As luck would have it, that’s not hard in France. Here are some of the culinary highlights…

Michelin-starred cheese from La Cognette

Magret de canard and gesiers salad from Benjamin Andrieux's Ferme Auberge

More of Benjamin's duck...

Blackberry picking as distraction from exercise...

Coq au vin, cooked in our rustic farmhouse

Leftovers: coq au vin and Toulouse sausage pie

More duck at another Ferme Auberge

Mille feuille from Quai Quai in Paris

Question: where can we have a proper girls’ night out with cocktails and everything?

Answer: look no further than my top five Amsterdam cocktail bars…

1. Door 74: causing more than a stir (possibly a shake?) when it opened, Door 74 owned Amsterdam’s underground scene for – ooh – all of two months. It’s exclusive, but only in the sense that you have to know where it is, and you have to book. There’s no entrance fee, but drinks aren’t cheap. They are, however, bloody lovely. And this is one of the few bars in Amsterdam where you can get dressed up New-York style without feeling silly.

2. Vesper: somehow related to Door 74 in a way that I don’t seem to be able to verify via the usual wonder that is Google, Vesper is smaller, cuter and more local. But the drinks are no less fabulous (and I have a crush on the barman).

3. Harry’s Bar: the original cocktail bar in Amsterdam, Harry’s still has an old-world charm that cannot be emulated by its newer rivals. The waiters wear white suits, the punters drink at dark tables, and you feel compelled to order drinks like Old Fashioneds… Only downside is the whole place smells really odd. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

4. Little Buddha: a feast for the senses (or an attack on them, depending on how you look at it), Little Buddha is all Asian-themed kitsch and red shiny things. Luckily, one of the red shiny things is an amazing chilli and red fruit cocktail that has me totally addicted.

5. Feijoa: admittedly, I was struggling to find a fifth bar for my top five, and it was a tie between Feijoa and Marquee, but since the latter is actually a restaurant as well as a bar, I thought I’d save it for a review later. The unpronounceable Feijoa is all rather ad-agency and beautiful-people, but the cocktails I had were creative and seasonal. I may be being blind, but I can’t find a website to give you… address is Vijzelstraat 39.

Question: Where can we go to get decent beer (basically not Heineken)?

Answer: Two of these places are local breweries, two are Belgian brown cafes (and believe me, the Belgians know their beers) and one is an American beer bar. Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it, ok?

1. Brouwerij het IJ (Funenkade 7): housed under a windmill in Amsterdam Oost (east of the centre), the brewery serves its own-brewed beers and various lekker hapjes (including my favourite sheep’s cheese from Dikhove in Ransdorp) between 3 and 8 pm daily. You can take a tour round the brewery too.

2. Brouwerij de Prael: in the heart of the Red Light District, de Prael brewery was set up to employ people suffering from psychiatric problems. In the proeflokaal at Warmoesstraat 15, you can taste the beers named after famous Dutch singers; the brewery itself is located at Oudezijds Voorburgwal 30.

3. Gollem (Raamsteeg 4): dark and musty, this beer bar down an alleyway off the Spuistraat demands that you drink out of one of those funny test-tube-shaped glasses in a wooden stand. I think the beer’s called Kwak and you’ll spill it everywhere, but it’s just sort of tradition. You’ll understand when you go there, I promise.

4. Zotte (Raamstraat 29): not to be confused with Raamsteeg, this Belgian brown cafe is actually in a completely different location near the Leidseplein. The food is decent too.

5. Beer Temple (Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 250): the most recent to open, this American beer bar totally changed my perception of Stateside beer. No Budweiser here; all small, specialist brews that have been specially imported. They even have their own house beer: Tempelbier. Just tell them what you like and they’ll make you recommendations – wow, American service to boot!

Beer from de Prael

Question: Where can I buy allspice/preserved lemons/unpasteurised cheese/Thai basil/sushi rice/[insert random ingredient here]?

Answer: You’ve tried the supermarket to no avail… these are the alternatives.

1. Volkskruidentuin (Kinkerstraat 142), for North African spices (and probably preserved lemons. If they don’t have them here, they do at Slagerij Westerpark at Spaarndammerstraat 65).
2. Kaaskamer (Runstraat 7), for the smelliest cheeses
3. Dun Yong (Stormsteeg 9), for Vietnamese noodles, Thai basil and all things Asian
4. Caulils (Haarlemmerstraat 115), for polenta, prosciutto and, randomly, Worcester Sauce
5. Hollandaluz (Haarlemmerstraat 71), for chorizo, piquillos di pimiento and Spanish stuff
6. Tel (Kloveniersburgwal 11-13), for fish and seafood
7. Yolanda en Fred de Leeuw (Utrechtsestraat 92), for meat and general yumminess
8. Duikelman (Ferdinand Bolstraat 68), for kitchen equipment
9. Kookboekhandel (Haarlemmerdijk 133), for cook books
10. Wijnkelder (Brouwersgracht 202), for wine

Toko Dun Yong: Asian supermarket

Slagerij Yolanda en Fred de Leeuw

PS. I apologise for the westerly (Haarlemmerstraat specifically) bent of these shops… it’s my ‘hood, what can I say?

Question: Are there any food festivals in Amsterdam? And when and where do they happen?

Answer: Ja zeker!

1. Taste of Amsterdam: held annually at the end of June in Amstelpark. Arriving in Amsterdam in 2009 (although Taste festivals already existed in several other major international cities), Taste attracts big-name restaurant chefs and food producers. There’s an entry fee, plus a token-based system for sampling taster plates.

2. New Food Fair: held annually on the first Saturday in September on the Haarlemmerstraat/dijk (this year: 4 September). All the local shops on this foodie street (plus various other small-scale producers) spill out onto the street, setting up stalls. Entry is free, plenty of free samples are given away, and small plates of food are also on offer for a price. The New food Fair is one of my favourites – a cute, local thing.

3. Underground Boerenmarkt: held for the first time on 16 May 2010 in a secret (central) Amsterdam location. For one day, non-commercial farmers, foodies and chefs displayed their wares to those in the know. Follow Talkin’ Food and keep your ear to the ground for details of future events…

4. Week van de Smaak: literally translated as the week of taste, this annual event is more of an initiative than a festival. Held throughout the Netherlands (this year: 19-26 September), the Week van de Smaak‘s various activities take place in different cities. In Haarlem, the festival kicks off on 19 August with the ‘Fabulous Food Festival‘, while the last day in Amsterdam culminates in the ‘Markt van 1001 Smaken‘ at the Food Center.

5. Haarlem Culinair: not technically Amsterdam, this four-day culinary festival (this year: 5-8 August) takes place in Haarlem’s Grote Markt – a 15-minute train ride from Amsterdam Centraal. Worth a day trip!

Chevre at the New Food Fair

Pasta demo at Taste of Amsterdam 2009

Question: I’m coming to visit Amsterdam, and I love markets. Which ones should I check out for food?

Answer: These are my top five!

1. Noordermarkt: Saturdays only, in the Jordaan. Sells organic food and flea-market bric-a-brac. Expensive but worth a trip, and very central to the Grachtengordel. Try also the Lindengracht market just round the corner – cheaper but still generally high quality. Market top tip? The truffle chevre from the goat’s cheese stall on the Noordermarkt, and the fish stall near the start of the Lindengracht closest to the Brouwersgracht.

2. Nieuwmarkt: Saturdays only, just east of the Red Light District. Farmers’ market selling largely organic food, conveniently located. Market top tip? The mushroom stall on the eastern side of the square (tip from Dita!).

3. Dappermarkt: Daily Monday–Saturday, in Oost (east of the city centre). Sells food and clothing, very multi-cultural. Market top tip? The amazing array of potatoes at the potato stall, and a mid-shopping kebab ‘met alles’ from the stall at the canal end of the market (tip from Suz!).

4. Albert Cuypmarkt: Daily Monday–Saturday, in de Pijp (south of the city centre). Sells food, clothing and household goods. Market top tip? Spice shop ‘de Peperbol’ that spills into the market at Albert Cuypstraat 150.

5. Ten Katemarkt: Daily Monday–Saturday, in Oud West (west of the city centre). Smaller market selling food and clothing. Market top tip? The cheese stall on the southeast corner of the Kinkerstraat-Ten Katestraat intersection. Vacherin Mont d’Or (when in season) for €5!

Potatoes at the Dappermarkt

Flowers at the Nieuwmarkt

But until then, and as a more general reference point, I’m going to be writing a series of blog posts that highlight the various food spots that tick off the top questions I get asked by readers. I’ll be covering Amsterdam’s food festivals, markets, gastro-shops and bars (since restaurants are covered fairly extensively everywhere else!) so bookmark the pages for your next set of visitors…

A couple of months ago, I heard a rumour on the foodie-vine about a cookery school opening in Amsterdam’s Chinatown. It turned out to be a series of Asian cuisine workshops at Dun Yong, one of the larger and better stocked Asian supermarkets in town. I signed up for a Vietnamese workshop with another friend who’s a keen cook, and spent four blissful hours chopping, stirring, munching and generally causing chaos in the kitchen-cum-classroom.

Vietnamese spring rolls - recreated in the office a few weeks later...

Our teacher, FongYee Wong, whose Twitter name is notjustasian, was terrifying and patient in equal measure. Originally from Singapore and trained at some of Amsterdam’s top European restaurants, she looked sternly over my shoulder as I did a pathetic job of mincing my dried shrimp, before bursting out laughing at some quip my partner in crime made about stuffing in more pork.

We had so much fun with the eight others in our group that we decided (having not yet finished eating our first meal together) to book another workshop in June: this time on Singaporean and Malaysian cuisine. Not being modest types, we also christened ourselves ‘the cooking dream team’ and swore our allegiance to learn about all things Asian together from then on.

The cooking dream team in action

So it was with great excitement, then, that I arrived at Dun Yong last Saturday, ready to learn about Laksa, Ngoh Hiang and Satay. Dita (my original foodie friend) and I stoically upheld our reputation for being disruptive and, as a result, took longer than anyone else to finish our laksa paste. Luckily, some of our more studious co-chefs had everything ground, simmered and served by the point at which lunchtime rolled around.

Laksa, Ngoh Hiang and Satay

While a meal out is always a treat, there’s immense satisfaction in having personally created something totally beyond your usual repertoire. And what more productive, inspiring way to spend four hours of your weekend? In October, the dream team meets again – this time for dim sum…