Daedalian Adventures

The road ahead is rarely straight…

By Lynelle Barrett

Salad Days in Holland

It’s been over a year now since I moved to the Netherlands, but this is the first time I have recipes to share. Few people I have met seem to practice the culinary arts. From what I see in the grocery stores, most people cook basic dishes or use packaged kits to cook more exotic dishes. Party appetizers are purchased prepared from the grocery store and the menu almost always includes cheese and slices of sausage. I hosted a party several months ago and the women were shocked to see that I had made all of the food myself. I had no idea this was such a novelty. Artichoke dip, cajun meat pies, crudites with creamy curry dip, shortbread cookies all disappeared as the guests huddled around the table like a pack of hungry teenage boys.

But recently, I had a lovely home-cooked dinner that included a type of salad I have never had before. It was a creamy side salad made with Belgian Endive. I think I had three servings! Fortunately, the recipe is easy and the ingredients are available in the US. Belgian Endive is a small white and pale green bullet shaped lettuce. Before moving to Europe, I had no idea how many ways you can prepare it. I have seen it stuffed and baked, cooked as a side dish in a cream sauce, stirred into chopped salads and used as a lettuce. My friend, Leny, was kind enough to share the recipe. For fun, I have included her email to me in Dutch, then I have translated the recipe to English.

“Lieve Lynelle, hier is het recept voor witlof salade. Dit moet je aanpassen aan het aantal eters dat je hebt. Neem 3 of 4 stuks witlof, 3 of 4 augurken, 1 zure appel, 2 hard gekookte eieren. Naar smaak toevoegen peper en zout mayonese naar smaak. Smakelijk eten en de groeten van Leny en Jan, whe love you. Baaaaaaai.”

ENDIVE SALAD

(Witlof Salade)

This list is the basic proportion of ingredients. Leny says to adjust the quantity to the number of people you intend to serve.

3 or 4 heads of Belgian Endive

3 or 4 gherkin pickles (gherkins in Holland are not necessarily sweet, just small pickles)

1 Granny Smith apple

2 hard boiled eggs

Mayonnaise to taste

Salt and pepper to taste

Chop the endive into bite-size pieces. The endive in Leny’s salad was chopped crosswise, creating little crescents of the lettuce. Chop the gherkins, peeled apple and hard boiled eggs into bite size pieces. Mix ingredients with enough mayonnaise for a creamy consistency, similar to coleslaw. Season to taste.

Coming soon to my website: lemon sauce for pasta. I just returned from a long weekend in Florence, Italy. While there, I had two completely different, but equally delicious, versions of pasta with limone sauce. Amazing. Research and test recipes are called for here!

Lynelle Barrett is residing in The Netherlands, a country whose main culinary contribution to the world is cheese. But there are always plenty of good things to eat if you know where to look. Check out photos and notes of her adventures on her website at: http://spaces.msn.com/lynelleinholland