Lekker

The way to the heart is through the stomach. It is great having friends that also adore a fine meal. When my friend Zoe visited from America this week, we rolled up sleeves and cooked. The food was lekker (tasty in Dutch.)

Whenever I travel, one of the first things I think about is food. It is what I miss about home--mom's breakfast biscuits or spinach-stuffed lasagna. Food brings together new people and crystallizes relationships. Holidays are imprinted in my mind because of their epicurean delights. My Uncle Tim's oyster stuffing. Mamere's (grandmother’s) beef brisket. Her melt-on-your-tongue meringue cookies. My neighbor Rosalie's unbelievable Italian cuisine.

We put our hearts into food and recipes get passed down through generations. I am no chef. I like to experiment and never totally follow a recipe; sometimes this leads to cooking mishaps; nonetheless, I celebrate gastronomy (the art and science of good eating.)

Food is the lifeblood of society. How we prepare food and what we eat explains cultures and individuals. It indicates our health. It shows whether a society values local farmers or superstores. It shows how we treat livestock, and illumines whether we have a progressive or regressive tax structure.

America is being pulled from two directions. One direction says natural foods. And we are embracing local produce and bakeries. Another more vocal message barks, "buy pre-packaged items flown from a thousand miles away, dipped in chemicals, pre-sliced and sold in a plastic package, wrapped within a package within a package."

Living in the Netherlands has shown me another way to eat my food. There are still butcher shops and bakeries everywhere. Open-air markets abound. Ingredients may be found closer to their source.

When I return to the States I hope to continue eating healthily. I feel better when I do. If American cities had as many bike paths as Holland, and as many fresh markets, and more normal portion-sizes, I believe diabetes would diminish. And obesity would go the way of the dinosaur.


Sample Menu of things I cooked and ate this week:

Breakfast: Yogurt, cheese and crackers, most mornings

Lunch: Zoe and I dissolved sugar in crème fraiche (a soured cream)and spooned it over fresh cut fruit; served with a fresh spring salad with a balsamic vinaigrette

Dinner: (the best meal): Fresh salmon (boiled) with a marinade of cut-up orange sautéed in a pan with sugar, ladled on top; bok choy (Chinese cabbage), sauteed with garlic; brown bread; salads; another night: Haddock (white fish), sautéed with squeezed lemon on top, soy sauce-tossed, stir-fried vegetables; fresh spring rolls packed with little hand-peeled shrimp from the Utrecht market....

Dessert: Homemade lemon curd. I love this old-fashioned condiment, which seems to have vanished from U.S. pantries. It is a spectacular, sweet, tart, lemon spread, which is great on anything, from cookies to brown bread. When Zoe and I visited Amsterdam, we sampled a lemon-curd tart. It was lovely. This could easily be made by making lemon curd and spreading it over a pastry shell. Note: Curd-making is not for the inattentive (one must constantly stir it in a double-boiler so it does not burn.)Also, the ingredients are a bit decadent (loads of lemons, sugar and copious egg yolks) which is perhaps why people make jam more than curd. However, when I return to the States, I hope to make lemon curd again. The end result is worth the effort.