a newcomer' s intro

[pierke]

Let me introduce myself. I’m a Dutch vegetarian food writer and caterer. I started in the food business late in life for I enjoyed a perfectly happy career in the National Health Service till a friend asked me eight years ago to write a vegetarian cookbook. I did this in the nightly hours after I came home tired from my normal job and I found it exhilarating. From that moment on I decided to switch careers. With an other friend I started a home-based vegetarian catering business, beside that I freelance as cooking teacher and food writer. My second vegetarian cookbook was launched two weeks ago.
At the moment I'm busy writing my ‘magnum opus’. I want it to be a practical handbook for Dutch vegetarian cooking. Most cookbooks on the Dutch market are extremely bad translations from the English and not very well adapted to the Dutch food market, eating habits and tastes.
But please don't feel constrained by the vegetarian part of my cooking. I'm interested in food, food history and cooking & baking in general, with or without meat & fish. Besides that, it’s not my intention to convert anybody. I think vegetarian cooking should be as tasteful and look as good as ‘normal’ restaurant and home cooking. By giving vegetables and herbs the place of honor instead of meat, I try to create dishes that don’t taste bland or look drab.
I look forward to future discussions.

Pierke

[Mezzaluna]

Verwelkoom te Chef Talk, pierke. Thank you for the nicely detailed introduction of yourself and your background. A number of our members are vegetarians, including Vegans, and we all love a good recipe.

I have friends in Holland and have visited the Netherlands several times, and have a cousin who lives near Utrecht. I've always enjoyed my visits and remember with delight my introduction to some of dishes at a rijstafel when I was just 16 years old. A few years later there was the beer to discover!

We'll look forward to your posts, and hope you make yourself at home here.

Wij hopen u spoedig te zien!

Regards,
Mezzaluna

(If the Dutch isn't good, please blame my electronic dictionary )

[pierke]

Thanks for your warm welcome!

I live in the most northern part of Holland, but know Utrecht well. A very good place to eat out.

As a big part of me is Indonesian and I grew up surrounded by a lot of aunts and aunties who were all fabulous 'rijsttafel' cooks, I'm a selfconfessed expert on this kind of European/Asian fusion cooking. Alas it is so timeconsuming to make and with the stress of running a cooking business it has been a long time since I cooked that way privately.

Pierke