DWDD cookbook: an ode to haute cuisine
De Wereld Draait Door’s much-discussed pop-up restaurant will go down in history as perhaps the shortest-lived pop-up ever. After two days, and two scathing reviews, the Vara management decided to close the temporary restaurant immediately because of all the commotion. But fortunately, there is still the cookbook. A magnificent tribute to culinary classics from haute cuisine.
The segment that began on DWDD five years ago is a brilliant idea. Top chef Robert Kranenborg prepares a dish from classic haute cuisine together with a fellow chef of his choosing—dishes that can hardly be found on any menu anymore because the craftsmanship and knowledge required to make them are lacking.
Canardier
Dishes such as Canard à la presse, duck from a press. In days gone by, a feast fit for king, emperor or admiral. When you hear Kranenborg explain how, at the table, a ‘canardier’ carves the roasted duck and pushes the carcass, together with the remnants of the duck, through the press until the last drop of flavor falls into the silver sauce dish, you are spellbound. His love of fine food leaps from the screen. Despite all the fuss, Kranenborg knows better than anyone how to convey this (as I also regularly experience face to face as a fellow judge on MasterChef, where his ready culinary knowledge and experience repeatedly manage to surprise friend and foe alike).
Woodcock
With the same enthusiasm and expertise, the book DWDD Kookt was created. It contains a selection of dishes that previously appeared on the show, but now with detailed recipes. A warning in advance: don’t try this at home. Unless you feel like really putting your cooking skills to the test. Because DWDD Kookt is more culinary history than cookbook. The recipes (described as ‘procedures’) are too complex for the average home cook. The book’s strength lies in the delightful stories about the dishes.
A warning in advance: don’t try this at home.
Such as the woodcock, a protected species in the Netherlands that may still be hunted in some other countries. Kranenborg prepares this Bécasse à la riche (which is still on the menu at a few restaurants in Wallonia) together with Belgian chef Philippe Vanheule. The dish is considered the pinnacle of game gastronomy thanks to its delicate flavor. It is a labor-intensive dish in which the head, with its sharp beak, is split in two and served on the plate so that the guest can suck the brains out of the little head. It is accompanied by an intense, thick sauce made from the carcass and offal, with cognac, red wine, foie gras, veal jus and butter.
Royal hare
The much-discussed Lièvre à la royale is also described. Royal hare, with a blood sauce. A dish whose challenge lies in mounting the complex sauce (anyone wanting to try it should keep an eye on the menu of the capital’s Kaagman en Kortekaas , where FavorFlav recently tasted a highly successful contemporary version of this classic). Another food monument from the book: Cervelas de fruits de mer, a refined French sausage made from fish and seafood, a remake of which is included in the book in collaboration with chef Jonathan Zandbergen (Merlet). The dish is sometimes still served at the ultra-chic restaurant Taillevent in Paris.
Anyone who reads the recipes is automatically transported into a wonderfully decadent world of ballrooms and 17e-century gala dinners.
And no book about culinary icons would be complete without pies. Such as the Coulibiac au saumon, an originally Russian dish with a cabbage, fish or meat filling, wrapped in yeast dough, shortcrust pastry or light brioche dough. Rijks’ chef Joris Bijdendijk makes it for the book with a salmon filling. A magnificent pie built up from different layers, in which, once it is cut open, the yolk of a soft-boiled egg meets the seasoned salmon tartare.
Decadent
Anyone who reads the recipes is automatically transported into a wonderfully decadent world of ballrooms and 17e-century gala dinners. Where kitchen brigades spend weeks preparing an extravagant banquet of the finest game, poultry, roasts and exquisite fish for the highly honored guests. The beautifully photographed still lifes with stuffed animals at the table, which precede each dish in the book, complete this atmosphere. A compliment to the unparalleled styling by Judith Rasenberg and photographer Arjan Benning.
After reading the book, what remains is an intense desire to take a tour of all the chefs and restaurants that still prepare these dishes, before they disappear from menus for good. Starting with the Canard à la presse at the famous restaurant Tour d’Argent in Paris.
DWDD kookt met Kranenborg
Robert Kranenborg
€24,99
Kosmos Uitgevers
Text: Marcus Polman
Photography: Arjan Benning
