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CULINARY ADVENTURES
a taste of holland in jakarta
teXt PETTY ELLIOTT
The
Netherlands
is wellknown
for
its colourful
tulips as well
as being a country of
fishermen and livestock
farmers; a rich country
with rich pastures. There
is an abundance of highquality
dairy produce
which goes into the
famous cheeses, cream,
butter and yoghurt.
Dutch cheeses are
mostly hard or semihard,
the most popular
ones being Gouda and
Edammer, and some
have added spices such
as cumin and mustard
seed. Gouda cheese is
relatively easy to buy in
supermarkets here in
Jakarta.
The classic foods of the Dutch
are raw, smoked or salted
herring, soups, croquettes
filled with meat, cheese with
or without potatoes ; French
fries (patat frites), meat,
sausages and many different
cookies, bread and desserts.
Due to its close
relationship with Indonesia,
with the Dutch occupying the
country for many centuries,
the influence of Dutch
cooking is strongly present in
Indonesian cuisine, mainly in
Manadonese, Moluccan and
Javanese cuisines.
The Dutch contributed
much to Indonesian kitchens;
carrots, potatoes, cabbages,
lettuce, green beans were
brought by the Dutch, as
were coffee and cocoa plants.
They left behind the rijsttafel,
a rice dish with 8-10 small
portions of various dishes from
vegetables, fish, meat and
sambal. They also left behind
the rich legacy of sweet cakes
and cookies, soup and many
savory dishes. Lapis legit, a
delicacy made of layers of rich
thin spiced sponge cake is a
popular treat from Surabaya.
Other popular ones include
Kaasstengels which are cheese
sticks, and kue dadar gulung or
pancakes. Perkedel or frikandel
is very popular all around
Indonesia, and is similar to
croquettes with a firm texture,
but without the bread crumbs
coating.
Other popular dishes with a
Dutch influence are Speculaas,
or chocolate cookies with mix
spices, klappertaart which is
a type of tart made of young
coconut with custard filling,
zoete brood or sweet white
bread known as brudel; and
among the most popular
ones is the red bean soup,
bruine bonen, which is very
well known in Manado, North
Sulawesi. Soes, a type of choux
pastry with cream filling is wellknown
in Bandung, West Java.
Nowadays, many Dutchinspired
dishes can easily be
found in some of Jakarta’s best
restaurants such as Kembang
Goela and the Huize van Welly.
For this month’s column, I have
prepared two recipes inspired
by the influence of Dutch
cooking in Indonesian food.
Enjoy!
Choux Pastry
with cream filling
(Slaagroomsoes)
The choux pastry adopts very
similar names both in Dutch
(soes) and in Indonesian (kue
sus). The snack is very popular
in Holland, where it is usually
enjoyed with a dollop of
whipped cream and a touch of
sugar.
Although we don’t have
fresh cream here in Jakarta,
we can still use long lasting
cream and add some fresh
vanilla to give it a wonderful
flavour. For more sensational
flavour, I also added dark
chocolate sauce.
PHOTOS: AGUNG NATANAEL
To make 18 choux pastries
125ml water ; 125ml milk
75gr cold butter, cut into small
squares and melted
125gr flour
3 eggs
2 tablespoon icing sugar
A pinch of salt
For the vanilla cream:
200ml whipped cream
1 vanilla pod
2 tablespoon caster sugar
For the chocolate sauce:
100gr dark chocolate (70%
cocoa solid), break into small
pieces
75ml cream ; 25 gr butter
Directions:
1. First, slice the vanilla pod
into half and scrape the
beans
2. Put the sugar, vanilla beans
and cream into a large
mixing bowl. Using an
electric hand mixer, beat
the mixture until soft peak
forms. Set aside and put in
the refrigerator.
3. Pre-heat oven to 160°C.
Put the milk, water, butter,
sugar and salt, and bring to
boil in a low heat. Add the
whole flour and mix quickly
with a wooden spoon. Turn
the heat off.
4. Turn the heat again in low
heat and keep stirring the
mixture until it becomes dry.
5. Turn the heat off, add the
beaten eggs a little at a
time until the mixture
becomes a soft dough
which sticks to the fingers.
6. Transfer the mixture to a
piping pastry bag, fitted
with a plain nozzle, 1 cm
diameter, and pipe small
pastry balls, around 2cm in
diameter, onto a non-stick
baking tray in small bun
with a round shape. Make
sure to have plenty of space
in between as they will
swell during baking. Place in
the oven and cook for about
20-25 minutes or until the
buns have turned golden.
Turn the oven off and open
the oven door to cool the
choux.
7. To make the chocolate
sauce: heat the cream (just
to the boiling point) in a small
pan in medium heat and add
the chocolate. Turn the heat
off, add the butter and keep
stirring until the chocolate
and butter are melted. Stir
well and set aside.
8. Transfer the cold whipped
cream to a piping bag. Cut
the middle part of each
choux half way. Fit the
pipping bag with smalldiameter
fluted nozzle. Fill
the bag with custard and
fill the choux buns with the
cream.
9. Arrange the choux on
a plate, dust with icing
sugar and drizzle with
chocolate sauce. Add 2
or 3 strawberries. Serve
immediately.
Potatoes and Beef
Croquettes
Served with mix salad
There are many different
variations to making croquettes.
The most popular way is to use
white sauce or bechamel sauce
with mushroom, fish or meat,
but the bechamel sauce can be
replaced with pureed potatoes,
which I use in this recipe. The
potatoes make the delicious
snacks crunchy on the outside
yet soft and silky inside.
Croquettes can also be
served as a meal, not just as a
snack, by serving it with a good
portion of salad.
30 | MAY 2011 www.nowjakarta.co.id www.nowjakarta.co.id MAY 2011 | 31
Serves 4-6
500gr potatoes, peeled, cut into
four parts
50gr butter
125gr minced beef
1 tablespoon of vegetable oil
and 10gr of butter
2 cloves of garlic, peeled,
crushed and finely chopped
2 eggs, separate the yolk
100gr bread crumbs
2 tablespoon flour
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Salt and black pepper to season
1 liter vegetable oil for deepfrying
1 teaspoon mustard and 2
tablespoon mayonnaise, mix well
Directions:
1. Cook the potatoes in 1.5
liter of salted water for
20-25 minutes or until soft.
Drain the potatoes and dry
them out by returning into
the pan and turn the heat
on low.
2. Put the potatoes into a food
processor while still hot
and puree. Add the butter,
nutmeg and 2 egg yolks.
Mix well and set aside.
3. Heat a frying pan. Add 1
tablespoon of oil and butter
and add the garlic. Cook
until golden and add the
beef and keep stirring to
break the lump of the mince
beef. Cook the beef for
around 10 minutes. Keep
stirring to a fine texture.
Season with salt and black
pepper.
4. Transfer the beef into the
potatoes mixture. Don’t add
the juice of the beef. Mix
the mixture well and season
with salt and black pepper
if necessary. Spread the
mixture in a dish and leave
to cool completely.
5. First, dust your hands with
flour. Shape the potato
mixture into a ball then
into a long narrow cylinder,
about 6cm long, then round
slighlty. Repeat until all the
mixture are finished.
6. Roll each of them in flour,
coat each of them in
egg whites and roll over
breadcrumbs.
7. Heat the oil in a pan in
high heat. Deep-fry the
croquettes for 2 minutes or
until golden brown. Place
the croquettes in a plate
with a kitchen towel to
absorb any excess oil. Serve
hot with a teaspoon of the
mustard and mayonnaise
mix for each portion, and
with a small portion of mix
salad. For salad dressing,
use extra virgin olive oil and
lime, or a mix of mustard,
honey, vinegar and extra
virgin olive oil.