Iphöfer Kronsberg Scheurebe - Kabinett Trocken - white wine

Chefs Notes:
We drank this wine with Thai Style Mussels. The combination of spiciness and coconut milk brought a lovely acidity and the chilli heat brought out the light sparkle and liveliness in the wine.

Origin:
Hans Wirsching winery is one of the best in Franken and certainly one of the better in Germany. There are two major key points to the area: Silvaner grape (almost 40% of plantations) and the bocksbeutel, the classic bottle of Franconia, in the characteristic shape of a buck's scrotum. The bottle is transparent for the modern, fruity wines but green, blue, brown or even black for the classic Franken wines. Besides Silvaner grapes, Riesling, Müller-Thurgau (Riesling x madeleine royale), Scheurebe, Pinot Bianco, Pinot Noir and Dornfelder are also grown. The spitzlachen of Wirsching  are located near the towns of Iphofen: Julius-Echter-Berg, Hannover and Kalb. The soil of the vineyard consists of many different of layers: Keuper gypsum, limestone, ancient sediments (from the time when large parts of Europe where below sea level), variegated sandstone, muschelkalk stone, Jura limestone and Keuper sandstone, slate, weathered stone the form of rock containing clay ... and all laced with minerals. The combination of these different soil types and microclimates provides a fascinating variety of wine styles and flavours , from elegant fruitiness to powerful minerality. The steep vineyard Iphöfer Hannover is famous for both the dark-coloured, very mineral rich Keuper soil and microclimate that allows for a very long growing season. This gives this Scheurebe wine a very personal, incomparable character, full of minerality, exotic fruit and elegance.

Taste impression:
Beautifully clear and sparkling golden-yellow. An explosive nose with aromas of grapefruit, mango, passion fruit, cassis, mint and lemon balm. Mouth-filling, big, sweet, lively and mild flavour. To serve: 10-12 ° C.

Culinary advice:
Classicly served with appetizers, especially with game terrines. Surprisingly good combined with savoury 'dim sum' and other Oriental appetizers. Beautiful with fish!

Culinary tips:
Mussels

Fish en papillote served with stir-fried oriental vegetables.

Buy or taste this wine? For more information visit Wijnkoperij De Gouden Ton


Sea Bream with Anchovy-Tarragon Dressing and Beetroot

Serves 4

Ingredients
750g cooked beetroot (try and get an organic brand if you can)
salt and black pepper
olive oil, for dressing
4 Sea Bream fillets (Dorade), about 150g each, skin on
2 packs mixed cresses (shiso purple, pea tendrils)

Anchovy Dressing
6 anchovy fillets, drained
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
1-2 Tablespoon white wine vinegar
150 ml olive oil
1 Tablespoon chopped tarragon

Method

Cut the beetroot into cubes. It can be gently heated up in a pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper.

For the anchovy dressing, put the anchovies, garlic and white wine vinegar into a food processor and whiz to a rough puree. With the motor running, slowly trickle in the olive oil until amalgamated. Transfer the dressing to a bowl and stir in the chopped tarragon.

Remove the pin bones from the sea bream fillets. Heat a frying pan till hot and add a little olive oil. Season the fish fillets with salt and pepper and place them in the hot pan, skin side down. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the skin is crisp. Turn over in the pan, turn the gas off and allow to cook through in the residual heat, about 2 minutes. Alternatively, transfer to a greased baking sheet and finish off in a 180° C oven for a couple of minutes or until the fish is opaque.

To serve, spoon the beetroot around the plates. Place a fish fillet on top and scatter the mixed cresses around. Spoon over the anchovy dressing and serve.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours

Wine advice: Centanni - Il Borgo


Zuider Market

This past Saturday was the most gorgeous Fall morning. Crystal clear skies and a distinct chill in the air. We had a busy day ahead preparing for a catering but we couldn't resist taking a little detour on our way to work and popping by the Zuider Market.

Held every Saturday on the Jacob Obrechtstraat behind the Concertgebouw (Concert Hall) in Amsterdam South, this small market is bustling with locals and visitors alike. Besides offering a fantastic array of vegetables, meats, and ready prepared items like crepes and pies, there is a wonderful vibe around the area.

This certainly should be on your list to visit. It's the ideal place to buy local, seasonal produce and a great meeting place to catch up with friends over a cup of coffee and a bite to eat.

For more information please visit Zuidermarkt


Restaurant Visaandeschelde

Sometimes in life, things are worth waiting for.

We've heard for many years that VisaandeSchelde is one of the best fish and seafood restaurants in Amsterdam, however we've never had the chance to experience it for ourselves. Until now, that is.

Situated on the Scheldestraat opposite the RAI convention centre, the restaurant is well located within the city and easily accessible. The interior makes use of hand-crafted materials, herring-bone patterns and special lighting to complement the area and food being served. Old techniques, crafts and beautiful reused materials have been deployed in the interior design. The combination of materials, images and patterns have been used in such a way as to create several different spaces within the restaurant.

On arrival we were warmly welcomed by the friendly staff. Once seated, our glasses were immediately filled with a stunning Limoux sparkling Rose. A gorgeous aperitief with quite a robust bubble. However, it held it's own with the snack and amuse. The snack was a signature dish of the restaurant in bite-size: a crispy 'cup' filled with a bouillabaisse foam and shrimp tail - superb!

The amuse that followed was a story of two parts. The Patron cuisinier-owner, Michiel Deenik, who serves and engages his guests, suggested we start with the soup. The soup was a cold Dashi (a Japanese soup made from kombu [dried seaweed] and bonito [dried tuna]) which was flavoured with coriander and spring onions with a few ocean jewels, such as an oyster and mussel to embellish. The dashi was sublime, packed full of flavour yet so clean on the palate. The other half of the amuse was a puree of sweetcorn with fresh water crayfish and a buttermilk and lemongrass foam. It was quite a shock going from something so savoury to something quite sweet, but the more one ate, the better it got. We couldn't detect any lemongrass in the foam, which may have helped the balance of the dish.

The starter that followed was a beautiful sashimi of Big Eye tuna, glazed with teriyaki and served with a tom kai gai dressing. Beautiful deep red tuna, as fresh as one can get. The accompanying garnish brough the dish to life. It was palate of preparations of cucumber, smoked pineapple, caviar, sourdough crouton, avocado puree, lemongrass gel, ama ebi prawn and edible flowers. With so many ingredients, a skillful touch is needed to achieve balance and this is just what it was. The dish was paired with Branco Vinho Verde, which was lemony on the nose and floral on the palate. Paired with the dish, a lychee flavour came to the fore.

Our second course was pan roasted sea bream with a heavenly crispy skin, tartare of raw sea bream, mushroom and anchovy tapenade, red pepper ice cream and a squid ink and olive oil dressing. In one word this dish was WOW! Definitely one of our favourites. This was an explosion of flavours, textures and temperatures. We use sea bream often in our recipes but have never used it raw. We will do now. Red pepper can so easily over-power other ingredients, but here it was perfectly judged and added a beautiful sweetness to the dish. This was paired with a Parva Res from Sicily, with stone fruit aromas. We detected notes of papaya when accompanied with the dish.

Main course was an interpretation of surf and turf. We had Zander (snoekbaars in Dutch), braised in brown butter accompanied with a beef stew, chantarelles, roast beetroot, beetroot puree and long pepper. This was a very rich dish, with the meaty flavours dominating. The sweetness of the beetroot counteracted the richness of the braised beef. The dish was paired with 4 Meses Jumilla red from Spain. A perfect wine which was light enough for the fish but rich enough to stand up to the beefy flavours.

We had just enough room left to share dessert. The 2 varieties of kiwi with kiwi gel, custard and coconut marshmallow and sponge looked picture perfect but didn't live up to the quality of the other dishes. The wine, an Auslese Muskat Ottonel was lovely. Our espresso came with unexpected friandise; the creme brûlée and canelle (French pastry) were absolute stunners.

Michiel shared his personal story with us that he originally started the restaurant with his friend, who sadly passed away a few years ago. The story and the journey they made is reflected in the dishes. There is no better ode to someone special than to bring joy to others through good food and good wine.

For more information, please visit VisaandeSchelde.


The fish bible (visbijbel) by Bart van Olphen

The Fish Bible by Bart van Olphen is a fantastic guide to fish and seafood. The book details the different varieties of fish, the seasons and their preparations.

We particularly like the step-by-step guide to the recipes. We tested one of the recipes out by inviting one of our friends to cook. We decided on the fried sole to see if it worked as explained in the book. The method and guide were easy to follow and worked as said in the book. The dish was clean, simple and delicious, as we had hoped.

Bart is one of Holland's foremost experts on fish. Besides advising, hosting cooking workshops and catering, he also has a product range under the name Fishes. We are fans of his Instagram cooking videos under the name @bartsfishtales.

Publisher: Carrera Culinair

Author: Bart van Olphen

Price: 29,95 euro 

 


Mozzarella with Anchovies

Ingredients
2 balls buffalo mozzarella
100 g rocket leaves
about 7 anchovies per person
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper

Method
Toss the rocket leaves lightly in a bowl with about 2 tablespoons olive oil and lightly season with salt and pepper.

Divide the rocket salad between 2 plates. Drain the liquid from the mozzarella balls and set them on top of the rocket.

Grind a little black pepper over each mozzarella and lay the anchovies on top. Finish with drizzle of olive oil and serve with some crispy bread.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours


Fried cod with lemon and capers

Ingredients
2 cod fillets of 175 g with skin
1 shalllot
100 g butter
1 lemon
2 tablespoons capers, rinsed
1 small bunch flat leaf parsley
olive oil
salt and pepper
wilted spinach, to serve

Method
Finely slice the shallot and parsley. Thinly slice the lemon, removing any seeds.

Dry the cod fillets with kitchen paper, drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Heat a frying pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat and fry the cod for about 1 minute on each side. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add the shallot to the pan and sweat gently for about 2 minutes. Add the butter. When it begins to foam and is lightly browned add the capers, lemon slices and chopped parsley.

Return the cod to the pan to heat through and finish cooking, this should only take a couple of minutes.

Serve the cod with wilted spinach and the butter sauce spooned over.

 

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours

 


Herring Tartare

Ingredients
2 Dutch new herrings
1 shallot
small bunch chives
125 g tub creme fraiche
1 lemon
50 g mesclun salad
1 pack mustard cress

Method
Finely chop the chives. Cut the herring into 1/2cm cubes and place all the ingredients is a bowl.

Cut the lemon in half and add a few drops to taste to the chopped herring. Add 1 tablespoon creme fraiche and season with salt and pepper.

Finely slice the shallot into thin rings. Snip the mustard cress and mix together in a bowl with the mesclun salad.

Line 2 cups or ramekins with cling wrap, divide the the herring tartare between the moulds. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to the salad and season with salt and pepper.

Unmould the herring tartare and top each with a teaspoonful of creme fraiche.

Arrange the salad around the tartare and serve with a wedge of lemon.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours


Sardines in saor

Ingredients
12 fresh sardines
flour for dusting
salt and pepper
60 ml olive oil, plus extra
2 onions
2 bay leaves
150ml white wine or rice vinegar
30 g-40 g sugar, or to taste
handful toasted pinenuts
handful sultanas
pinch of ground allspice

Method
Get your fishmonger to fillet the sardines for you. If they are unable to, this is how to do it. Ensure that the guts have been removed. With the spine of the fish pointing up towards you, gently press the fish on a board to flatten. Now turn the sardine over and you should easily be able to pull out the centre bone. Try and remove any little pin bones. Rinse the fish under cold water and dry well on a clean tea towel.

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Season the flour with salt and pepper. Dredge the sardines in the flour and fry in the hot olive oil until golden. Remove and drain on kitchen paper.

Slice the onions and fry gently with the bay leaves and allspice in a pan with 4 tablespoons olive oil for about 20 minutes until soft.

Add the sugar and vinegar to the onions, followed by the pine nuts and sultanas. Take a small dish and place a layer of the onions in the bottom.  Then layer the sardines on top. Repeat the process finishing with a layer of onions.

It's best to let this marinate in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving.

We, the Amsterdam Flavours chefs, hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do. If you have any questions on how to prepare it or just want to send us your feedback, you can reach us here Contact Amsterdam Flavours