Brilliant Bright Orange

The two contrasting scenes were familiar ones. Firstly, a sunny and serene sea of pleasantries. Children selling everything from homemade lemonade to broken junk in various pieces found last week at the bottom of a wardrobe. People sitting calmly at their front door selling cakes and cold drinks. Smiles exchanged and sweet tooths indulged. The second scene un-folded before that same blue sky, but the prevailing chill in the air also carried a mish-mash of fourteen different sound systems, loud and crass voices, a belch, and the sound of a thousand footsteps wading through a street of broken glass and litter. 

Kings Day 2015 and the national day of party, celebration, and if you happen to wonder into it unknowingly, you'd be immediately forgiven for mistaking it for the last days on earth. I'm not sure at which precise moment Koningsdag switches from a sweet Sunday stroll to the aftermath of a week-long festival, huge rock concert, and litter wrestling competition, but it does.

Strolling and wading through the madness with mum, dad, and Em last weekend, the sea of orange was the only constant. The national Dutch colour looking it's boldly royal best under a spring sun. The Billingham family tend to tan well, and fast, which meant that our skin tones were also joining in the sea of orange. Glancing at dad enjoying a walk-a-long biertje along the Prinsengracht, his newly olive complexion matched perfectly the fluorescent  sunglasses hurriedly purchased earlier that morning, I thought that 'Orange Food Week' was the only natural choice this week. We'd toyed with the idea of 'Dutch Food Week', but to my ignorant English eyes, that's all too heavy and stodgy for this spring sunshine.

Orange can be a divisive colour. People rarely look good in orange, with the obvious exception of Dutch national holidays, and it can be a difficult colour to pair with anything else. However, in the world of food and all things edible, orange is a surprisingly frequent and versatile colour. To start with, there's the humble orange which unselfishly gives all of itself to orange juice, mousse, smoothies, chocolate orange, orange ice-cream, orange and green salad, and orange yoghurt. There are orange peppers, carrots, mangoes, sweet potatoes, passion fruit, butternut squash, pumpkins, apricots, egg yolks (they're not yellow), and all of those before we've even though of mixing yellow and red. There's campari, BBQ sauce, and red lentils (they're orange).

The sweet potato fries speak for themselves - just add a generous amount of olive oil before frying, but not too much so they become soggy - but a sweet potato shepherds pie? Yes! Boiled and mashed along with some natural yoghurt and nutmeg, the colour is as rich as the taste, a charming change to the tried and tested plain spud shepherds or cottage pie. The nutmeg combined well with other spices to give a healthy orange glow to our cosy and spicy cauliflower soup. Our humble orange was used to all of it's potential in our take on a classic Spanish Orange & Almond cake. It was also put to good use in bringing the Campari, gin, and Martini together to form the perfect Negroni. Don'y have too many of these of you have to cycle, though. Who says orange has to be reserved just for a Dutch Kings Day? Wear it in your kitchen now!

 1) Sweet Potato Fries with Roasted Red Pepper & Ricotta, 2) Cosy Cauliflower Soup & Courgette Fritters, 3) Butternut Squash & Parmesan Gratin, 4) Sweet Potato Sheppards Pie, 5) Spanish Orange & Almond Cake, and 6) Honey BBQ Crisps with a Negroni.

Cosy Cauliflower Soup w/Zucchini Fritters

We know, we said we wouldn't include soup in our 'Soft Food and Soft Music Week'. We said we'd be more imaginative, and that we'd think outside the box. Well, we lied and told the truth all in one. Em picked up the leftover cauliflower from yesterday, and couldn't resist this fulfilling yet rather delicate soup. We like to think Emily maintained our somewhat lofty ambitions of thinking outside the box by including fried zucchini and parmesan fritters...

(to serve 2 at home)

Ingredients: Oil, 1 onion, 2 celery sticks, 1 garlic clove, half a carrot, half a cauliflower head, flour, 700ml chicken stock, bay leaf, fresh parsley, bacon, salt, pepper, coriander, and a generous helping of cumin.

Method: Heat oil until smoking hot, throw in onion, celery, garlic, diced carrot, and cumin seeds. Fry on medium heat for 2 or 3mins before adding chopped cauliflower, coriander, and bay leaf. Fry for another 2 or 3mins. Sprinkle a tbsp of plain flour over the simmering mix, and stir before pouring in the stock. Chuck in the parsley, a generous handful of, and let simmer for another few minutes before blending. Serve with crispy fried bacon, and a cheeky grin.

Tips: Cumin and coriander, never go without. Ever.

Music: 'Cloudbusting' by the Little Unsaid (a Kate Bush cover) - because it makes your head bob slowly, and sway gently, which is what this soup will pleasantly do to your insides.

Coconut Cauliflower Mash

Rather than taking the easy way out and making a hearty vat of soup everyday this 'Soft Food & Soft Music Week', we're trying to think outside the box and deliver something with a little more imagination. This simple dish is a perfect example. It's taken from Tim Ferris' book, 'The 4 Hour Chef', and in turn, he adapted it from a recipe by a leading US sports nutritionist. What can we say? We're trying to recover our health after a pudding-fuelled British Food Week last week. There are only good calories to be had here...

(to serve 2 as a main meal)

Ingredients: 1 cauliflower, coconut milk, cashew nuts, salt, curry powder & cinnamon.

Method: First of all, remove as many leaves from the cauliflower head as you can. Second, wrap the head in a large tea towel, and happily smash it on the sideboard! This removes the heads from the stalks. Throw the heads in a large pot, or even better, a Dutch oven. Pour over half a tin of coconut milk (approx. 180ml). Bring to the boil, and then turn down to a simmer. Throw over the salt and curry powder, and leave to simmer for 20mins. Mash with a fork, and serve with a sprinkle of cashew nuts, and a generous throw of cinnamon.

Tips: Believe us, this is perfect as a main meal all on it's own!

Music: 'Fade' by Solu - it's soft music, but strong, and it's a track which doesn't compromise on meaning, sound, rhythm or melody for it's soft-ness.

Sweet Potato Fries With Roasted Red Pepper & Ricotta

I had braces once. Being male, I naturally don't remember too much, but I remember I also made the careful choice to have braces, bleached blonde hair, and a relatively high level of acne at the same time. This perhaps explains why I don't remember too many specifics in terms of the awkwardness of having a brace fitted. I do, however, remember enough to know that it was a pain in the ass, or more accurately, the mouth and head. 

Statistically speaking, half the workforce here at Cafe Pump have recently had a brace fitted, which means that crunching into an apple, chewing down on some steak, and snapping into refrigerated chocolate is strictly off-limits. So, in honour of those who are making the sacrifice for better and healthier teeth, this week is 'Soft Food & Soft Music' week here at Cafe Pump.

You would be forgiven for thinking that fries are off-limits, too, but have you ever ordered our sweet potato fries? They're drizzled with just the right amount of extra virgin olive oil, and a tiny amount of honey, and baked for just long enough to be a perfect combination of cooked, soft, and almost succulent. Not bad for something which comes from the ground. The combination of the baked red pepper and ricotta completes the palette for a wonderful light lunch or early dinner.

(to serve two at home)

Ingredients: 1 red pepper, 1 sweet potato, ricotta cheese, mushrooms, black olives, olive oil, honey, salt, pepper, and fresh basil.

Method: Pre-heat the oven to 250c, and drizzle oil and honey over the halved red pepper. Roast for 30mins. In the meantime, cut a sweet potato into thin strips for the fries. Drizzle them with olive oil and honey, and bake for an undisclosed amount of time. i a small pan, gently warm some black olives and mushrooms. Remove the pepper, and layer the mushrooms and olives, and a generous dollop of ricotta. Add the fries, and garnish with salt, pepper, parmesan, and a fresh basil leaf.

Tips: We're not telling you the perfect timing for the yams, sorry!

Music: Robert Cray - Right Next Door: It's about as soft as it gets, but not in a weak way.

30 Days of Joyful Cycling

The pragmatic Dutch, and particularly those hardened Amsterdammers, are famed for their cycling tendencies. Ask a local about the bicycle culture here in Amsterdam, and your response will most likely be an arrogantly vacant stare. Vacant because so deeply engrained in everyday life is the bicycle, that separating it and labelling it hasn't ever occurred, and arrogant because they know deep down that Amsterdam is THE cycling city, and they know you're only jealous. 

Over here, the bike is King. That's it. Plain and simple.

Even the majority of the bikes are plain and simple. Despite the resurgence of retro racers and road bikes appearing, and the Spring bringing more and more sightings of the MAMILS (middle aged men in lycra) on their road bikes around the outskirts of the city, the bikes you're most likely to see around here are the kind of bikes your grandparents might have used. People of all ages, of all social standings and professions, all glide merrily around the city sitting up straight. It makes for quite a beautiful sight, one that is well-documented . In most other cities in the world, the 'bike culture' needs to be alternative, it needs to be championed by bearded hipsters on colourful fixies and documented on Instagram, and it needs to scream to get attention.

Over here, the bike is King. That's it. plain and simple.

Whether you've been pedalling around Amsterdam for five minutes, five years, or a lifetime, it's easy to forget that not everywhere in the world is like this. Sure, other cities around the globe might be blessed with an agreeable climate, a kindly flat terrain, wide streets or boulevards, or a significant bicycle infrastructure, or have a sub-culture of cool kids cycling, but the fact remains that no other city (with the possible exception of Copenhagen) has had strong Governmental backing, and the humble bicycle at the forefront of town and city planning like Amsterdam. Sadly, it's not possible for every town and city across the world to adopt such policies and approaches to cycling. However, it is very possible for each and every able body to make a choice and jump on their bicycle. Cycle. Go ride. Pedal to the shop. Amble on two wheels rather than walking around town. Use your bike to commute. Take the appropriate steps to make yourself as comfortable and safe as can be, and do it with a smile on your face. Anyone can do one or more of those things, no matter your ability, fitness, confidence, location, or choice of bike.

Which is why that '30 Days of Biking' is such a great initiative. A doddle for a local here, but more of a meaningful statement of intent elsewhere, the pledge to ride your bicycle at least once everyday April 1-30. The organisers are working to provide bicycles to privileged children for every thirty online pledges. So despite biking being as normal as breathing in and out where we live, one that we're fully supporting, and will enthusiastically shout about.

Make your pledge here: http://30daysofbiking.com/

Over at @30daysofbiking on Twitter, you can follow a global community of joyful cyclists, and share in the adventures by using the hashtag #30daysofbiking.

See you on the tarmac, 
or gravel,
or road,
or designated bike path,
or mountain,

Glenn & Em :)

Rhubarb & Orange Crumble

Laud the concept of good, old fashioned British cuisine if you will, but one thing which cannot be debated is the high and hefty standards of the British sweet - irresistibly heavy puddings and desserts. Undoubtedly, one of the classics has to be Rhubarb Crumble.  We gave this old dame a slight twist with a paired addition of fresh orange zest and juice, and a delicate hint of dark chocolate. Heaven in a bowl.

(serves 6)

Ingredients: Rhubarb, 1 large orange, caster sugar, 155g plain flour, 300ml milk.

Method: Chop the rhubarb into 2.5cm lengths, and spread evenly in the bottom of an oven dish. Pre-heat the oven at 175c. Sprinkle the caster sugar on to the rhubarb, along with the juice and zest of 1 large orange. Leave to stand for a while. In the meantime, 

Tips: Perfect custard =  a secret blend of single cream and milk!

Music: 'At Last' by Etta James -  Absolute indulgence.

Spotted Dick & Custard

While the name might suggest a misplaced article on sexual health advice, for those who aren't in the know, spotted dick actually refers to THE classic British dessert. Loaded with calories, heavy, and yet oh-so-heavenly. It can be made in a more traditional 'roly-poly' presentation, or, as it's more common, in a round pudding mould. Either way, the taste doesn't change. The name apparently derives from the Dutch and German words for dough (deeg and teig), and of course the spotted element comes from the appearance of the raisins.

(serves 6)

Ingredients: 225g self-raising flour, 115g suet, 55g caster sugar, 140g raisins, 1 lemon rind, 155ml milk, 2tbsp butter, and for the custard: 425ml single cream, 4 egg yolks, 3tbsp caster sugar, and vanilla extract.

Method: Mix together the flour, suet, sugar, raisins, and lemon rind. Add the milk and form a soft dough. Then either roll out on to a floured surface to roll into a roly-poly, or pour into a pudding mould. Wrap/cover with foil, and place either above a boiling water source, or on a rack above boiling water in the oven. Steam for 1-1 and a half hours, consistently checking the water levels. For the custard: heat the cream in a small source pan, and simmer. Cream the egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla extract in a measuring jug. Add the hot cream to the jug, stir, and return the mixture to the pan. Serve warm with generous amounts of custard.

Tips: Perfect custard =  a secret blend of single cream and milk!

Music: 'Glad All Over', by Dave Clark Five -  Good old British rock and roll.