Afghan spicy yogurt soup
This is one of those soups of which you don’t know how incredibly delicious it is when you hear the name. So creamy, so spicy, such a delicious mouthfeel. And a soup that you can’t stop eating. Did you notice that it also contains tomatoes? No, well, it still is. Make it and then include it in your cooking repertoire forever. Beyond doubt.
Spinach salad with sour/sweet marinated date, almonds and crunchy pita
Look, these are the salads I love. Lukewarm, crunchy, sour and sweet. Everything is there. You can certainly put it on the table as a meal salad. The dates, the almonds and the bread are very nutritious.
Bolani, Afghan stuffed fritters
It is a deliciously crunchy snack that works very well as a start to a menu. The filling makes it surprising and of course you can fill it as you see fit. I filled it with a garlic/herb mixture and presented it on a bed of ginger yogurt.
Eggplant, tomato, turmeric and walnut stew
It’s like green beans and tomato, so it is with eggplant and tomato. The variations are endless and always lead to delicious comfort food. This is also the case with this classic. Everything is right, everything is tasty, everything is fine. And the more patience you have, the tastier it becomes.
Green beans in tamarind-tomato sauce
Green beans and tomato. It comes in all variants. And this one with tamarind beats a lot of other recipes I must say. Super tasty and green beans become great ‘stars’ on the table in one go.
Citrus rice
In addition to a sweet dish, I like to put down a fresher dish. I love those complementary or sometimes even contrasting flavors. That’s how I came up with the idea of cooking rice in citrus juices. Of course, depending on what you want, you can make it from quite sweet to a bit more bitter or sour. It’s just what you want. In any case, it is really very different. And that’s always nice, such a surprise.
Salad with unforgettable dressing of sun-dried tomatoes
You can simply make the green salad with the green ingredients that you like best. Here I added some edamame beans and avocado. Plus fresh herbs such as flat-leaf parsley, mint, dill and coriander. But the dressing is the winner, so don’t let the salad compete with the dressing. The salad should provide the crunch, that’s the most important thing.
Couscous salad with seasoned carrot and palm cabbage
The carrot is well and firmly seasoned, so it’s super tasty. And the palm cabbage gives colour, bite and flavour. The pickled lemon gives it that typical Moroccan feel. Lovely in the summer. Lovely in the winter. Always.
Cauliflower from the oven with green olives and large yellow raisins
It is one of the simplest dishes and at the same time also the dish of which Joris declared: this is the tastiest dish of this year. Well, let 2025 start then, I say. I’m done.
Sudanese eggplant stew
Just when you think you’re familiar with all the eggplant stews, you stumble upon this one. And what a one. So surprising. So good. So different. Guests raved. And so do we. We are going to make this very often.
Red bell pepper, celeriac and tahina soup
What a combination this is. Celeriac and red bell pepper are not a natural combination, but in this soup they definitely are. Totally complementary to each other. And the tahina makes it a creamy, nutty whole. Delicious.
Olive soup à la Ellen
We went for lunch with our dear friends and good cooks Wim and Ellen. And Ellen conjured up an olive soup that was so delicious and surprising that I immediately knew one thing: we are going to serve it with à la Damaris. I had never come up with the idea before and judging by the reactions of our guests, I was not the only one. I gave it an à la Damaris touch but other than that all credits go to Ellen.
Parsnip and celeriac crème brulée
I love the combination of savory and sweet. And I really like to surprise guests with a combination that they absolutely do not expect. And this crème brulée ‘ticks all those boxes’. It was a big hit at the restaurant’s Christmas dinner. And it might as well be at your home.
Jerusalem artichoke puree with fried spring onion, pine nuts and hazelnuts
Jerusalem artichoke, it’s not an everyday vegetable. But it’s worth playing with in the kitchen. Its nutty taste, delicious structure and ability to easily adapt to its environment make it a fantastic vegetable. The vegetable garden we work with had a good harvest this year and we took advantage of it. Served here with delicious spring onion with star anise. And some crunchy hazelnuts and pine nuts fried in spicy pul biber. Talk about layers of flavor.
Zucchini from the oven with tahina sauce, za’atar and fried sage
Zucchini becomes this hit of the night in one fell swoop when you serve it this way. Full of flavor, delicious tahina sauce on top, the spicy za’atar and then the crispy and clearly present sage on top. How delicious.
Celeriac skewers with quince chutney
Celeriac served in a special way. And really nice, of course. The combination with the chutney is fatally tasty. It’s a small job, but you immediately put something festive on the table that is also delicious. So great.
Sweet potato pear soup
I used to make sweet potato pear salad… and suddenly thought … That could also be a great soup. But it shouldn’t stay and be too sweet either. And so I added some fenugreek. And that was a great find, if I do say so myself. And then add a few caramelized walnuts and it was complete.
Pea-almond puree with sweet onions
Green peas, what to do with them? Boring, dry, mwa. But somehow they keep pulling at me to make something delicious with it. And that worked out very well with this dish, if I do say so myself. It is a great combination in which the pea rises to great heights. And in addition to being tasty, the pea is also mega healthy, even though you might not say so at first glance. So let’s make it…
Crispy fried leeks with creamy caper sauce
Leeks usually play a minor role in dishes. But not in this one. Here, leeks have a real leading role and he can wear them with verve. Leeks like you never eat them. It’s a bit of a chore, but it’s not so tasty. A big hit. Also on your table, for sure.
Jerusalem artichoke puree with cavolo nero fried in lemon butter
This is a divinely delicious snack to start your dinner with. Jerusalem artichoke puree, nice and nutty, a delicious independent tasting taste. And then the soft, fresh and creamy cavolo nero baked in lemon butter on top.
Arabic pumpkin allspice bread/appetizer
Virry – actually Virginie – walked into the restaurant one day. A farmer at her back – with us in Gameren – had a lot of pumpkins left. Could I do something with that? Naturally. And so we made soup, salad, main courses, mashed potatoes and more of those whoppers of pumpkins for weeks. And this bread. As one of the two starters of a four-course menu. Almost wanting to eat them with your hands.
Lentil-eggplant stew
It’s such a cold day outside, you come home and you need comfort food. Then this is your best option. If you’re lucky, it’s already on the table, otherwise you’ll have to work for another 45 minutes. But then you also have something… By the way, it’s delicious all year round.
Cavolo nero (palm cabbage), chickpeas with fennel seeds and sumac yogurt
In the two vegetable gardens we work with, the palm cabbage continues to grow. That means that we have this delicious, versatile and mega healthy vegetable at our disposal for months. And every time we can conjure up something new and surprising and delicious on the table. Also this time.
Fennel soup with pickled lemon and black olives
It’s yellow, it’s in your plate and it’s incredibly tasty. This fennel soup will delight your tongue and more. It’s soft, it’s surprising, and it looks beautiful too. The pickled lemon makes it fresh, the olives give it a good foundation and the fennel is wonderfully soft.
Parsnip with tahina sauce and pomegranate seeds
So parsnips are great. Really, what a top vegetable that is. In this dish too, of course. It’s just fatally delicious. Just give it a try.
Mizuna, pear and chickpea salad with rose harissa
Colorful, tasteful, surprising. Sweet and spicy. Crunchy and soft. What more could you want? You can replace the mizuna with lamb’s lettuce or arugula, for example. Also very tasty.
Deliciously soft Kibbeh of pumpkin and seven spice powder
Yes, and there’s another kibbeh. When autumn comes – and also in winter – kibbeh is to me what stew is here. Deliciously warming, delicious comfort food, always different. And this one is with pumpkin, also such a real autumn vegetable of course. And nice and soft and quite creamy for a kibbeh, because the pumpkin is incorporated in it. And that is also very comfort food.
Walnut soup
A soup I always wanted to make, walnut soup. And our guests were extremely enthusiastic. It is creamy, it is soft and yet very interesting in taste. Purely positive, of course.
Salad with pear, lentils, sourberries and balsamic syrup
The picture says it all. You just look at that in a licking way, don’t you? The mizuna (Japanese turnip stalk, also to be replaced by arugula), the sourberries, the homemade balsamic syrup… the delicious lentils and the sweet pear. A salad of ‘I got you there’.
roumaniya fetteh
I was brought up with two dishes that are very similar. Mudardra (we called it pjadra) and Roumaniya (see also elsewhere on the site). This is a variation on the Roumaniya theme. Super tasty and ultimate comfort food. Crispy due to the pomegranate seeds and the crispy bread.