Rotterdam Market and Mussels

Naomi visited me last week marking the, ashamedly, first time I have gone to the Rotterdam market since moving to the Netherlands. On market days (Tues, Thurs, Sat), the giant square at Rotterdam Blaak is filled with hundreds of stands. There we acquired fish and several second hand granny sweaters each.

Today, I went to the Rotterdam market again together with Inga, and some others. We bought some mussels for dinner.

A Mussel Recipe (from Inga's mom)
mussels for 3-4 persons (~2kg)
4-6 cloves finely chopped garlic
2 shallots finely chopped
2 sliced tomatoes

1 bunch chopped coriander
2 cups creme fraiche
1 chopped leek

1. Sautee shallots in olive oil with garlic
2. Add the mussels with ~1/2 liter of water (?)
3. Steam the mussels
4. Remove the mussels onto a serving plate
5. From the left over water, add the creme fraiche, leek and tomatoes
6. Heat and reduce
7. Add coriander and serve on top of mussels

haring eating sequence

Naomi eating haring

almost there
Originally uploaded by raisin.detre

Hollandse Nieuwe Haring (herring) is the Dutch version of sushi. Most foreigners (and many Dutch people) dislike haring, due to the raw and pungent flavor of the fish, but I always make a point to eat one first thing on any given brack (hungover) Saturday. Knowing this, I warned Naomi of the fish and made the two of us have lunch before we ventured to the haring stand.

The following is why I love Naomi:
naomi: I can only foresee one problem
me: what?
naomi: I could really see myself becoming addicted to this..it is very creamy.
naomi: I bet it goes really well with soy sauce