold cuts, sweet bread toppings, a boterlammetje (butter in the shape of a small lamb), a couple of warm egg dishes and often a soup or something else savory such as a pasteitje (puff pastry shell) with egg or chicken ragout (gravy), and large amounts of coffee or tea.

Paasbrood can be served as a loaf or, as shown in the picture, as rolls. Divide the dough into six equal parts, roll them into balls, cover and let them rise until puffy, about thirty minutes at room temperature. Make an incision in the top with some scissors and press an unboiled egg in the dough, making little nests, or shape the bread like paashaasjes, as can be seen here.

Paasbrood
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dark raisins
1/3 cup currants
4 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp yeast
1/4 c sugar
zest 1 lemon
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/4 cup milk, warm
1 stick butter, melted
1 heaping tablespoon citron peel
1 heaping tablespoon candied orange peel

Place the raisins and the currants in a small saucepan, add a cup of water and bring to a simmer on the stove. Let it simmer for a good ten minutes, then turn off the heat and let the fruits sit. Proof the yeast in half a cup of the warm milk. Mix the flour, the sugar and the cinnamon, and slowly pour in the proofed yeast and the rest of the warm milk. Keep mixing and while the dough comes together, add in the egg, the melted butter and the salt, then mix and knead the dough until it comes together in a soft, pillowy dough. If the dough is too sticky, add a tablespoon of flour.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turn it over so that both sides of the dough are greasy, cover the bowl and let it rise, away from cold drafts, for an hour or until doubled in size.
Drain the fruit and pat them dry with a towel. Toss the fruit with the candied peels and the lemon zest. Punch down the dough and carefully knead the fruit mix into the dough, until the mixture is well distributed.

Now divide the dough in half, shape them into loaves, grease two 9x5 bread pans and place the bread, seam down, into the pans. Cover and let rise for about 30 minutes or until the dough fills the pans.

In the meantime, heat the oven to 350F. Place the bread pans on the middle rack and bake golden in about 40 minutes. If the bread browns too quickly, tent the pans with a sheet of aluminum foil. Brush the tops with water when the bread is done and place them back on the rack for a minute, then take them out.

Let the breads cool on a rack before you slice them. Serve with some good butter. Zalig Paasfeest!

Spekpannenkoek

All this talk about spekkoek last week left me with a taste for bacon! Luck would have it that yesterday, on March 30th, the Netherlands celebrated Pancake Day. The centuries-old tradition stems from the onset of Lent, a forty day fasting period that would lead straight into Easter. The Tuesday before Lent would be the last day that the believers were allowed to consume luxury items such as eggs, milk, butter, and meat. That day is known as Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras, but has no particular name in Dutch.

And so neither is Pancake Day celebrated on that famous Tuesday, like in many other countries, but almost a month later, on March 30th. Schools engage in baking pancakes for the retirement homes in their neighborhoods, parents will bake pancakes for dinner that day, and kids are thrilled that there will be no Brussels sprouts, broccoli, or sauerkraut on the menu.

Lent or no Lent, pancakes are always a welcome sight at a lunch or dinner table, whether that's at home or at one of the many pancake restaurants around the country. The traditional flavor is sweet, with plain pancakes, apple pancakes or chocolate spread pancakes as the main favorites, but often savory pancakes are eaten as well. The most traditional of those savory delicacies is the spekpannenkoek, or the bacon pancake.

Choose your favorite bacon (thick sliced, peppered, hickory smoked, honey maple......the varieties are endless!) and experiment! This is a basic spekpannenkoek. To make it more interesting, you could sprinkle a handful of grated Gouda cheese on the pancake right before serving, or fry slices of apple with the bacon before adding the pancake batter.

Spekpannenkoeken
10 strips of your favorite bacon
2 cups (250 grams) flour
2 1/2 cups (500 ml) milk
2 eggs
2 tablespoons (30 grms) butter, melted and room temperature
1 tablespoon (15 gms) butter for the frying pan (you may need more)

Cut the slices of bacon in three or four pieces, if desired. Stir the flour, two cups of milk, and the eggs together. Beat until the batter is smooth, and thin it with the remaining milk. Melt the two tablespoons of butter, let it cool a little bit, and stir this into the pancake batter. You are looking for a pourable batter. Cover and set aside for 30 minutes.

Heat a 12-inch skillet, and add in ½ tablespoon of butter. Brown the pieces of bacon in the butter, turning them over as they crisp up. Remove them from the skillet and pour off any surplus fat, you want just enough to grease the bottom but nothing more. Add the bacon back in the pan, arranging it so that it's distributed evenly. Pour in half a cup of batter and carefully swirl the skillet so that the whole bottom surface is covered with a thin layer of pancake batter. Bake the pancake until the surface is dry, about two minutes. Then flip or turn the pancake over and cook the other side for another two minutes. Repeat until the batter is finished. If there is no more bacon left, bake plain ones, they are great with a bit of jam!

Stack the pancakes as you go and cover them with a clean kitchen tea towel while you bake the rest. Serve the spekpannenkoeken with appelstroop or pancake syrup.  Makes about ten large pancakes.

Spekkoek

For some foods you have to slow down, relax and take it easy. Long simmering stews on the back burner, bread dough slowly rising on the counter.... Hurrying will make it no better, or faster, and in the long run the patience exhibited is key to the wonderful, rounded flavors of the dish. So too with this Indonesian layered cake called spekkoek. Each layer is painstakingly spread, baked and brushed. Cakes will often count up to twenty layers: they sell for high prices on the market as time is money, and money is easily spent. One of these Sundays, treat yourself to some time in the kitchen. Get an easy chair, or a comfortable stool and park yourself next to the oven, monitoring each layer's progress carefully. You'll be so glad you did!

The name "spekkoek" initially doesn't sound very enticing: "spek" means bacon, or fat, and "koek" is cake or cookie. Fat cake just doesn't have that sort of  a ring to it where you want to drop everything you're doing and get yourself a slice. Much less two.

And yet, the Indonesian layered spice cake that is graced with such a...shall we say, unfortunate name, does look a little bit like bacon at first glance. The alternating light and dark layers could very well be considered a modernist rendition of a slice of bacon, but that's where all similarities end. For the rich, flavorful cake does not taste anything remotely like bacon, but contains a wonderful mixture of spices and sweetness instead.

The spekkoek is thought to be a Dutch adaptation to an Indonesian recipe, or perhaps a Dutch invention or an Indonesian rendition of a Dutch spice cake....who knows. Regardless of the fact how this tastebud-teasing cake came to be, it is a small work of art and a feat of patience. For each layer is to be baked separately, painstakingly slow. But not so slow that you can walk away from it. Because if you do.....dang! The whole thing burns and you have to start from scratch. Which is no fun.

This "thousand layer cake" is incredibly rich, and that's perhaps where its "fat" name applies. Ten eggs, two sticks of butter on merely two cups of flour, and a cup and a half of sugar......this cake is not for the faint of heart, neither in preparation nor in consumption. No wonder the layers are carefully counted in certain circles and if found lacking, considered to be the work of a "lazy housewife". Cakes should have at least ten layers or more in order to be respected and appreciated!

So, this time, no slicing thick pieces of spekkoek and devouring it in two bites or three. Neither the richness of the cake nor the time spent to make it allows for a quick snack. It is a cake to be taken in carefully, small bite by small bite, and shared with those we care most about.

Spekkoek
2 sticks butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cup sugar, separated
10 eggs, separated
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
1/2 teaspoon cardamom, ground
1/4 teaspoon cloves, ground
1/4 teaspoon ginger, ground
1 tablespoon powdered sugar
parchment paper
1 tablespoon of flour

For brushing: melt 3 tablespoons of butter

Cream the butter with 1 cup of sugar until light golden and creamy. Carefully mix in two egg yolks at a time until all 10 have been blended in well. Mix in the vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, squeaky clean, whip the ten egg whites with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar until stiff. Rub a little bit of whipped egg white between thumb and index finger to see if all the sugar dissolved: if not whip a little longer.

Sift the flour above the creamed butter mixture and carefully fold it in, until well blended. Then spoon the egg whites in the mixture and fold in. You should have a light, scoopable batter.

Divide the batter into two bowls, and assign a half cup measuring cup to each batter. Sift the spices above one and fold them in. Sometimes the fine spices do not fold in fully and create lumps: just squish them on the side of the bowl and fold them right back in.

Grease and flour an 8 inch spring form pan (the traditional form is round, but you are also welcome to bake the spekkoek in a bread pan or a square pan). Cut a circle out of parchment paper to cover the bottom of the pan and grease it as well. Flour the pan with a tablespoon of flour, tap the pan and remove any loose flour.

Heat the oven to 325F. Spray the inside of the measuring cup and scoop half a cup of spiced batter into the pan. Spread it along the bottom, so that it covers the whole pan. Now place the pan in the oven for several minutes and bake the first layer. Since it's a very thin layer, it only takes a few minutes. You want the layer to be baked and have a slight toasted top.

Remove the pan from the oven and carefully brush the layer with melted butter. Spray the inside of the second half-cup measuring cup and scoop out half a cup of the light batter on top of the baked layer, spreading it and making sure all areas are covered, preferably with the back of a spoon so the bottom layer doesn't rip. Put the pan back in the oven, but this time turn on the broiler.

Wait several minutes, remove the pan from under the broiler and check to see if the layer is baked and is lightly golden on top. If yes, brush with butter and add a layer of spiced batter. If not, return it to the oven and bake for a little while longer. On average, between brushing, spreading and baking you need about 8 to 10 minutes per layer. Keep track of which batter goes on top of which, you want to make sure you alternate the colors and flavors!

When the last layer is baked, brush it, and use a skewer to test the done-ness of the cake. Insert it in the middle, and if the skewer comes out clean, it's ready to cool down. If there is still some batter clinging to the skewer, turn off the broiler and bake the cake for several more minutes. Sprinkle the top with the powdered sugar.

Cool the spekkoek in the form, then carefully insert a knife around the edge and cut the edges loose: sometimes it will not release by itself. Carefully slice a piece of cake to admire and taste your hard work, then wrap it in plastic film and cover it with aluminum foil, to avoid the cake drying out.

Serve a thin slice with coffee, or as a well-deserved ending to a rijsttafel.

Saveur's Best Blog Awards 2012

In This IssueSaveur, the top culinary magazine of America, is accepting nominations for their 2012 Best Blog Awards. If you enjoy reading the recipes and stories at The Dutch Table, please consider submitting us for a possible win! It would be a great way to get Dutch cuisine on the culinary map.

Click on this link: http://www.saveur.com/food-blog-awards/nominations.jsp and fill out the information, it will take less than a minute. Our website address is www.thedutchtable.com. Nominations close on March 29.

Thank you!