The Holtkamp veal croquette turns 50 (hooray!)
Holtkamp’s croquette is an institution and, without question, the favorite of every foodie. The late Johannes van Dam was a big fan. And Yotam Ottolenghi even literally drove around the block for it during his recent trip to Amsterdam (the shrimp croquette is his favorite). Chef Julius Jaspers has even argued that the Holtkamp croquette should be included on the list of Dutch cultural heritage.
This year marks exactly fifty years since pastry chef Cees Holtkamp rolled his first veal croquette in the famous pastry shop on Amsterdam’s Vijzelgracht. The original handwritten recipe for the ragout is in the antique notebook he still owns.
Croquette with a Q
The croquette is the most sophisticated of all snacks. More so than, say, the lihanboutje (since 1967) or the frikandel (since 1958). And Holtkamp’s may well be the most elegant of them all. Holtkamp cherishes the formally incorrect spelling ‘croquette’ (with a ‘c’ and ‘q’), even though the official spelling according to Het Genootschap Onze Taal has really been kroket since 1995.
Competitors
Other well-known croquette makers such as Van Dobbe and Kwekkeboom are now in the hands of major companies and investors, but Holtkamp (since 1967) is still independent. Like the other Holtkamp croquettes, the anniversary veal croquette is made with the help of machines, but is still prepared traditionally. These days, the croquettes are prepared in a modern kitchen in Amsterdam Sloterdijk under the direction of Nico Meijles, who once started working for Cees as a twenty-year-old pastry chef. Cees’s daughter runs the famous pastry shop on Vijzelstraat, decorated in stunning art deco style.
Secret
But what is the secret behind a good veal croquette like Holtkamp’s? Nico: “You want a flavorful, velvety, glossy ragout made with homemade stock. High-quality veal is also essential, cut into small cubes and generously incorporated. The croquette must not have air bubbles beneath the crust. And the crust must be deliciously crisp and thin, without soaking up frying oil. We bread them twice, once with a coarser coating and once with a finer one, using crumbs from white sandwich loaves baked especially for us.”
Want to make Holtkamp’s ultimate veal croquette at home? Click here for the recipe video on Foodtube.
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