Amsterdam Flavours

For an unexpected family get-together last Sunday morning, I baked some delicious scones with home made, jam and strawberries, but also quickly popped around the corner to Pompadour(my favourite patisserie shop) to pick up a peach tart. Their fruit tarts are absolutely delicious, not to sweet and have a wonderfully crisp pastry base

Whenever I’m in Paris, I always stop by Rue de Nil. Frenchie Bar a Vins was unfortunately fully booked, so we ended up at L’Altro Frenchie Bar instead. We had such a lovely meal there. The papardelle al ragu d’agnello was drlicious and so were the cappelletti a la Trapanese

How I can enjoy all the pastries Paris had to offer, like small profiteroles and eat strawberries with cream and crepes at Place des Vosges in the morning

How I can enjoy all the pastries Paris has to offer and eat strawberries with cream and crepes at Place des Vosges in the morning

The Marche des Enfants Rouges is the oldest food Market in Paris. We had a lovely lunch at Les enfants du marche: grilled octopus with foie gras sauce, mussels mariniers with yellow wine verbena, tomato salad with green gazpacho

We had a few beautiful few days in Paris and naturally a visit to the iconic L’Epicerie was a must. We couldn’t resist stopping by to see where our organic herbal elixer, Sapinca, had found its place. And there she was, proudly displayed in the front row among a beautiful selection of elixers and already a favourite with many customers. A special Paris moment for Sapinca

Pizza Bianca with Zucchini Ribbons, Artichokes, Mozzarella, Provolone, Capers, Pine nuts, Arugula and grated Pecorino Romano

Red spring onion are at their best this season. Grillings bring out their natural sweetness while adding a delicious smoking char. Perfect to use on the barbecue For recipe see “Grilled red spring onions” on my website www.amsterdamflavours.com

It is always fascinating to see how the vegetable and flower garden at Over Amstel continues to mature and flourish. Designed and created by my brother, Maarten, it has grown into a truly beautiful garden and is well worth a visit. His surname, Grasveld (which literally means “grass field”), couldn’t be a more fitting name for his landscape architecture studio www.grasveld.com

Sainte Madeleine has arrived on Elandsgracht, a charming little French shop specializing in madeleines in six delicious flavors including vanille, lemon, strawberry, matcha, orange and chocolate. Definitely worth a little detour!