When I was back home in The Netherlands I got interested in the food philosophy of Dutch Chef Albert Kooy. He calls it The New Dutch Cuisine. A Cuisine that is sustainable and animal and environmentally friendly. We have a centurie of old culture about growing food, being famous for our dairy and of course the SpiceTrade to the South East. But if you look at the traditional dutch dinners, it is quite bland. The most important part of the meal is the meat and it comes with boiled potatoes and boiled vegetables. Not a lot spices, sauces or other flavourings.
Nowadays the Dutch are more creative and preparing a lot of international dishes at home. Pasta’s, curries and stir fries are quite common. But cooking with local and fresh produce with our Dutch heritage in mind… No, it’s not that popular. Which is a shame, because most people don’t even know what a lovely food we grow in the Netherlands. It’s more than just potatoes.
To cook more healthy Albert Kooy uses the rule of 20% meat and 80% vegetables, which is quite the opposite of what we are used to. Especially most men in the Netherlands think a meal without meat is no meal.
As a chef/teacher at the Hotel Business University he is inspiring a lot of his students with this philosophy and when we went for dinner there the food was absolutely fabulous! All products that were in season, from nearby farmers and cooked to perfection.
A lot of his recipes have been published in his book “The New Dutch Cuisine” and of course it has a baking chapter as well. So, let’s bake with some apples from my parents garden and use a typical dutch spice mix to make a classic but new Dutch Apple Pie
NB:
This article was first written in Dutch a few years ago. Since 2014 a lot has changed food wise in the Netherlands. People are starting to grow their own vegetables, are more interested in local produce and using more healthier options, which makes me very happy!
Recipe: New Dutch Apple Pie
Ingredients
Dough:
250 gr flour
150 gr caster sugar
150 gr butter
1 egg
Filling:
10 appels
cinnamon/sugar to taste
100 gr breadcrumb
200 gr raisins
Crumble topping:
180 gr flour
130 gr sugar
120 gr butter
7,5 gr speculaas-spices
Instructions
Dough:
- Make the dough to mix the ingredients until you have a nice and smooth dough. Wrap it in plastic foil and leave it to rest in the fridge for about 1 hour.
Filling:
- Peel the apples and cut them in little pieces or slices. Mix with sugar, cinnamon, raisins and the breadcrumbs. Set aside.
Crumble:
- Just mix all the ingredients until you have a nice crumble. Cover it with plastic and leave it to rest in the fridge for 1 hour
Making the New Dutch Apple Pie
- Preheat the oven to 175C
- Grease a springform baking tin.
- Roll out your dough until you have enough for the bottom and the sides.
- Line the pan (bottom and sides) with the dough. The layer doesn’t need to be very thick.
- Fill it up with the apple filling and put the crumble on top.
- Bake the New Dutch Apple Pie in the preheated oven for 1 hour.
- Remove the springform after the Pie has cooled
- Dust with icing sugar and serve with Chantilly Cream
- Dough:
- 250 gr flour
- 150 gr caster sugar
- 150 gr butter
- 1 egg
- Filling:
- 10 appels
- cinnamon/sugar to taste
- 100 gr breadcrumb
- 200 gr raisins
- Crumble topping:
- 180 gr flour
- 130 gr sugar
- 120 gr butter
- 7,5 gr speculaas-spices
- Make the dough to mix the ingredients until you have a nice and smooth dough. Wrap it in plastic foil and leave it to rest in the fridge for about 1 hour.
- Peel the apples and cut them in little pieces or slices. Mix with sugar, cinnamon, raisins and the breadcrumbs. Set aside.
- Just mix all the ingredients until you have a nice crumble. Cover it with plastic and leave it to rest in the fridge for 1 hour
- Preheat the oven to 175C
- Grease a springform baking tin.
- Roll out your dough until you have enough for the bottom and the sides.
- Line the pan (bottom and sides) with the dough. The layer doesn't need to be very thick.
- Fill it up with the apple filling and put the crumble on top.
- Bake the New Dutch Apple Pie in the preheated oven for 1 hour.
- Remove the springform after the Pie has cooled
- Dust with icing sugar and serve with Chantilly Cream
