Cooking with the Dutchess:
By Hanneke Eerden
In my last article for La Prensa San Diego I wrote about one our December tradition called “Sinterklaas”, now it’s time to tell you something about our other tradition, here in the Netherlands, which is, of course, Christmas!
What’s different you might ask, well the biggest difference might be the fact that we have two Christmas Days! Not only do we celebrate on the 25th but also on the 26th of December! Another difference is your holidays start right after Thanksgiving and ours after the 6th of December, I’m sure you’ll forgive us for that…
Further it’s not a tradition here to give presents, we don’t “know” Santa Claus over here. But the last couple of years more and more people celebrate Christmas with presents, instead of with doing this with “Sinterklaas.” The houses get decorated more every year, and I’m sure in a few years there will hardly be a difference between your way and our way of celebrating.
One thing we can never influence is the snow. Last year we we’re lucky to have a white Christmas! If it will happen this year is very uncertain. And regarding the fact that we haven’t had any snowflakes so far this year, I don’t think it will happen. Even though it’s normal over here that the temperatures in December are already below freezing point, this year it’s quite warm. Not what you might call warm though! I remember one Christmas Day, I was a teenager back then, we woke up on Christmas Morning and it had snowed so much, almost as much as last year! That was the best Christmas I can remember!
Another tradition in my family is the traditional Christmas Dinner. Every year since I can remember, we eat the same dishes, with rabbit as the main course. My Grandmother always used to make it, and after she died my Dad wanted to continue his Mother’s tradition. So from that moment on, that was the main course! Served with soup for a starter, and then we would get brussel sprouts, red cabbage, mashed potatoes, apple sauce, and for dessert a pudding with rum and whipped cream and Dutch cookies called “bitterkoekjes”!
Because of my Dad’s very bad health at this moment, we won’t prepare a real Christmas Dinner this year, that’s why I decided to make a new delicious recipe especially for you: pork loin with persimmon sauce and almonds. And if you don’t like pork, you can also use turkey or chicken instead.
The ingredients:
1 pork loin butter
1 large persimmon, chopped into pieces
1/4 cup white wine
A few drops of Worcester-shire sauce
¼ cup of heavy cream
1 teaspoon vinegar (I used balsamic vinegar)
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon dried chili flakes
¼ teaspoon all spice
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt/pepper to taste
For the final touch: 1/3 cup almond flakes, roasted
Cook the pork loin as you are used to do, using the seasonings you like. I used pork seasoning and then cooked the loin in butter until done.
How to make the sauce:
Melt the butter in a pan and add the persimmon pieces. Cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the wine and bring to a boil. Let it boil for 2 minutes then turn the heat to medium-low. Add all the other ingredients (except the almond flakes) and let this simmer for 10 minutes (lid closed). Taste if you want to add some extra chili flakes.
Slice the pork, serve with the sauce and sprinkle some almond flakes over it!
Last but not least, I want to wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas!!!
As always ~Bon Appetit and Merry Christmas!
