Cooking with Braakhekke
When Joop Braakhekke died at the end of 2016, a chapter in Dutch culinary history came to a close. With The Best of Kookschrift van een kookgek, that history has now been documented for everyone.
He was not the first television chef in the Netherlands, but he was the most theatrical. In fact, the ‘cooking enthusiast’ Joop Braakhekke, who died at the end of 2016, from Amsterdam society restaurant Le Garage, was not a chef at all – even though many people thought he was. At least, not professionally. He was a host, and he did that with great flair. He cooked on television and for his series Kookschriften van een kookgek with at least as much flair.
Dutch gastronomy
A ‘Best of’ edition of this 1990s series has now been published, perhaps to commemorate the most distinctive figure in Dutch gastronomy.
What’s in it for you? It contains recipes you won’t quickly find—or perhaps never find—in other cookbooks. Recipes for quintessentially French classics. With or without a Braakhekke twist, and often accompanied by cooking tips he personally copied from legendary chefs.
Moes van de Poes
Mousse à chat (Moes van de Poes), for example. A recipe by Fernand Point (1897–1955), pioneer of French gastronomy, the first chef ever to receive three Michelin stars (in 1933), and one of the fathers of nouvelle cuisine. So this recipe is certainly not for the birds.
Braakhekke’s Kookschrift contains recipes you rarely see.
Nor is wijting à la lorgnette. Even though whiting is still often, quite unfairly, dismissed as cat food. Another French classic you unfortunately rarely come across: fricassée of veal sweetbreads, veal kidney and veal liver. I want that now! Incidentally, the image at the top is of an apple tart with plums and bacon: not everyday fare either.
Society restaurant
In between these recipes, you get a glimpse into the world of the legendary cooking enthusiast. Personal notes about the dishes. When he ate them and with whom. But also what you should—or should not—do during preparation. Joop wrote (and cooked) the way he spoke: slightly theatrical. It feels as if he is sitting next to you while you read the book.
Joop personally knew everyone who mattered—from royalty to top chefs, from comedians to René Froger. They all ate in his hall of mirrors in a former garage and wanted to have their picture taken with him (or him with them; I’ll leave that open to interpretation). Before Le Garage, no restaurant had brought together two things so sublimely: seeing and being seen, and beautiful French classics. For that reason alone, this book is interesting.
Required reading
The Best of Kookschrift van een Kookgek is therefore not just another compilation cookbook, nor simply an ode to one of the most distinctive figures in Dutch gastronomy, but required reading for anyone who wants to know more about the roots of gastronomy and the dishes associated with it.
Make Joop’s version of tarte tatin yourself with this recipe.
The Best of Kookschrift van een Kookgek
Joop Braakhekke
Kosmos Publishers
€ 17.50
