Cuisine for all

Of course, knowledge is useful and you don't just become a chef. But even without knowing all the technical tricks of the trade, cooking with special ingredients is a pleasure. We chose three plats du jour by chef Karin Gaasterland and provide wine tips to go with it. - TEXT MARJOLEIN SCHUMAN | IMAGE ZORA SPOOK

'A really beautiful and super-accessible book about delicious French food,' we were told by the publisher before we laid eyes on Karin Gaasterland's latest project ourselves. And it has come out! Karin is the former owner of Balthazar's Keuken on Elandsgracht in Amsterdam, where we have shared many a meal over a good glass of wine. As a chef for more than 20 years, she was responsible for the kitchen and developing the weekly changing menus and dishes. In 2018, she embarked on a new adventure: Cuisine Carine, a restaurant without a fixed location. Cooking without boundaries, inspired by the ingredients and people she encounters everywhere. Because, as Karin herself says: 'Cooking is not exclusively about technique or precise recipes. It is also about taste, creativity and the courage to put something down. Smelling, tasting, trying.'

Cuisine for all

CULINARY INSPIRATION
All that cooking was bound to lead to a book full of recipes and notes - from food history to favourite places to kitchen philosophy. With WINELIFE, Karin is the first to share her calamari. She stuffs the molluscs with sobrasada, a spicy Spanish sausage that looks like filet americain, and tops them with anchoïade after frying. That's a classic Provençal spread you make with anchovies and served hot, as here, somewhat similar to the Italian dipping sauce bagna cauda. It also goes Noilly Prat, a vermouth or fortified wine (18% alcohol) with herbal extracts. Too nice not to mention, Noilly Prat is made from a rigorous selection of wines that age for quite a while in oak barrels. First inside the cellars and then outside for up to a year. The plants and herbs are added according to an old and secret recipe and come from all over the world. Rosebuds from Morocco, cardamom from India and cinnamon from Sri Lanka, some say. Chamomile, nutmeg, coriander and cloves, says another. More than 10 varieties at least. Formerly a beneficial herbal drink against all sorts of ailments, it is now a delicious wine to enrich your dish - and sip some while cooking. Cheers!

Curious about the whole article? You can read it in the latest Winelife Magazine 73. Order this one here!

Don't want to miss a single edition? Subscribe then subscribe to Winelife Magazine now!

Want to stay up to date with the best articles? Follow Winelife magazine on Instagram, Facebook and sign up for our fortnightly newsletter.