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Interview with Food Blogger Hanneke Eerden

  • Blanca Valbuena
  • April 8, 2011

Hanneke EerdenThe best thing about Twitter is that I have made some amazing foodie friends. Some who I have never met, but talk to on a daily basis. One of them is Wilfred Reinke who writes the blog Oshawa Ogre’s Views, News and BBQ.  He recently recommended that I check out Hanneke Eerden’s blog “The Dutchess Cooks“. I was glad he did. Hanneke has some great recipes and makes mouths water with her photography. I’m getting pretty hungry right now as I switch back and forth between WordPress and her blog. Since I was so pleased with her stuff, I decided to find out a bit more about this lovely food blogger.

FriendsEAT: Where did you grow up?

Hanneke Eerden: Born and raised in The Netherlands (that’s in Europe) and I still live there. It’s a small country next to Germany and Belgium, with the North Sea at the other side.

FE: What inspired you to start a food blog?

HE: I’m addicted to cooking, so I really have a lot of recipes and cook books. But at one point I thought it would be a good idea to collect all those recipes in my own website. That way they wouldn’t get lost (yeah…sometimes they do, the best recipes are the ones written on a small piece of paper but can never be found again...) and the best reason was that I could let other people enjoy these recipes too!

Hanneke Eerden's The Dutchess CooksFE: What field of food does The Dutchess Cooks focus on and why?

HE: “My blog is focused on BBQ and home cooked meals. No fancy dishes that require tons of unusual ingredients and lots of time. Just good food, from my plate to my readers’ kitchen. And the reason? because I love this!

FE: What is a typical day in your life like?

HE: From Monday until Friday I work fulltime as an executive assistant. During lunch break I often do some grocery shopping for dinner. As soon as I get home, it’s time to start making the dinner I had planned for that day. After that I go for a walk with my dog, and then spend some time on the internet like twitter, facebook and work on new blog posts or articles for other people’s websites or for the newspaper (La Prensa SD) I write for every two weeks.

During the Weekends I have more time for cooking, so most of my best recipes were enjoyed during a weekend. These are also the best two days to have friends over and enjoy wine and food. Too bad the weekends go by too soon….

FE: What was your childhood kitchen like?

HE: My Mom has always been a great cook and spend most of her time in the kitchen. A small kitchen and not so equiped as most kitchens nowadays. She had the choice between the stove or the oven. And modern accessories she didn’t needed (or wanted!). A stand mixer for her cakes and pies was luxury enough. It was a cozy, but small kitchen, a little round table with 4 chairs just fitted in it. And she and my Dad still live in this house, where I grew up. It’s always nice to be back there.

FE: What is your kitchen like now?

HE: I’ve never had a kitchen big enough to be able to place a table with chairs in it, or to store all the equipment. Well, that could be because I have so many equipment but a fact is that all my kitchens were too small.

Until the kitchen I have now! Since about 7 years I have a (almost) perfect kitchen for me! Lots of space plus quite some storage possibilities! (Of course not enough because I keep buying new kitchen stuff!!). This house is built in the ’50’s and the former owners turned the kitchen into a cook’s paradise, at least for me. Country style, large enough for a big table and a small fireplace (very small but still!).

FE: What type of people read your blog?

HE: All types of people as far as I know! My website is not limited to any particular type of kitchen or food. And everybody is welcome in my kitchen!

Interview with Food Blogger Hanneke EerdenFE: What comes to mind when you hear the word bacon?

HE: You just mentioned the magic word! Anything tastes better with bacon! My freezer is stuffed for a big part with bacon! And I even make my own on the barbecue…. Shrimps rolled in bacon, eggs and bacon, pork loin with bacon…oh and mayonnaise with bacon! The only thing I’ve never tried before but that is definitely on my “”to-do””list (and that’s a loooong list!) is bacon ice cream….

FE: Hmmm…bacon ice cream. Denny’s just came out with one. There is also a place in California that makes prosciutto ice cream. I’m not quite sure on those. Now that we know about your passion for bacon, is there a restaurant that stirs your soul?

HE: To be honest I don’t visit restaurants very much. The way I cook, mostly with organic ingredients, and the fact that I cook 6 out of 7 days, makes it quite expensive. And most restaurants just aren’t as good as they think they are. Besides, I love to cook myself….!

But there are a few ones that are favorite. A steak restaurant (yes of course!) because they have a perfect ribeye. An Italian restaurant, because they serve the best lasagne. And a German steak house because they have the best schnitzel!

FE: What is your favorite ingredient and why?

HE: That is a tough question. I could say bacon, but that would be too easy! Butter maybe? I can’t live without delicious butter…. Or maybe olive oil? I use in most of my recipes and I love the Extra Virgin types from Italy! Or how about fresh herbs?? I can really get happy from the smell of fresh basil for example! You’ve noticed, I can’t choose and I can go on forever!!

FE: What is your opinion of the current state of Foodtertainment?

HE: The internet has certainly changed it all. And I do think it’s the “”mission”” of people involved in this world to inform people about food. Not only with recipes I mean. People should become more aware of what they eat and what they buy. And I don’t know exactly everything about this world in the US, over here they’re doing a good job.

FE: What do you think is the future of food blogging in the next 5 years?

HE: Bloggers come and go, that’s a fact. I don’t think that things will change a lot. And only the people who enjoy having a blog will last.  Having a blog and keep posting isn’t easy, and it takes a lot of time, but for me it’s just fun!

FE: Would you like to give a shout out to the best joint that no one has heard about?

HE: No problem, if you’re ever in the Netherlands, give me a call and I’ll invite you to my house for a great BBQ dinner!!! For free, including wine or beer. Now I think there’s no better joint than that!

FE: Don’t be surprised when I give you a ring to let you know I’m coming. What do you think is the most important issue facing food bloggers and foodies today?

HE: That’s a difficult one! If there is already an issue, maybe it would be for bloggers how to attract readers and keep them!

For foodies in general I think it’s getting the right ingredients. The internet provides information and recipes from all over the world, but to get the right ingredients is a different story.

I’d like to thank Hanneke for her time and for being so committed to her blog. It is truly a pleasure to read.

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