For our first episode we made Hutspot, talked about the Dutch war of independence, William of Orange (aka William the Silent) and discovered the carrot museum.
For a full history listen to the podcast and for the recipe read on.
This is the traditional meal of the October 3rd festival which commemorates the end of the 1574 siege of Leiden. A Dutch mash of potato, carrot and onion that is hugely improved by adding something extra.
This is a dish that is accompanied very closely by its legend. The story of Hutspot begins with the 80 Years War (aka The Dutch War Of Independence) which lasted between 1568 and 1648. This is a war between the Spanish, who are ruling over the Netherlands at this time, and the Dutch, who are trying to gain independence. One of the major events of this war happens in 1573-74 in the town of Leiden. In October 1573 the Spanish surrounded Leiden, a town under rebel control, in hopes of starving out the Dutch and taking back the area. A year later (after many battles and close calls) the Spanish are forced out by troops sent by William of Orange (the man who the orange carrot was not made to honor) and the town remains Dutch. Legend has it that the Spanish were in such a hurry to leave their posts that they left a pot of boiling carrots, potatoes and onions and thus Hutspot was born. For a more detailed history of the dish, the war, William of orange and a cat named Buurtpoes Bledder; listen to the podcast.
Continue reading for a text/photo version of the recipe and links to our sources…
How to make Hutspot
note: We made this recipe a few times, once in the simplest way possible (with only onion, carrot and potato) then we tried adding some elements for taste. A few recipes we used can be found here and here. The reaction expressed in the podcast is after trying the original, most basic form of Hutspot (we don’t recommend it). Our final dish (which was actually pretty good) is below.
Ingredients
- 5 small potatoes
- 6 carrots
- 1 onion
- Bok choy and/or any additional vegetables you may want to add
- beef (or chicken) bouillon cube
- 2 chicken breasts
- 3 tbsp butter
- Salt, Pepper and Curry powder (and/or additional spices)
Instructions
- Prepare ingredients:
chop carrots, dice onions, cube the potatoes and cut chicken into bite sized pieces - Fill a large pot with water, add bouillon cube and boil the potatoes and carrots until tender. This will take about 20min (depending on heat). After 10min add half of the diced onion.
- In another pan melt the butter then add chicken and season with some pepper, salt and curry powder (to taste).
- After the chicken has started cooking add the remaining onion and allow this to simmer until the onion has caramelized. Finally, add the bok choy (and other vegetables). Continue to season according to your taste. When the chicken is cooked and the onions caramelized, remove this from heat.
- Once the potatoes, carrots and onion have boiled strain the water from the pot. Put the strained mixture into another bowl and mash lightly.
- Finally, add the pan fried chicken and onion to the potato mash and serve.
Additional Information / Sources / Strange Things We Found Researching
The 80 Years War / Dutch War of Independence / 1572-1574
Carrot Museum
Magdalena Moons (wikipedia)
History of Hutspot
Siege Of Leiden
You Are There! CBS Radio reenactment of the Siege of Leiden
0
0
0