Serves four

 

Baking equipment:

• buttered tart tin
• with removable non-stick base,
• top 28 cm diameter,
• bottom 26 cm, raised edge 2.5 cm

 

Crust:

• 100 g all-purpose wheat flour
• 100 g self-raising flour
• 1/2 level teaspoon salt (2 g)
• 40 g soft butter
• 100 ml milk

 

Filling:

• 75 g flat-leaf parsley,
• weighed without the bottom stem
• 300 g fresh cream cheese (Monchou)
• 4 very fresh eggs (L)
• plenty of white pepper and 2 g salt

 

Serving:

• cherry tomatoes

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A modern idea from an Amsterdam rooftop garden? No, this concerns ‘Amsterdam cutting parsly’ (snijpeterselie). That is what it says on packets of seeds for flat-leaf parsley, which is highly recommended in culinary circles. That ‘Amsterdam’ intrigued me, but I couldn’t find anywhere why. Because of the greenhouses that stood in the town during the Golden Age? I called seed wholesaler Pieterpikzonen in Luinjeberd (since 1904). He had an answer immediately: an approved variety was often given the name of the place where it was selected or bred. The first descriptive list of varieties (Dr. O. Banga, 1943) lists 5 types of parsley, the ‘Amsterdam’ first. But you also find ‘Maastricht Storage Carrots’ and ‘Zwolle Curly Celery’ there. Vegetable cultivation, which began in monastery gardens in the Middle Ages, later moved to areas surrounding cities before significant expansion occurred in the late 19th century (partly due to improved transport). The current horticulture in the capital can therefore boast a truly green past.

Serves two:

• 200 g haricots verts, halved
• 2 tablespoons cooking butter
• 2 organic chicken legs, approx. 250 g each
• pepper, salt
• 2 spring onions, roughly chopped
• handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced
• tin of flageolets, drained weight 265 g
• plenty of finely chopped tarragon, chives,
• chervil and parsley
• also a whole sprig of each

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Listen to the hymn of praise of the unsurpassed Waverly Root in the preface of the book Herbs and Spices (1980), which I briefly summarize: Herbs and spices are the poetry of our food. Unlike grain, meat, rice, and fish, they appeal not only to the taste but also to our sense of smell. Try sowing herbs on your garden path so that you enter a fragrant cloud as you walk. The famous Australian landscape architect Edna Walling underscored this point: you have not lived if you have never lain  flat on your middle on a thyme lawn. At the same time, herbs are also the music of food… the piccolo sounds of chives, the trumpet blast of chili peppers…the viola has heard of saffron, the cello of onions…All together a full symphony of tastes.

In our recipe, the French ‘fines herbes’ accentuate the delicate flavor of both bean varieties. The name flageolets is a French mispronunciation of the Latin name phaseolus, perhaps also stemming from the comparison with music on the tongue. It concerns a legume that grows mainly in France and is shelled and dried in the shade before it is ripe. I have never seen these beans offered fresh myself, but they dance on your tongue even when canned.

Serves two:

• 300 g peeled firm potatoes
• pepper, salt
• 3 tbsp spearmint leaves
• 200 g sliced ​​smoked salmon
• (= approx. 6 slices)
• butter

 

Salad:

• piece of pointed cabbage without the stalk
• walnut oil, lemon juice
• pepper, salt
• half a red onion
• sprigs of mint

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When mentioning mint in the kitchen, we are talking about spearmint (Mentha spicata). According to Greek mythology, the plant was named after the nymph ‘Minthe’, a lover of the god Pluto, who was transformed into this plant by his wife Persephone out of revenge. Classical Greeks were not at all chaste, so it is strange that they did not eat the leaves. Romans did, and that is how we came up with the idea here as well. Gheraert Vorselman repeatedly mentions ‘munte’ in his Coock Boeck (1593), which relies heavily on the Italian Platina. After that, the herb fell into oblivion. Until Moroccan teas. Here is a new application. As seductive as Minthe!