It had been a while so I figured it was time again for another edition of my “Gastronomical Odyssey “that combines the things I love most friends and gastronomical food ( and drinks). This time it brought us (me and my usual partners in crime) to restaurant ‘De Schone van Boskoop’. I could really give a million reasons for choosing ‘De Schone van Boskoop’… Like it already being a fix value in the gastronomical world for 20 years or that is nostalgic to come here as I came here a few times with my parents when I was younger, but also because I really like chef and owner Wouter Keersmaekers who does his ‘job’ with so much passion that when you hear him talk about food it is like hearing a poem… and on top of that he’s just a great guy! Or because I said so in one of my previous blogposts ‘a pupil in the footsteps of his master’.

The motto Wouter Keersmaekers uses at ‘De Schone van Boskoop’ is one I cherish a lot ‘keep it simple’ which doesn’t necessarily have to mean boring… it just means only mixing a few ingredients and having respect for the products you use (and honestly those usually taste best!). A great example of this would be Wouter’s homemade veal sausage with truffle and springs Savoy cabbage mash he served at “Taste of Antwerp”. Simple and yet very refined and only using few ingredients.

One thing I already decided before I came to ‘De Schone van Boskoop’ and that was I would take beer pairing with our menu instead of the usual wine. The main reason because a while ago Wouter was telling me about his new beer cellar, which made me very curious to discover it. (the beer list they have is a very nice one).

I’m also very happy the weather gods were good to us and we could eat outside.

At gastronomical restaurants like ‘De Schone van Boskoop’ I rarely choose ‘à la carte’ dishes as prefer discovering new dishes and eat things I would never pick myself and the best way to do it is choosing one of the tasting menu’s. It is Wouter Keersmaekers himself who comes to each table to explain the menus and suggestions, the only problem about this is that you want to have the menu with all the extra suggestions on top of that making it maybe a 15 course menu 🙂 🙂 (sorry I just love food). Anyhow after a minute of discussion with my table guests we choose to take the ’terroir’ aka “from the field” menu.

Every dish we received that night was a really pleasure for the eye and the taste buds! Via my blog I can only offer you the pleasure for the eye, the taste you’ll have to go and try it yourself 🙂

The gastronomical spoiling started with some ‘amuses’: starting with a calf brain croquette (I know what you’re thinking, but it was better than it sounds…. this is btw a great example why I take a tasting menu as I doubt I would ever order it myself) and fresh herring with amongst other beetroot and horseradish. Continuing with Sea robin (aka snapper, altough for some reason I doubting if we didn’t have barbin instead) with a flan made from broad bean and marinated tomatoes (they were really good!). Our ‘amuses’ got served with a Hopus

 

Our actual menu started off with Italian veal tarter (a classical dish from Piemonte) topped with Australian truffles. Yes Australian! You honestly didn’t taste they were from Australia. Served with a ‘Chimay Triple‘

It got followed by smoked Scheldt lobster with the last asparagus from the season and a sauce made from milk and bacon. I this might have been one of my preferred dishes of the night. Served with a ‘La chouffe’

Our 3^rd dish of the evening was 3 types of lamb meat all prepared in a different way. First there was the ‘hamburger’ made with the cheek meat, secondly the neck which was slowly cooked and came with a kind of gravy and the third piece was the crispy belly. A dish that fitted perfectly with the Rochefort 8 they served with it

 

Another dish I will be remembering a while was the dessert ‘vacherin’ with red fruit. Served with ‘Oude Kriek’ which is cherry beer (pretty sour) made at a very small artisan brewery (Hanssens).

The second dessert was a “boskoop” compote with curry, a special combination but not wrong at all 🙂

The crown on the whole evening were the refreshments that came with the coffee… the mind was weak (very weak) I just love ‘canele de bordeaux’ and ‘petite madeleines’… I wouldn’t mind eating a few right now 😉

It got proven to me once again what separates a regular cook from a big chef and why after 20 years they are still and established value! (A big chef with a great team behind him)

Great job guys! Thanks Carlos, Gilles and Stijn for being my partners in crime once again!