HelloFresh’s concept is about fresh food that busy people can make from scratch in half an hour: a mission I heartily applaud. In theory, you get everything you need in the bag to make either three meals or five meals (in both cases for two, four or six people – I’m not sure what you’re supposed to do if you’re single). The package I received (three meals for two people) would usually cost €39, and the rest range up to a maximum of €129 for five meals for six people. The bag includes meat, fish, vegetables and various other dry ingredients that you need to get started, plus three recipe cards (currently in Dutch only).

Although HelloFresh already operates in Germany, England, France and Australia, it’s only just launched in Amsterdam so there were a few teething problems the week my bag arrived: namely one of the ingredients was missing, and another that was present didn’t appear in any of the recipes. But the guys realised their mistake and emailed me the next day.

On the first evening of my HelloFresh diet, I made tagliatelle with salmon, mascarpone, lemon, lime and capers. It was rather lacking in greenery, but tasted good enough and certainly ticked the quick and easy box.

The second day I cheated slightly: I was supposed to be stir-frying pak choi and mushrooms with chilli, ginger, garlic and soy sauce, but I can’t stand mushrooms, so I substituted them for the leftover salmon and squeezed half a lime over at the end (which also wasn’t in the recipe).

My third HelloFresh meal was the Dutchest of them all: rookworst (smoked sausage) with stamppot: potatoes mashed with andijvie, bacon cubes, mustard, butter and milk. For various reasons that make no sense to me either, I’d never actually made a classic andijvie-spekjes stamppot, but it was surprisingly good. And very, very Dutch.

From an international point of view, I think the recipes could have been a little more creative, while still fulfilling the speed and simplicity criteria. I also think they could have been more clearly written: with quantities in the ingredients list and better structured steps in the method. To be fair, I gave the guys this feedback, and two days later they responded to say they’d taken my suggestions into the second drafts of their recipe cards. (Note to self: there must be money to be made in recipe consultancy somewhere…)

The food itself was unfailingly fresh and high quality, and the quantities were generous – too generous for three meals, if I’m honest. It’s day five and I’m still only halfway through my andijvie! So, will I be putting in a regular order from HelloFresh? Probably not, but in my case mainly because I enjoy the process of food shopping, deciding what to cook, and spending time doing it. I’m not really their target audience. But I know a lot of people who are, and there’s no harm in giving it a try…

Instead, I discovered Paustian. Part furniture design store, part restaurant, it sits on the water in an out-of-town location, which feels even more out of town when it’s zero degrees and pitch dark in the middle of January. The food is modern Danish: traditional, local ingredients, cooked and presented in ways that live up to the stark Scandinavian beauty of the furniture pieces next door.

We tried the local dried ham to start, which was served simply with a celeriac remoulade and caramelised onion. We asked to share it, and they brought out two separate, small plates – a thoughtful touch, and one we appreciated given how eye-watering expensive Copenhagen is.

For mains, we chose a melt-in-the-mouth veal shank with its bone marrow, plus a venison casserole involving venison sausages as well as rare doe fillet and steamed parsnips. Both were comforting yet elegant, and perfectly executed.

On our second night, we plumped for something completely different. Right in the heart of downtown Vesterbro, LêLê is a throbbing, trendy Vietnamese establishment with live music kicking in later on the Saturday night we visited. We ordered fresh spring rolls with pork to start, as well as a sea bass tartar with hits of chilli, lime and cucumber. Our mains were equally light and fresh: seared beef salad with gem lettuce, mint and holy basil, plus sweet pork patties with glass noodles and more lettuce leaves in which to wrap them.

Prepare yourself: Copenhagen is pricey. Seriously. But everything we ate and drank was top-notch foodie stuff, and I didn’t regret a single Krone.

This year, completely independently and for various reasons, several of my friends and I all decided to stay in Amsterdam for Christmas. And so I cooked. Here’s what we had…

Chicken liver pâté brûlée…

…with onion confit and a salad made of postelien, red chicory and walnuts.

And ultra-English roast turkey…

…with roast potatoes, parsnips, pigs in blankets, devils on horseback…

…and, of course, brussels sprouts.

I must admit, I loved every minute of it.

But last weekend inspired me to blog about it – possibly because, for once, I wasn’t in London. I was in Oxfordshire. It was a hen party for a friend I went to university with, and the bridesmaids did us proud on the restaurant front. After a Moulin Rouge dance class (because we can can can), we beat a feather boa-clad path to the Old Parsonage for afternoon tea. It’s all log fires, wooden beams and starched linens, not to mention the three-tier-high stack of sandwiches (crusts removed, of course), Victoria sponge, sticky date cake, biscuits and still-warm scones with clotted cream and jam. How marvellously English. I drank Earl Grey and ate myself silly.

Several hours and cocktails (sipped from penis-shaped straws) later, we arrived at Brasserie Blanc, which takes its name from Raymond himself. I chose a gnocchi number, followed by haddock with poached egg and a light, buttery sauce – both generous and delicious. I was less keen on my chocolate crumble dessert, but my neighbour’s bread and butter pudding was going begging so I filched a good few dreamy spoonfuls of that instead.

Feeling remarkably un-hungover, next day I headed to my parents’ house conveniently close to the Oxfordshire border. Mr Foodie had killed the fatted calf (like father, like daughter), and we had a positively gluttonous family Sunday lunch: foie gras to start, followed by roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and parsnips, savoy cabbage, horesradish and gravy. The apple and black currant crumble for dessert was made using fruit from the garden.

Some days, I feel lucky to be English.

Food in Texas is about two things: barbecue and Mexican. So here’s my roundup of the best of both…

The barbecue pit at Smitty’s Market in Lockhart…

… and the brisket and sausage I ate there.

Meat on a sword from Texas de Brazil Churrascaria in Fort Worth.

Enchiladas from Polvos in Austin (the photo on their own site does it far more justice).

Taco stall at Austin’s trailer park dining scene, which seems to be in fashion all across the south!

Fajitas and margaritas from Joe T. Garcia’s in Fort Worth.

I’m a little sad writing this because I leave the States tomorrow after an immense three weeks. That means no more impeccable service, no more giant portions, and no more Dodge Charger (I didn’t tell you about that). On the plus side, it also means I no longer have to tip just for breathing, I can drink water without ice, and I’ll be reunited with my trusty bike… plus, this blog will start making more sense to anyone who’s just googled “Amsterdam food blog”.

Till next time, gastronauts, when we will eet smakelijk once again!

Amsterdam Foodie

After my last post about New Orleans, one Facebook fan (or liker, or whatever you want to call them) pronounced – concisely but astutely – that you win some, you lose some. Well, in Baton Rouge, I won some. Quite a lot, actually. I can’t necessarily claim it was Baton Rouge itself that made for such a great couple of days, because I didn’t really see much of it. But what I did see happened mainly at a ‘tailgate’, which I’d never heard of either until a few weeks beforehand. I thought it had something to do with alligator tails (they have a lot of ‘gators’ around here) but apparently it refers to the back of the trucks that people put down when they park up. The purpose being to eat, drink, make merry… oh, and catch a bit of football.

Here’s what I ate while I was there…

Shrimp etouffee, from the very nice man who was neighbours with my group. Definitely better than the two versions I’d tasted in New Orleans – and free to boot!

The aforementioned ‘gator, coated in something that looked like karnemelk and then fried in spices and cornmeal. Like chicken nuggets only chewier and tastier.

Ribs, ribs, fall-off-the-bone ribs… this time made by my peeps and some of the best I’ve ever tasted. I cannot thank them enough for making one very happy porkoholic.

This last one came not from the tailgate, but from an out-of-town restaurant called Jasmines on the Bayou. We had boudin balls (right – something like black pudding, rice and bitterballen rolled into one), shrimp salad (centre) and savoury beignets filled with cheese and crawfish (left). Delish, and a big thanks to Herb the chef.

Rather depressingly, I’m almost at the end of my journey… but there’s still Texas to go. BBQ, Tex-Mex and cowboys all the way!

Yours getting fatter by the day,

Amsterdam Foodie

New Orleans confused me. She eluded me. I felt kind of deceived and guilty at the same time. In terms of this trip, I’d hoped and expected New Orleans to be the culinary highlight. Everyone had raved about it, I’d watched Jamie Oliver wax lyrical in his American series, I’d read reams of enraptured copy about New Orleans’ heady delights. Hell, the city has more names than there are meals in the day: Nola, Nawlins, the Big Easy… but I missed something. I missed lightness in my beignets, okra in my gumbo, and love in my muffaletta. But hey – I did my best, and here’s what I ate…

Coffee and beignets by the river from Cafe du Monde. Beignets are rather like olieballen, but I think I prefer olieballen…

Muffaletta from the Central Grocery. I actually liked this, but it would have gone down more easily without all the hype.

Gumbo from Dooky Chase, whose fearless leader (Leah Chase) was made famous in the UK by Jamie Oliver. The sausage and shrimp were good (and plentiful) but I didn’t see even a smudge of green from any okra, celery or green pepper. Then again, what do I know about gumbo?

Jambalaya with sausage and chicken, which lacked so much in bite and zest that I forgot where I even ate it.

I’m sorry foodies, I feel like I’ve let y’all down on this one. New Orleans had all the right ingredients, but something just didn’t click. Still, onwards to the next meal, eh? Baton Rouge is my next stop!

Till then, I remain yours,

Amsterdam Foodie

Here on the gulf of Mexico it’s all about shrimps: big shrimps. We’re on the Alabama-Florida border, where they seem to flavour them with a rub made of allspice (amongst other things) and steam them. A friend who grew up down the road from Orange Beach promised me the best shrimps in the world. She wasn’t lying…

On recommendation, I tried the shrimps from the Gulf Shores Steamer at SanRoc Cay and from Blalock Seafood Market. I ate mine with a big pile of steamed vegetables, which was exactly what I needed after all that soul food…

Next stop: New Orleans, food capital of the south… needless to say, I am very excited.

Yours, Amsterdam Foodie

Here in Georgia, I’ve switched biscuits for corn muffins and weak coffee for sweet tea. Well, actually, sweet tea is undrinkable so I’ve downgraded to regular tea served cold.

I was also lucky enough to eat freshly caught North Georgia trout from a restaurant in the Blue Ridge Mountains…

… finished with key lime pie.

Next day, I went and sat in a pumpkin patch. As you do.

And after that, I headed to Atlanta where the cocktails (going by the name of things like ‘storm front’) made me so hungover that I had to eat absurd amounts of grits, Mexican-style eggs and pancakes for breakfast the next morning…

I’m now recovering on the beach in Alabama – expect an update shortly!

Yours, Amsterdam Foodie

Something you should know about America: they like scones. Only they call them biscuits. Who knew?

We ate a lot of biscuits in Nashville. We also went to Arnold’s, where everyone was so friendly I wanted to take them home with me and get them to give Amsterdam waiters a lesson in service.

Once there, we ate meat ‘n three, which basically means you get a choice of protein and three side orders. I went for country-fried steak, collard greens, fried green tomatoes (I love that film) and sort of sweetcorn mash. Doesn’t look all that, but it was fab.

And for dessert, pumpkin pie made my road trip buddy a happy man…

Next time, I’ll be reporting to you from Georgia: soul food central!

Toodle-pip, Amsterdam Foodie