Mini-tour through Markthal, Rotterdam
A mini-tour through the Markthal in Rotterdam was also part of the second food bloggers event held by Wah Nam Hong. We visited three shops in the Markthal: Natuurlijk! (a fruit and vegetables shop), De Groene Weg (an organic butcher), and De patissier (a dessert shop). Keep reading to see what I discovered.
I got to try the Atsina cress and the Shiso purple cress. The Atsina cress doesn't really have a strong flavor, it is just lightly sweet. It is great to put it in salads and smoothies, just to add a touch of sweetness. The Shiso purple has a stronger flavor and to me, it tastes a bit like licorice (and I mean: not the sweet, candy kind). It is not a flavor that everyone would like, so don't put too much in a salad.
Lastly, we were also given this edible flower bud. I was warned that it would be "spicy", but I never expected it to taste like it did. In the beginning, you will think that it is fine, but later on, you get waves of saltiness coming up in your mouth, every time you swallow your spit, and it lasts quite long too. It is not something I would like to experience on a daily basis, but it would be a fun prank to pull on your dinner guests. Just put some as a decoration in a salad or in a dessert and tell them that it is edible. I am sure they will be as surprised as I was.
We could also try one of the cherry tomatoes, of which they have in different colors. You can buy a container and fill it up with the colors that you want yourself. I really like that idea!
De Groene Weg is an organic butcher, which sells traceable, locally produced meat. The butcher showed us, food bloggers, a large piece of pork and he divided it in three different parts: pork belly, pork chops, and tenderloin.
He told us that the tenderloin (in Dutch: varkenshaas) is located on the inside of the ribs and that there are only two pieces in one pig. They also sell the pork chops with a long piece of rib attached, which is different than in the supermarkets.
At the end, we were treated to a mini cone of roasted pork belly. If I remember it correctly, you can buy one of these mini cones filled with different kinds of meat or hams for €1. Larger cones - they call it "organic snack bags" - costs €3.50. You can choose from slightly spicy marinated spareribs, chicken wings, small meatballs, Zeeland bacon cubes, bacon strips, dried sausages (with the flavors: pepper, chorizo, salami, and little Rotterdammers), grilled pork sausage (with or without cheese inside), and grilled chicken sausage.
The last stop was de Patissier, dessert shop. They have delicious cakes, pastries, candies, cookies, macarons, and jars of chocolate pastes. We got to try these delicious, pastel-colored cubes of fruit marshmallows. I picked an orange one and it just melted in my mouth like cotton candy. It had a rich mango fruit flavor too. Definitely, go grab a bag to try it out yourself!
Natuurlijk!
Natuurlijk! is a shop, which is shared by the companies Koppert Cress (varieties of cress), Greenco (snack tomatoes, snack bell peppers, and snack cucumbers), Yex (exotic fruit), Fruitworld (soft forest fruit), and Eminent (new vegetable varieties created by cross-fertilization). I got to try the Atsina cress and the Shiso purple cress. The Atsina cress doesn't really have a strong flavor, it is just lightly sweet. It is great to put it in salads and smoothies, just to add a touch of sweetness. The Shiso purple has a stronger flavor and to me, it tastes a bit like licorice (and I mean: not the sweet, candy kind). It is not a flavor that everyone would like, so don't put too much in a salad.
Lastly, we were also given this edible flower bud. I was warned that it would be "spicy", but I never expected it to taste like it did. In the beginning, you will think that it is fine, but later on, you get waves of saltiness coming up in your mouth, every time you swallow your spit, and it lasts quite long too. It is not something I would like to experience on a daily basis, but it would be a fun prank to pull on your dinner guests. Just put some as a decoration in a salad or in a dessert and tell them that it is edible. I am sure they will be as surprised as I was.
We could also try one of the cherry tomatoes, of which they have in different colors. You can buy a container and fill it up with the colors that you want yourself. I really like that idea!
De Groene Weg
De Groene Weg is an organic butcher, which sells traceable, locally produced meat. The butcher showed us, food bloggers, a large piece of pork and he divided it in three different parts: pork belly, pork chops, and tenderloin.
He told us that the tenderloin (in Dutch: varkenshaas) is located on the inside of the ribs and that there are only two pieces in one pig. They also sell the pork chops with a long piece of rib attached, which is different than in the supermarkets.
At the end, we were treated to a mini cone of roasted pork belly. If I remember it correctly, you can buy one of these mini cones filled with different kinds of meat or hams for €1. Larger cones - they call it "organic snack bags" - costs €3.50. You can choose from slightly spicy marinated spareribs, chicken wings, small meatballs, Zeeland bacon cubes, bacon strips, dried sausages (with the flavors: pepper, chorizo, salami, and little Rotterdammers), grilled pork sausage (with or without cheese inside), and grilled chicken sausage.
The pork belly tasted really good - full of flavor and tender meat - but the crust was just a bit too hard.
de Patissier
The last stop was de Patissier, dessert shop. They have delicious cakes, pastries, candies, cookies, macarons, and jars of chocolate pastes. We got to try these delicious, pastel-colored cubes of fruit marshmallows. I picked an orange one and it just melted in my mouth like cotton candy. It had a rich mango fruit flavor too. Definitely, go grab a bag to try it out yourself!
