Dutch Food: Split Pea Soup (Erwtensoep, Snert)

The basic ingredients in vegan erwtensoep: split peas, leeks, carrots, and celeriac

In my quest to discover the joys of Dutch cuisine since moving to the Netherlands 4 months ago,  I've attempted to "veganize" several traditional Dutch soups (for example, see my previous post about bruine bonensoep).

One of my favorite soups - split pea -  is known as "erwtensoep" or "snert" here in the Netherlands, and is considered a typical Dutch food.  Traditional recipes for erwtensoep call for Dutch rookworst (a type of sausage) and/or bacon (see, for example, this Albert Heijn recipe).  As sausage and bacon are definitely not vegan, I've made my soup with tamari-marinated seitan (wheat gluten) that is sauteed with veggies, olive oil, and cumin, in order to add some of the flavor, texture, and fat that would be provided by the meat.  You can leave out the seitan if you are uncertain about it, but I think you'll miss out on the texture.

Tamari-marinated seitan for erwtensoep

After making erwtensoep a few times, it's become my go-to meal when I need a warm, hearty lunch or dinner. This very thick soup is an excellent winter dish, and it will hold up pretty well in the fridge for a couple of days.  

Here's my recipe:

Vegan Erwtensoep
(makes 8 servings)
Ingredients:
500 grams (about 2 cups) dried green split peas, rinsed
3 pints (about 6 cups) water
1 vegetarian bouillon cube
400 grams (about 2 cups) seitan, diced (you can find this in a shelf-stable jar, as seen above, or in the refrigerated section near the tofu at most health food stores)
45 ml (3 tablespoons) olive oil
1 small celery root (a.k.a. celeriac), peeled and diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1 medium leek, sliced
5 ml (1 teaspoon) thyme
5 ml (1 teaspoon) cumin
2 bay leaves
1 small bunch (about 3 tablespoons) fresh celery leaves, chopped
1 small bunch (about 3 tablespoons) parsley leaves, chopped
salt and ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:
In a large soup pot, sauté the seitan, carrot, leek, celery root, and cumin in the olive oil over medium-high heat for about 8-10 minutes. 
Add the water, split peas, vegetarian bouillon, thyme, and bay leaves.  Mix well.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer for 75 minutes, stirring occasionally.
After about 75 minutes, the split peas, celery root, and carrot should be very mushy. If the split peas and veggies are still firm, continue simmering until soft.
When the split peas and veggies have softened, use a large wooden spoon or potato masher to carefully mash them together, breaking apart the split peas and veggies that have retained their shape.  Mix in the chopped celery leaves and parsley, and allow to simmer for 5-10 more minutes, stirring constantly.
Before serving, remove the bay leaves and season with salt and pepper.

I like to serve my erwtensoep with a thick slice of whole wheat bread spread with a thin layer of mustard, or a simple salad of greens tossed with a light lemon vinaigrette.

Enjoy!

Simmering erwtensoep: this vegetarian version includes seitan instead of sausage

Exploring Groningen: China Light Festival at Hortus Haren

The entrance to the China Light Festival at Hortus Haren

I've been taking advantage of my abundance of free time lately to explore new things in and around Groningen, from chamber music performances to urban gardens.  Last week, my explorations took me to the Hortus Haren Botanical Garden in Haren, which is a village just south of Groningen.

To celebrate the Chinese New Year (the 23rd of January), the Hortus Haren is currently decorated with fantastic light displays presented by the Groningen Confucius Institute. These displays can be viewed in the evenings through the 29th of January.

My husband and I visited Hortus Haren on a particularly cold evening, with temperatures hovering just above freezing. We were concerned that the cold weather would interfere with our ability to enjoy the outdoor light displays. However, after downing a couple of glasses of glühwein from a stand that was conveniently located within the botanical garden, we forgot about the cold and charged on through the wintery weather.  The result: an absolutely dazzling experience and a deeper appreciation for the detailed craftsmanship involved in the creation of light displays.

Here are my photographs of my favorite displays:

Learning Dutch

Image created by the blog author.

One activity to which I've devoted a lot of my time since my arrival in the Netherlands is learning Dutch (known here as "Nederlands").  Learning to speak the local language has thus far been a very fun and rewarding experience, and I plan to stick with it and (hopefully!) become fluent before I return to the United States in a few years.

Being in the Netherlands, there are naturally many resources available for those seeking to learn Dutch.  My main resource for developing my Dutch language skills is my language course at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, but I also supplement my coursework with Internet "classes" on Livemocha.com (a fantastic web site for learning languages, with tons of user-generated content); occasional attendance at a "taalcafe," where extremely kind members of the Groningen community help Dutch-learners over coffee and tea (see this web site); frequent visits to Dutchgrammar.com, which is an indispensable resource for clear explanations of Dutch grammatical rules; and many other resources, such as dictionaries, neighbors, shopkeepers, etc. - basically anyone who is willing to correct my pronunciation and/or grammar!

So, why am I learning Dutch? You probably know firsthand, or you've heard from someone else, that nearly everyone in the Netherlands speaks English. Well, it is true that nearly everyone (about 90% of the people with whom I've come into contact) speaks English, but there are still many reasons to learn Dutch!

Here is my "top ten" list of reasons why I'm learning the Dutch language:
10. Learning Dutch is fun.  I sincerely enjoy learning languages just for the sake of learning something new.  I've loved learning languages ever since my first day of French lessons when I was 9 years old,  and this love has manifested itself throughout my life as I've attempted to learn both a useful language ("tourist" Italian for a summer trip to Italy) and a not-so-useful language (Quenya, an elvish language invented by the author J.R.R. Tolkien - yes, I was a nerd in junior high and high school).  So, useful or not, I have a lot of fun learning languages.
9. To meet new people.  I've met a lot of very nice people in my Dutch classes and the weekly taalcafe; people with backgrounds very similar to mine and with backgrounds that couldn't be more different.  It's been a wonderful experience meeting other people who are also trying to learn Dutch.
8. To better understand Dutch culture.  Language is an important part of culture, and there are some things that one just can't understand by translating them into English - the concept of "gezellig" for example.  The closest thing we have in English is "coziness" but "coziness" does not fully capture "gezellig," which is a sort of "coziness" that is experienced with a group of people.  Also, the interpretive displays at art museums and parks outside of the touristy areas are usually in Dutch; English-language brochures are often an afterthought, if they are available at all.
7. To be more polite.  I have a lot of hang-ups about politeness.  I worry endlessly about whether I said something the "right way" to someone; i.e. did I say that in a way that had a negative connotation, or was I rude?  Learning Dutch is helping me to understand the appropriate ways to say things and interact with my new community.
6. Fairness.  It's generally easier for a native speaker of Dutch to respond accurately to my questions if they are able to respond in their mother tongue.  It feels unfair for me to expect a 100% correct or 100% complete answer to a question when someone must translate into English.  As I mentioned above, some words and ideas just don't translate easily.
5. To improve my English language skills.  This might seem odd, but learning another language makes me reflect upon the grammatical rules of my mother tongue, rules that I might otherwise take for granted.  The process of learning Dutch has helped me to better understand these rules (and exceptions to the rules!) of the English language because I am constantly thinking about the similarities and differences between the linguistic parts and patterns of both languages.
4. To avoid problems. I want to have a good understanding of my mobile phone contract before I sign it.  The same is true of my apartment rental contract, and the rental car contract.  And definitely my Dutch tax return!  I'm a lawyer, so I know the importance of having a good understanding of the consequences of signing on the dotted line or filing official paperwork with the government.  Until I improve my Dutch language skills, I am stuck using translated documents and trusting someone else to get it right, and this makes me extremely uncomfortable. Which brings me to the next item on my list...
3. Confidence and control. I feel more confident and in control of a situation when I am able to quickly and effectively understand and communicate with those around me.  I like feeling as though I can take charge of a situation, whenever useful or necessary. 
2. To be a participant rather than an observer in my community. I feel like an outsider when I don't understand what people around me are saying.  I want to participate in the community in my temporary home here in the Netherlands, and it is much easier to do so if I know the language!
1. To get a job.  It has become painfully clear to me that a good working knowledge of the Dutch language is an essential skill for a job-seeker here. While this may not be as important in the Randstad area, it is an absolute must up here in the North of the Netherlands unless you're one of the lucky few who has a job with a multinational corporation.

So, is learning Dutch an absolute necessity?  No.  I'm definitely far from fluent, and I'm still able to do and get everything I require to fulfill my daily needs here.  However, for me, there are many reasons to learn Dutch beyond fulfilling my daily needs.

Dutch Food: Rodekool Met Appeltjes

Happy New Year!  Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!

One of my favorite traditions on New Year's Day while I was growing up in Ohio was to gather the family together for a feast of sauerkraut and pork (in my case, the pork was substituted with beans or tofu).

So, this time of year, my mind often turns to cooking up a large pot of cabbage. While the Dutch eat sauerkraut ("zuurkool"), they also use cabbage in another very yummy, typical Dutch dish called "rodekool met appeltjes" (red cabbage with apples).

Rodekool met appeltjes, plated next to quinoa

I've made rodekool met appeltjes several times since moving to the Netherlands because it's a tasty and easy recipe that's just a little bit time consuming.  While I could eat it pre-made out of one of the jars or plastic sacks that are ubiquitous in the markets here, I strongly prefer the flavor of the home-made version.

Rodekool met appeltjes, simmering

Here's my recipe for rode kool met appeltjes:

Vegan Rodekool met Appeltjes
(Serves 4)

Ingredients:
vegetable oil
1/2 medium red onion OR 1 medium shallot (peeled and roughly chopped)
1/2 large red cabbage (thinly sliced)
water
2 large red apples (peeled, cored, and roughly chopped)
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
2 teaspoons brown sugar OR 1 teaspoon agave syrup
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
lemon zest (approximately 1/2 lemon)
2 teaspoons corn starch
optional: handful of raisins or currants

Instructions:
In a large soup pot, sauté the onion in a thin layer of vegetable oil until the onion is translucent. Add the sliced cabbage, mix into the onion and oil, and sauté until it begins to wilt (about 5 to 10 minutes). Add just enough water to barely cover the cabbage.  Add the apples, bay leaf, spices, sugar, apple cider vinegar, lemon zest, and raisins or currants (if using). Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat to simmer for about 1 hour.  After about an hour, scoop out approximately 3/4 cup of the cooking liquid into a small bowl and whisk with the corn starch.  Add the corn starch mixture back to the soup pot and cook for another 10 minutes, until the mixture begins to thicken.

Enjoy!