There’s some fantastic dutch food!
Comment on Why Should I...
FishFace@piefed.social 1 day ago
The tragedy is that many of the spices most jealously traded for became so integral to British and international cuisine that memesters don’t even realise that they were ever unusual or expensive. I guarantee you that those baked beans have a bunch of black pepper in them and guess what… pepper don’t grow in Britain! It’s in more or less every single kitchen thanks to a global spice trade that is now forgotten. Ginger is a main flavour in many British recipes and also doesn’t grow in Britain.
But Britain was in fact not that big a player in the spice trade, being beaten by the Dutch, who got there first and had better financial backing. The British East India Company tried to make its way by raiding ships of the Dutch East India Company but after a bunch of wars eventually had to settle for less exciting endeavours - trade in cotton being a staple.
The Dutch are themselves not renowned for their food either, though it is my firm belief that every country has great food if you’re willing to look past your prejudices, and stamppot is great.
mobyduck648@lemmy.world 23 hours ago
I just wish long pepper was more widely known, I can get it easily from Indian shops in the UK but it’s not so widely known or available. It’s among my favourite spices, think black pepper but way more aromatic and ‘flowery’. It was known to the Romans but fell out of favour many centuries ago in Europe.
FishFace@piefed.social 22 hours ago
I bought some to make some old recipes (from Tasting History, which I imagine is a not-insignificant driver of online types having long pepper..?) but had to go online. The local place I go to for spices also didn’t have lovage or savoury - tsk!
mobyduck648@lemmy.world 22 hours ago
Haha guilty as charged, him and Historical Italian Cooking both introduced me to it.
One thing that’s somewhat more annoying to get hold of is Colatura di Alici, the garum-like anchovy sauce. You more of less must order it from Italy and ship internationally. Absolutely top-tier stuff though, I use it in modern dishes too. I can see why it was so popular.
rumschlumpel@feddit.org 10 hours ago
Did you ever compare it with asian fish sauce (I think Thai fish sauce is most common in the west, but many other east-asian/south-east-asian countries have it)?
FishFace@piefed.social 21 hours ago
Yeah I once looked into getting that but gave up. I just use fish sauce you buy in an asian supermarket. He recommended this as a substitution at some point but I don’t remember if they’re supposed to taste that different.