I have a rather unusual surname, there's no avoiding it. Whether it's people asking me how to spell it, random strangers asking me about my family tree or trying to avoid confusion in the doctor's surgery, I can go nowhere without taking my name along with me. Oh, yes, I'm not sure whether you spotted it, but my surname is dutch.
However, I have never even set foot in Holland. My name came to this country along with my Grandfather shortly after the second world war. A glassblower by trade, he eventually settled in England, working at a light bulb factory where he met my Grandmother and the rest is, as they often say, history.
On a strange and un-bidden whim, mainly due to the fact that someone sent me a link to this recipe, I decided to cook a few dutch dishes. I apologize if any Netherlanders should come across these recipes and find them wholly inaccurate. I'm doing the best I can.
Anyway, the first dish I decided to cook (the one I was emailed) is Bitterballen, which is often translated to Deep Fried Gravy - apparently a bar snack in Holland, but how could I resist a dish like this - gravy is my one true love, easily as important as the meat it is accompanying in my estimation, and when preparing a Sunday roast, I will devote as much care and attention on the gravy as the roast itself. So here we go with deep fried gravy, or
Bitterballen.
