#hutspot

McDonalds, Reno, Nevada, 2019

Potato

Hutspot is a traditional Dutch dish, and was eaten at least as early as the 80 Years War, when Holland revolted against its Spanish rulers and became independent. Cooking it takes some time, but most of that time is spent waiting, so you can do other things while waiting for it to finish. And as always, I make sure to explain it so that even someone who’s never cooked in their life can make it.

Ingredients (for 1 person):

250 grams of potato. This is roughly one large potato, two mid-sized potatoes, or four small potatoes.

250 grams of carrot. It’s best to take thick carrots (sometimes called winter carrots) for this, because they mash better.

2 small onions or 1 large onion

Some butter

0.5 litres of water

Enough beef bouillon cubes or beef bouillon powder for said water. Usually the packaging says how much bouillon you should add to how much water.

(optional) 50 grams of bacon

(optional) 50 grams of fatty beef

(optional) 50 grams of cheese. It’s best to use Edam, Gouda, Cheddar, or American cheese, because those’ll melt best.

(optional) half a teaspoon of curry powder

(optional) 100 grams of white beans. Make sure this is the leaked weight, not the wet weight (which also contains the gross bean water you don’t want). Also, make sure that beans + carrot + potato is still 500 grams.

Utensils:

A large pot with a lid

A sieve

A knife and cutting board

A potato peeler (or cheese grater, works just as well)

A potato masher

A small frying pan

A spatula / wooden spoon / whatever you wanna stir with. Make sure it’ll reach into

A stove / heating plate / whatever you use to heat things

A plate, fork and spoon

Instructions:

Peel the potatoes and the carrots and slice them up.

Add them to the sieve, possibly together with the beans, and wash them.

Get the brown outer layer off one of the onions and slice it up.

Slice up the beef, if you’ve chosen to add it.

Put the onions, potatoes, carrots, water, bouillon, and possible beans and beef together in the pot.

Put the lid on the pot and put it on the stove / heating plate / whatever, turn the heat to maximum and wait until the water is bubbling.

Wait for half an hour. Maybe stir it every once in a while to make sure all the veggies are getting cooked well.

In the meantime, take the brown outer layer off the second onion and slice it up. Also slice up the possible bacon and cheese.

Turn the heat off, take the lid off, and mash the contents of the pot with the potato masher. Maybe add some butter if you feel it’s too fluid. Put the lid back on and take the pot off the stove / heating plate / whatever.

Turn the heat to maximum, put the pan on the stove / heating plate / whatever, and put some butter in it.

Wait for the butter to melt, start bubbling, and for the bubbles to start getting smaller. Then, add the second onion and possible bacon.

Keep stirring the onion and bacon until the onion starts turning brown. Then, turn the heat off.

Mix the onion and possible bacon, cheese and curry powder through the contents of the pot.

Knol der knollen, held van het Hollandse bord Pieters Daglicht over DenkDingen Er zijn dagen dat ik mij afvraag waarom we het eigenlijk nog over spiritualiteit, mindfulness en innerlijke rust hebben, terwijl de oplossing al eeuwen in onze kruideniersmand ligt: de aardappel. Ja, de pieper. De knol. De underdog van de nachtschadefamilie. De zetmeelbom die zich bescheiden onder de grond verschuilt…