French

Those who can bake cannot cook. And those who can cook cannot bake. It’s a prejudice, but it’s true when it comes to me. I’m not a pastry chef, way too precise for me. But I can make these delicious fondants. Inspired by Michelin star chef Claire Vallée from France, we make these on a regular basis. And we are very happy with it ourselves. Even if we say so ourselves.

Sometimes you just want to put something spectacular on the table. And this is one of them. You use the long great trunk of the king oyster mushroom, you give it all the attention you have. You put it on a bed of parsnip cream and a dollop of pine nut cream on top. And it’s very quiet around you. What a blast.

With a lot of patience, leeks can become the highlight of the evening. The same is true with this dish. You let it simmer for a long time in the oven in oil. It becomes as tender as you’ve never tasted leeks before. And then with a delicious almost sweet leek cream. And crispy dukkah on top. Man, it couldn’t get better. And you never make enough.

Turnips, I’d never seen, held, let alone tasted one. But I got some from the market garden where we get a lot of our vegetables. “See if you can do something with it,” she said. They lay in the refrigerator for days. Everytime I saw them, but left them there. “Ga je nog wat met me doen?” And then I decided it had to be done. I thought of mustard. I thought of the oven. I thought of fresh basil. And boy, it was so good. I decided to serve it in the restaurant the week after. Everyone just has to taste this.