An Ode to Gourmet Dining
Time for a confession: as a true food lover, I’m obsessed with everything to do with food. If I had it my way, I’d spend my days in the kitchen. But once a year, I take my place behind the gourmet grill with a beaming smile. This is why, despite my love of cooking, I enjoy this delicious gourmet tradition every year.
It’s a typical Dutch tradition that many a foodie looks down on. But when you think about it, it really has everything a good evening needs. No one has to stress about preparing all the food, and everyone only eats what they like.
We always celebrate Christmas at my grandparents’ house. The fact that we come over at all is already quite an undertaking for the couple, so imagine if they also had to cook. As long as I can remember, the answer has been to go gourmet dining. I have absolutely no ambition to repeat this activity more than once a year, but I eagerly look forward to that one evening.
Gourmet dining means eating all evening
Just think about it. Because there are so many things on the table, you can spend the whole time deciding what you’re most in the mood for at that moment. And if you take it a little easy, you can keep eating all evening. Just make sure you wear a T-shirt under your Christmas sweater, because the longer that thing keeps roaring, the hotter it gets. That sweater is coming off anyway.
Making everything yourself to perfection
If you buy good-quality meat from the butcher, there’s no reason why gourmet dining couldn’t be incredibly delicious. And it keeps you on your toes. Cooking a tiny slice of steak to a perfect medium-rare is a challenge, but every time it works, my heart skips a beat. Also fun: making mini slavinken, meatballs or schnitzels yourself. If you really want to make it festive, go for venison steak or turkey.
Gourmet sauces
And we haven’t even mentioned the sauces. Cranberry with meat, mustard-dill with salmon, garlic with everything. You make them ahead of time, and they barely take any time at all. At our table, there’s also always mayonnaise for my favorite side dish: potato croquettes. I’ll gladly put up with the smell of this evening lingering in all my clothes for days.
Also read:
