Chef’s Favorites with Jeroen Jansen: “Lamprey?! Never again!”
Culinary journalist Jeroen Jansen traveled through Portugal for his book POLVO & PATO. And it reads like a culinary road trip along the best restaurants, markets, and wineries. He also shares recipes from well-known Portuguese chefs. But what are Jeroen’s personal favorites?
A staple in the fridge
“Various types of cheese and cold cuts, such as buffalo mozzarella, blue cheese, Dutch cheese, cured ham, and salami.”
Favorite drink
“A Portuguese Alvarinho wine, which is (not too) dry and floral. Perfect for a summer day—and actually for every day.”
Favorite family recipe
“I love salads and enjoy making them. Especially salads with duck breast, orange, and green asparagus.”
Favorite ingredient
“Flor de Sal: sea salt from the Algarve with herbs, including rosemary and lavender.”
Favorite hangover meal
“That was a long time ago, but when I was still a student, after a night of partying I would invariably eat fried eggs with bacon and lots of mayo. And a paracetamol afterward.”
Guilty pleasure
“Advocaat with whipped cream. That’s because of my grandmother, who often let me eat along with her when I was a teenager.”
Favorite dish from POLVO & PATO
“Carabineiro (red giant prawn) with fig and port sauce.”
Favorite (budget) kitchen tool
“The wok, because when I’m alone and cooking for myself, I always choose an easy stir-fry.”
I always buy this ready-made
“AH Excellent Green Curry paste. Otherwise teriyaki sauce. Both for stir-frying, of course.”
Best supermarket product
“There isn’t one product that stands out. If I have to choose: organic chicken thighs, granola, and freshly baked spelt bread.”
If I could eat only one cuisine for the rest of my life
“Then it would be Italian, which is pure, delicious, and summery.”
Strangest dish I’ve ever eaten
“Lamprey! That was in Matosinhos, a suburb of Porto. The lamprey—or sea lamprey—is an eel-like living fossil, with a mouth (more like a gaping hole, really) full of suckers. The one-meter-long animal is born and dies in the rivers of northern Portugal. In between, it can be found in the ocean. When they return to their birthplace to die, they may be caught. In Portugal, it’s a delicacy: they cook the lamprey in its own blood and serve it with rice and a sauce made from blood and red wine. Would I have it again? No!”
Favorite restaurant
“The Green Rose in Arnhem. Owner Jin and his brigade serve small dishes made with local produce. My favorite is the kebab of Dutch lamb, sheep’s cheese, and garlic.”
Favorite bar
“The bar at À Cevicheria in Lisbon, beneath the life-size octopus hanging from the ceiling. In particular, order the salmon ceviche and owner Kiko Martins’s famous pisco sour, a fresh, bittersweet cocktail with an off-white layer of foam.”
Never again
“Besides the lamprey, it’s the head of a corvina (croaker), or of any fish for that matter. André Magelhães of Taberna da Rua das Flores, and Lisbon’s food professor, took me to his favorite tasca and had me eat fish head from the oven, eyes included. The following night, I spent more time on the toilet than in bed.”
When I don’t feel like cooking
“I order pasta all’arrabiata from Cosí, a trattoria around the corner.”
Favorite food film
“La Grande Bouffe, a dark comedy about the art of eating yourself to death.”
The best tip I’ve ever received
“Always cut away from yourself.”
My last supper
“My mother’s nasi goreng, in the hope that she would then rise from the dead to share a bite.”
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