Q&A with Camille Oostwegel Jr.
Château Neercanne in Maastricht retained its star this year and has therefore been listed in the Michelin Guide for 60 consecutive years. Camille Oostwegel Jr. is one of the people behind this iconic restaurant. Curious to know at which restaurant he was served a magic trick at the table?
Which food trend should we stop immediately?
I find this a very difficult question, but I would have to say extreme diets. All those different diets in which people cut out certain foods, only to discover later that they are missing all kinds of vitamins and minerals. Make sure you eat a varied and healthy diet and everything will be fine; I’m not a fan of extreme diets.
Most memorable dining experience?
There have been quite a few, but two really stand out to me. First of all, Noma. Every year, I take a culinary trip with two of my best friends, and Noma was the first one—we went when it was ranked number one in the world. I thought the way they cooked and how everything worked there was absolutely fantastic.
My other memorable dining experience was at Eleven Madison Park in New York. It’s a truly fantastic restaurant where hospitality and the creativity of the kitchen and service come together. In a certain way, it contains New York elements, but also a touch of magic.
At the table, they performed a magic trick in which the waiter brought out a deck of cards featuring various ingredients. We had to choose a card and were not allowed to show it to the waiter. I had one with popcorn on it and my wife had one with raspberry. We already had a small plate on the table, and when we put the card back, we lifted the plate and found chocolates underneath with the images from our cards on them. The filling of the chocolates also tasted like popcorn and raspberry—truly amazing.
Favorite drink?
I enjoy drinking beer or wine. I think a negroni is a lovely aperitif, and a pisco sour is a delicious cocktail. You can recognize a good cocktail bar by the pisco sour it makes; if that’s good, it will also be a good cocktail bar. As a digestif, I really enjoy an Old Fashioned.
Indispensable kitchen gadget?
A food processor such as a Magimix. If you want to cook quickly and prepare things, a machine like that is really great.
At the table, they performed a magic trick in which the waiter brought out a deck of cards featuring various ingredients
What would you never eat again?
I find this a very difficult question. Of course, there are things I like more and things I like less, but I’ve never eaten anything that I genuinely wouldn’t want to eat again.
Which country is your favorite when it comes to food?
The United States. Not because of the hamburgers, but because of the diversity and high quality of the food. You can also eat fantastic Asian food there, including Indian cuisine. I have rarely experienced a country where you can eat such varied and such good food. I lived in New York for a while, where the food was fantastic. But when you go to the West Coast, to California, it’s a completely different cuisine again.
What should everyone try at least once?
Sushi in Japan. It’s so different there from what you eat in the Netherlands or elsewhere. If you go to a high-end restaurant there and see how it’s made, it’s truly amazing. I can recommend it to everyone.
What is the best supermarket product?
Almond milk. It’s actually a very specific product, and it’s a great base for smoothies, or I add it to my homemade granola. It contains a lot of protein without immediately adding a whole load of dairy. I think it’s quite something that we can buy this in Dutch supermarkets.
What’s still on your food wish list?
So many places. If I have to name one specifically, it would be Amber in Hong Kong. Richard Ekkebus is the chef there, and he trained at Château Neercanne. I’d love to see what he’s doing there now.
Which cookbook should everyone have on their shelf?
The cookbook from The French Laundry restaurant in America. It’s not something for every day—the recipes are quite complicated—but it contains so many fantastic techniques and dishes. They look simple but really require craftsmanship. Even if you don’t want to cook anything from it, it also looks beautiful on the coffee table.
What do you like to make at home when you want to eat quickly and well?
I’m a big fan of Jamie Oliver. I really like the way he makes simple dishes taste delicious. I don’t have one specific recipe that I always make, but I cook a lot from 15- and 30-minute meals. Those dishes are ready quickly and have good nutritional value.
Which dish makes you lose all self-control?
Slow-cooked barbecue dishes. For example, a full rack of spare ribs with a beautiful crust. I absolutely love a piece of meat that has been cooked slowly for a long time.
