zine magazine march 2013

#602

ZINE

March 2013

Small classes and personal attention. At the British School of Amsterdam we get to know each and every student. We provide an all-round education that develops the whole person and delivers academic success. From Early Years to Secondary School, we provide top-class British schooling for everyone from expats to locals seeking an international education.

With pupils of more than 40 nationalities, the British School of Amsterdam offers a stimulating and inclusive learning environment for students aged 3 to 18. Non-native English speakers are welcome.

Our curriculum leads to the respected British A-Level qualification accepted by universities worldwide. In addition to the formal academic subjects, we teach European languages including Spanish, French, German and Dutch, as well as English as a foreign language.

Every day is an open day at the British School of Amsterdam. Why not come along and visit us? For more information, see www.britams.nl, or contact us at +31 (0) 20 67 97 840 or [email protected].

TEACHING PEOPLE, NOT JUST TOPICS

Andreas, Age 10, Greek Gianmarco, Age 10, Italian

Ryan, Age 10, Taiwanese/Chinese

“It’s more than a school, it’s a family”

Small classes and personal attention. At the British School of Amsterdam we get to know each and every student. We provide an all-round education that develops the whole person and delivers academic success. From Early Years to Secondary School, we provide top-class British schooling for everyone from expats to locals seeking an international education.

With pupils of more than 40 nationalities, the British School of Amsterdam offers a stimulating and inclusive learning environment for students aged 3 to 18. Non-native English speakers are welcome.

Our curriculum leads to the respected British A-Level qualification accepted by universities worldwide. In addition to the formal academic subjects, we teach European languages including Spanish, French, German and Dutch, as well as English as a foreign language.

Every day is an open day at the British School of Amsterdam. Why not come along and visit us? For more information, see www.britams.nl, or contact us at +31 (0) 20 67 97 840 or [email protected].

TEACHING PEOPLE, NOT JUST TOPICS

Andreas, Age 10, Greek Gianmarco, Age 10, Italian

Ryan, Age 10, Taiwanese/Chinese

“It’s more than a school, it’s a family”

The ball was generously supported by:

At ISA, we believe that great facilities can set the stage for great learning. ISA is housed in a space specially designed for international education. And inspiration.

Our facilities include a four-floor library/media center, a 400-seat theatre, science labs and specialist studios for music, art, and drama. More than 400 computers are joined in a school-wide, online network. Students work with laptops and iPads in the classroom. Two state-of-the-art gyms, discovery oriented playgrounds and adjacent playing fields are large, well equipped and secure.

ISA’s campus is not a luxury. It’s where ideas are born.

Sportlaan 45 - 1185 TB Amstelveen - The Netherlands - Tel. +31 20 347 1111 - www.isa.nl

Exciting and developing young minds

ISA campus, main entrance

Setting the stage.

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Taste Life!Kingsalmarkt, the world-famous foodstore!We are known for our wide range of products from countries all over the world. ‘Taste life’ is what we call that. Visit us for your favourite American cornfl akes, brownies and soups, British jams and honey, Mexican tortillas, Spanish tapas and ham, Italian coffee and pasta and French cheese. Of course you can pick up the rest of your groceries too.

Rembrandtweg 621, 1181 GV Amstelveen-noord, tel. 020 643 37 51 www.kingsalmarkt.nl [email protected] reached by car (free parking) and public transport (5 or 51 tram to Kronenburg)Opening hours: Monday to Friday: 9 am – 6 pm Saturday: 9 am – 5 pm

Admissions: +31 (0)70 315 4077 www.britishschool.nl

Did you know that more parents choose the BSN than any other international school in Holland?With four campuses in The Hague area, The British School offers a caring and stimulating learning environment, with an individual approach that ensures every child can achieve their full potential.

The BSN is a thriving and supportive expatriate community made up from over 80 nationalities. Contact us today to arrange a visit and see for yourself why the BSN is the international school of choice.

For students from 3 to 18 years

Theirfuture is

our focus

Orteliusstraat 362hs, 1056 PV AMSTERDAMTel: 020 6275025 / 06 27305428 E-mail: [email protected]

Professional assistance with all your printing demands

Member of The British Society of Amsterdam

40 years of graphic experienceAll graphic and printing services

British LanguageTraining Centre

English & Dutch CoursesTeaching English (TEFL)

www.bltc.nlTel. 020 622 3634

bltc

SERVIMAN:all-round handymen

are available for all sorts of jobs, big or small, in and around

your house.

Almost all disciplines

Cleaning ServicesExperienced & serious cleaners,

regular or occasional for the Amsterdam area.

Very good references!For information, contact Jan at020 6275025 or 06 27305428

or by email: [email protected]

Member of The British Society of Amsterdam

it’s march madness/ enjoy

Contents

“hard rock”events/article “tibetan lama pema dorjee ”interview/ “laura cobley” reviews/ “nick’s nosh”arts/ “golden age”

events/ “shakespeare night”events/ “ww1 battlefield tour”

events/ “friday social”

article / “mad about amsterdam”

Page 32

Page 60

Page 26

Click arrows to go to page

arts/ “samurai”

“spring charity ball events/

Page 44

Page 68 Page 76

food glorious/ “chicken cous cous + tangdi kebab”

“tibetan lama pema dorjee ” “laura cobley”

“shakespeare night” “ww1 battlefield tour” “mad about amsterdam”

Page 60

Page 26

Click arrows to go to page

arts/ “samurai”

“spring charity ball

Page 38

Page 44

Page 90 Page 98

Page 106

Page 22

“chicken cous cous + tangdi kebab” Page 110

Chairman’s Blog

I must confess I feel a bit like the President in the final year of his administration - a bit of a lame duck! With Ian taking over at the end of June, the goal now is to ensure that we have a full committee in place to ensure he can hit the ground running. Therefore I am making an appeal in respect of two very important functions.

Volunteer needed for Events Organiser (best job in BritSoc)For the last two years Annette has been our Events Organiser and has done a brilliant job. However, work pressure now means she feels the need to hand the job on to someone new. This has to be one of the best jobs in the Society since you get to determine which events we support or get involved with. It’s also a great excuse to organize all those things you have always wanted to do, but were not sure if enough people would come.

Wanted: New Ball ChairmanThe second position up for grabs is that of Ball Chairman. Tradition normally demands that last year’s chairman does it a second time but, to be fair, Wouter only became a father just before Christmas 2012, so he is still adjusting to his new responsibilities. The Ball is our premier social activity of the year so represents a great challenge. After the huge success of last year’s event we are already in talks with the hotel about repeating the event. If you have ever had the thought, “ I could do better,” then now is the time to step forward.

Festival of BritainAs I write this the weather has taken a distinct turn for the better and with it thoughts turn to up and coming activities in the spring and summer. Perhaps the main event we will be supporting this summer will be the “Festival of Britain “ to be held the weekend of the 23rd June at the Keukenhof Gardens. Make a note of the date now in your diary as it promises to be an excellent day.

The launch of the new Britsoc WebsiteSince the last issue of ZINE we have had the official launch of our new web site www.britsoc.nl. This has been done by the publisher of ZINE, writer and web designer John Richardson. If you have not yet seen it then please go and check it out. John has done a suuperb job, which we are very proud of. In particular we have a new innovation called “Britnet”. This is an online forum whereby other expat organizations with links to the UK can take advantage of a free platform to advertise their activities. We launched the new site at the Expat night, held at the residence of the British Ambassador. It was greeted with much enthusiasm. However to make it a success, it requires people to feed it, so if you have an expat event you would like to promote, then let us know.

New marketing and communications committee The relaunch of the web site completes a much needed overhaul of our marketing and communications. ZINE continues to grow and the web site, I am sure, will be a big hit with the expat community. Now I hope we can build on this and develop new and existing activities during the coming year as well as to continue to organize some of the old favourites.

Events are the DNA of BritSoc —volunteers are always welcomeIn the end, events are what the life and soul of BritSoc. It’s who we are. It’s what we do. We all enjoy going to them, just so long as someone else does the work. Our Society has been successful due to the dedication and hard work of some very special people. As ever we are on the look out for new ideas so if you have some suggestions and would like to share them, get in touch. As ever my address is [email protected].

Looking forward to hearing from you!

Stephen

[email protected]

ZINEEDITORIAL EDITOR IN CHIEF Alison Smith | [email protected]

EDITORIAL BOARDIan Cherington | [email protected] Thomas | [email protected] Richardson | [email protected] Huyton | [email protected]

ADVERTISINGADVERTISING SALES Zetterij Jan van den Berg | [email protected]

PUBLISHINGPUBLISHED BYJohn Richardson | JohnTheCopywriter.com

FLIP MAGAZINE PUBLISHING PLATFORMwww.issuu.com

PUBLISHED ONwww.wordpress.com

SUBSCRIPTIONS AND FEEDBACKAlison Smith | [email protected]

www.britsoc.nl/

ISSUE # 602

Colophon >

INTERVIEW OF THE MONTH

with current Britsoc Badminton Club leader,

Laura Cobley

“ My Name

is Laura ‘Badminton’

Cobley

Page 44

BritSoc activities in mad March/

BritSoc activities in mad March/ “squash to social friday”

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BritSoc Social and Sports Activities

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For more information go to http://www.britsoc.nl/the-all-in-one-calendar/

Soft Tennis 16.00 .

Soft Tennis 16.00 .

Soft Tennis 16.00

Soft Tennis 16.00 .

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Literary Quiz Night 19.00

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MOTHER’S DAY IN THE UK

DON’T FORGET MOTHER’S DAY

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CALENDAR 2013WEDNESDAY THURDSAY FRIDAY

19Bridge Night 19.30

Scottish dancing 19.30-21:00

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Playgroup 11.00 Badminton 19.00



Scottish dancing 19.30-21:00 Bridge Night 19.30

Bridge Night 19.30 Scottish dancing 19.30-21:00

Scottish dancing 19.30-21:00 Bridge Night 19.30

Scottish Country Dancing GroupUnder the expert guidance of Margaret

Lambourne, a qualified SCD teacher, Thursday evenings are spent dancing to the strains of

Celtic tunes. Swirling in circles or forming up squares, lines or long sets, we learn everything from the proper steps and figures in jig, reel and

strathspey time. We change partners for each dance, so you can come on your own and find a partner there. The music and the dancing make

you happy, and it’s great exercise, too! And what a bargain, just 3 euros per session! Sessions are held in the British School hall on Anthonie van

Dijckstraat in Oud Zuid, from 7:30 to 9 pm.

TUESDAY

Activity Contact Details: Social Fridays is Tracey Taylor. Email: [email protected]

Soft tennis is Sharron Reed. Email: [email protected] is Ruth and Art Max. Email: [email protected]

Squash is Paul Huxley. Email: [email protected] Country Dancing. Email: [email protected]

Squash 19.30

Squash 19.30

Squash 19.30

Squash 19.30

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Social Friday / Pub night 21.00 (2nd Friday)

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events/ “Spring Charity Ball 2013”

“Spring Charity Ball 2013”

Spring Charity Ball 2013In aid of the Foundation Stoelen Project to fund its work for the homeless of Amsterdam

As a BritSoc Member you will be able to come to our Charity Ball at the lowest price of € 75 per person. You only have to register and pay as an official Spanish Association Member and to write down in the “Comments” field of the electronic registration/payment form. “I am an official member of the British Society”

so we can later check it with the British Society.”

Spanish Association of Professionals in the Netherlands

Special Invitation for Britsoc Members

Special Britsoc Ticket price of €75 per person

For more information, please contact:

Rogelio VargasPresident Spanish Association of Professionals in the [email protected]

OR

Valerie SamsoCo-owner & PR executive PRomulgatio PR [email protected]

Saturday, 23rd March 2013 From 19:00 to 01:00 hrs.Winter Garden, NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky, Dam 9, Amsterdam

Online Tickets: http://profesionalesholanda.org/en/join-us/springcharityball2013

Website: http://www.profesionalesholanda.org/en/association/aeph-events/456-v-baile-de-gala-benefico-de-la-aeph-2013

events in mad march/

“the tara friday social”

Sean Jansen

We are continuing our trial with the 2nd Friday in the month instead, hope you are still able to join us.http://www.britsoc.nl

Social Friday@The Tara

Friday 8th March

http://www.thetara.com/nld/

| From 21:00

This venue is a well known bar amongst the expats. This Irish bar has an interesting variation of rooms mixing from a trendy modern

bar to the classic leather armchair corners and fireplaces. We will meet in the far end of the pub where the rear bar area is exiting to the Nes street entrance.

Look out for us near the bar wearing bright pink scarf’s.Social Fridays is a great opportunity to meet new people or catch up with

friends - all welcome. No attendance list, so just show up!

Venue: Rokin 85-89, 1012KL AmsterdamTrams: 4,9,14,16,24 and 25 tramstop Rokin.Contact: Tracey Taylor Email: [email protected]

|events/

From 21:00

ads/ “between a rock and a hard place”

“between a rock and a hard place”

This coming Saturday 23rd February I will be travelling to India as a Brand Ambassador for Hard Rock Cafe International.

Why you may ask? Our motto’s are not just something we talk about, they are something we live by, ‘Take Time to be Kind’ & ‘All is One’ these mottos have been very close to my heart since the day I started work for Hard Rock and make me proud to know that we can and do make a difference.

While in India I will be visiting two of our charities that we have supported for many years, please see below for some general information.

Not only do we raise money for charities outside of Nederland we also support many local charities each year, those being:

A message from Claire Skudder, who is a Brand Ambassador for Hard RockCafé International

Throughout May and June we will be supporting Fundacion Vincente Ferrer. See below for information of how our support went out to them in 2012.

The families that are benefiting from this charity live in huts which are outside the villages.They

will receive a decent house with, at the very least, minimum health conditions which will provide shelter

from the rains (monsoon) and the intense heat. However, the overriding benefits is that these houses

are adapted to the specific needs of people with disabilities and this, in turn, will help them achieve social integrationand put an end to their feelings of

dependency and isolation.

A message from Claire Skudder, who is a Brand Ambassador for Hard RockCafé International

‘A Sister’s Hope’ Over the last 5 years we have raised over €60,000 and donated over 200 hours from Hard Rock volunteers, to support our local Breast Cancer Charity.

‘Regenboog Groep’ We help support the homeless by providing clothes, food and toiletries. Our staff donate their time as buddy’s to help support the local community.

‘Make a Wish Foundation’ Doe een Wens. Whenever there is a child who’s wish it is to come along to Hard Rock Amsterdam we make their wish come true.

‘Leger des Heils’ our staff donate their time and we provide food, catering and giveaways.

Throughout February and March, Hard Rock Cafes across Europe will be raising money for the Bombay Teen Challenge in a campaign called ‘Street 2 Sanctuary’

Keeping in line with our ‘Love all, Serve All’ motto it is our aim to raise over $100,000 to support and bring new life to women and their children used in prostitution and their children in Bombay (Mumbai), India.

Children’s shelter in the red light districtThe charity operates two shelters in the heart of Mumbai’s red light district to rescue children of women used in prostitution and other street children.

Jubilee homesThe Jubilee Homes are a sanctuary for the children of women used in prostitution where the charity provides safety, security, healthcare, nutrition, education and shelter.

Aids orphans homesThis home, in addition to the charity’s Jubilee Homes,serves orphaned children of destitute parents who have died of aids. Many children here are themselves HIV+.

HIV/aids clinic in red light districtThe charity operates this clinic for the women of thered light district that are forced into prostitution.In addition to offering medical treatment, it serves as an initial point of contact to build relationships. This is the only clinic that provides anti-retroviral treatment free-of-cost to patients along with other medications.

Throughout May and June we will be supporting Fundacion Vincente Ferrer

See left for information of how our support went out to them in 2012.

In 2013 we will be ensuring access to quality education for Children with disabilities – we will open 3 centers of education for children with disabilities.

www.hardrock.com/amsterdam

article/ “tara bodong”

“tara bodong”

Tibetan Lama Pema Dorjee

British School of Amsterdam helps Tibetan Lama Pema Dorjee with the Tara Bodong project in IndiaGeshe Pema Dorjee was born in 1951 to a nomadic family in Shillong on the border of Tibet and India. Like many other Tibetan families of that time, they found refuge in India after they were forced to flee in 1959 after the invasion of the country.

After many years of study at the Tibetan Homes Foundation School and the Institute of Buddhist Dialectics in Dharamsala, Pema Dorjee worked as a teacher for Tibetan Language and Culture. Soon he became Principal of the Tibetan Children´s Village School (TCV), a school for 2,500 refugee children and only three years later he became Director of the institution.

Geshe Pema Dorjee has devoted his life to a great number of charitable projects such as creating schools, establishing regional support, medical aid and individual care, never ignoring any occasion to help and to show compassion to others. To him living a meaningful, happy life is a direct result of showing love and compassion.

One of his current projects is to build a girl’s school/nunnery in the small remote village of Lumla in the northeast of India. To raise awareness of this project, Pema Dorjee returned to the British School of Amsterdam to tell students and teachers how the project is moving forward, thanks to fund raising activities from the Tara Bondong foundation and The British School of Amsterdam.

The day started off with a school assembly where Pema Dorjee together with his trusted colleague Siri Weirum, shared their experiences of daily life in the 54 remote villages in the region of Arunachal Pradesh, which is an impoverished Himalayan area in North-East India that borders Bhutan and China (Tibet).

The images clearly showed the extreme poverty and health issues in these villages.

“It is so hard to see,” says Pema Dorjee while a photo of a sick woman is shown.

He explains that the woman, along with many other people in the villages, be-come blind and sick due to the smoke that builds up in their one-room bamboo huts where they cook, live and sleep every day.

With tears in his eyes he tells the students about the children who suffer from tuberculosis and tumors among others illnesses. Pema Dorjee and his team do their best to help the severely sick children by bringing them to Delhi to have proper medical treatment or operations, because no such care exists in these remote villages.

After the school assembly, smaller groups of students had the chance to ask Pema Dorjee more about his work and about life in the villages.

There was not a moment of silence as hands went up in the air and question after question was asked to Pema Dorjee.

“Last year when you were here at our school, you showed us photos of sick children, how are those children doing now?” asked 14 year old Federico. Pema Dorjee took the time to explain how the children were progressing.

As Pema Dorjee continued to describe how life is in these villages, you could see the compassion in the eyes of the students.

‘We have to help these children! Lets organize a cake sale to raise money’

projects/

Ashya Ruesink. aged 10 years old

>>

www.tarabodong.org

Another keen student asked “What do the children play?” Pema Dorjee explained that older children often work the land with their parents while most girls, due to lack of education, remain isolated at home their entire life looking after younger siblings and the household.

They do have their own improvised ways of playing with the simplest of things around them. “I love children and wish I could help them all,” he says, with tears in his eyes. He lets everyone know that it is heart-breaking to see children working at such a young age, and that they have to suffer so much pain due to sick-nesses and being exhausted.

“I’m very dedicated and passionate about what I do,” Pema Dorjee says to one of the classes. He tells them that the construction of the girls’ school started in September 2012 and that he needs to raise approximately 500,000 euro’s to complete the whole project.

However, it is currently being done is phases as the money is raised. The goal is to create a school for approximately 80 girls aged eight to fourteen and to provide a good quality of education. Kitchens, classrooms, dormitories, clinic and a prayer hall are going to be built. The education will consist of language studies, including Tibetan, English and Hindi, literature, health, hygiene and environmental studies, Buddhist philosophy, mathematics and science.

When the girls finish school, the intention is that they pass their new learnt knowledge back to the people of their villages and to their future children. The current vicious

“What do the children play?”Pema Dorjee explained that older children often work the land with their parents while most girls, due to lack of education, remain isolated at home their entire life looking after younger siblings and the household

“What do the children play?”Pema Dorjee explained that older children often work the land with their parents while most girls, due to lack of education, remain isolated at home their entire life looking after younger siblings and the household

cycle of life in this area needs to be broken and this is how the Tara Bodong foundation plan to achieve this.

The British School of Amsterdam helps the Tara Bodong foundation to raise money for the Nunnery/School in Lumla. The past year, the students and teachers have organized cake sales, sponsored non-uniform days and the sale of Tulip bulbs in order to make donations to the foundation.

Tara Bodong has raised enough funds for six classrooms of which some of these will be used as dormitories in the beginning to admit the first 8-10 girls, hopefully by the end of 2013.

Fund raising is already under way for phase II which is to build the dormitories. With the joint fundraising efforts in Norway and in the Netherlands Tara Bodong is almost half way to raising money for the dormitories. The goal is to raise enough funds for all dormitories by the end of 2013.

Pema Dorjee finishes his visit with wise words,

“Always be nice to your friends, your teachers and your parents.”For more information about the project or if you would like to make a donation please go to:-

www.tarabodong.orgWritten by Ashya Ruesink, year 10 student at the British School of Amsterdam

interview of the month / “laura ‘badminton’ cobley”

interview of the month/

Britsoc Badminton ClubInterview with current club leader Laura Cobley

http://www.britsoc.nl/ai1ec_event/evening-badminton/?instance_id=12540To join contact laura at: [email protected]

The Britsoc Badminton Club has been around for many years. The emphasis is on fit and fun

https://www.facebook.com/groups/britsoc/

My parents always played as a child

“

What brought you to the Netherlands?A job offer. Within a year of graduating with a degree in Modern Languages (French and German) I felt a strong need to live abroad. That first German-speaking job was in Maarssen. Since then, I’ve lived in Utrecht and Hilversum and for the last 8 years I’ve happily lived in Amsterdam.

How did you get into badminton?Through my family. My parents always played when I was a child. My brother and I would go along and entertain ourselves at the sides of the courts until we were big enough to hold rackets ourselves. Then we joined a club and have played on and off ever since. In the Netherlands, I’ve played at a couple of Dutch clubs, but always felt something was missing. When I moved to Amsterdam and found the

British Society Badminton club, I realised that it was the chatting between games and the drinks in the bar afterwards!

How has your badminton career developed and what are the highlights in it?For a few years, we entered a competi-tion team into the Dutch league, but injury forced us to pull out and to be honest, social badminton is much more my cup of tea. My badminton “career” highlight has to be playing with Charlotte Philips against the biggest, most scary 4th year girls in the final of the end of year badminton competition when we were at secondary school, and almost winning!

I used to have a poster of a Danish player, Morten Frost, on my wall when I was 9 or 10.

>>

Dave Thomas

interview of the month/

Which badminton player do you admire most and why?I used to have a poster of a Danish player, Morten Frost, on my wall when I was 9 or 10. I remember my Dad taking me and my brother to see him play live when he was at the top of his game. That made a big impression on me. It’s always very inspiring to go and watch top players; With the British Society Badminton club, we try to go along to the Dutch Open in Almere every year. The Danish are still the best in Europe, but the British players aren’t far behind and we got to cheer them on in the final in 2012!

How and when did the Britsoc Badminton Club start?About 5 years ago, I was told it had been running it almost 20 years. I have no idea if that is true. So if anyone out there knows the story, I’d love to hear it!

Can you describe a typical badminton club evening?We start off at 8pm with some warming up and sometimes early practice sessions to brush up on the basics.

Then we play games (mixed, singles, doubles) until everyone either runs out of energy or gets thirsty, at which point we

exchange the rackets for beers in the upstairs bar. This usually happens sometime between 9:30pm and 11pm (when the lights in the hall get switched out). How do you cater for the wide range of levels in the club?One of the nicest things (I think) about the club is that it’s open to all levels. It’s no fun being beaten 21-0 if you’re a beginner, so we collectively try to mix up the teams and rotate so that everyone has chance to play games of different levels and with different partners. Towards the end of the night, when there’s more chatting than playing, there are more opportunities for the enthusiasts to play singles games.

What, where, when, who, cost

What: Britsoc Badminton ClubWhere: Sporthal de Pijp, Lizzy Ansinghstraat 88, 1072 RD AmsterdamWhen: Every Wednesday from 20.00 to 23:00 hours Contact: Laura Cobley Email: [email protected]: 85 euros for the season (new members 45 euros until the end of this season on 29 May) Web: https://www.facebook.com/groups/britsoc/

One of the nicest things (I think) about the club is that it’s open to all levels.

events in mad march/

events in mad march/“amsterdam 2013”

John C. Richardson

2013 is a very special year for Amsterdam. Over an eventful and memorable 12 months, the city will celebrate several incredible milestones and anniversaries.

1. 400th anniversary of Amsterdam’s Canal Ring2. Reopening of the Rijksmuseum3. 40 years of the Van Gogh Museum4. 125 years of the Concertgebouw5. 125 years of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra6. 225 years of Felix Meritis7. 175 years of Artis Royal Zoo8. 100 years of Frans Hals Museum9. 150 years since the abolition of slavery10. 400 years of trade between the Netherlands and Russia

Amsterdam 2013

Source: www.iamsterdam.com

Ten amazing Amsterdam milestones in 2013:

The Netherlands-Russia yearPeter the Great will run at the Hermitage Amsterdam from 9 March to 13 September 2013. It highlights the Czar’s visits to the Neth-erlands in 1697 and 1717.. works of art of this golden era...Read more >>

Chocoa FestivalChocolate lovers of all ages are invited to learn more about the origin, production and taste of chocolate. From 9 March 2013. Read more >>

Keukenhof GardensCome tip-toe through the tulips at the world’s largest flower gardens. From 21 March to 20 May 2013...Read more >>

160 years of Vincent van GoghOn 30 March 2013 art lovers celebrate the 160th anniversary of the birth of Vincent van Gogh...Read more >>

Czar Peter HouseOpen to the public from 9 March 2013, this humble dwelling famously housed Peter the Great during his first eight days in the Netherlands....Read more >>

Cultural highlights in March 2013

Amsterdam 2013

Source: www.iamsterdam.comPhoto: John Richardson

amsterdam tours/

amsterdam tours/ “rondleidingen”

OverHollandtours can be contacted via 06-28230379 orE: [email protected] or check out the website www.rondleidingen-in-amsterdam.nl

WAKE UP CALL!

Photo: John Richardson

With the first glimmers of sunlight at the beginning of the year, it isn’t only the birds who seem to wake up from their winter sleep but also the city folk.

This is a year of celebration in Amsterdam.The Netherlands will be crowning a new King,

the Amsterdam Canals are 400 years old, the Concertgebouw and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra

celebrate 125 years, the Rijksmuseum will reopen, Artis celebrates 175 years and Felix Meritis 225 years.

In 2013 it is exactly 400 years since Amsterdam began to build the famous canal sys-tem.

In 1613 the city council decided, along with its most influential residents, to expand Amsterdam and create a capital for new residents and traders.

The three new canals, Herengracht, Keizersgracht and Prinsengracht formed a concentric semi-circle around the Singel

and more than doubled the commercial and residential capacity of the city.

Tour and event organiser OverHollandtours have made an enthusiastic start to the tourist season.

We can hardly wait…what about you?

OverHollandtours has been organising cultural, artistic and historical tours, surprising city walks and made to measure group activities

in and around Amsterdam for years.All tours are carried out by knowledgeable guides who know the city backwards

and can point out all the finer points that the city of Amsterdam has to offer.

Spring is of course THE moment to get out and about in the city on foot or by bike, with a group of friends or family, all with the luxury of a personal guide!

There’s more than enough to do; so walk and cycle with us and be amazed by the sights and stories.

Experience and enjoy with the advantage that your guide from OverHollandtours knows where to go and what to organise.

You and your group will discover all the crazy and unusual things that make this city special, and find new perspectives

which you wouldn’t see by yourself.

Hallo there! Wake Up!

Yes Spring has sprung. The trees and plants are

unravelling their leaves and shoots

and the city is opening its doors for the new season.

restaurant reviews/

restaurant reviews/ “nick’s nosh”

Britsoc food correspondent Nick Nugent

Reporting fromthe four corners

of the Amsterdam kitchen

Birthday Month Restaurant extravaganza Nick & Nosh

NICK’S NOSH

Britsoc food correspondent Nick Nugent

Reporting fromthe four corners

of the Amsterdam kitchen

Birthday Month Restaurant extravaganza

have something a bit different for you this time as I have decided not to

give one review or even two reviews, but in fact four reviews in one. Has Nick gone mad you may ask? Well no, there is some method to my madness. As the title sug-gests for some reason February is an extremely crowded month for birthdays for me. I have, wait for it – my Father, my Sister, my girlfriend, my best friend in the UK and 3-4 additional friends in Amsterdam. So as you can imagine I have a great many opportunities for eating out this month and I thought I would share nearly everything with you. So what is in store for you is:

1. Lovefood HQ http://www.jasonslovefood.com/ Tel: +31 (0)20 753 1 007 Koggestraat 1 Online Reservation – Yes via Seatme

2. Yamazato http://www.yamazato.nl/en/ Tel: +31 20 6787 450 Okura Hotel - Ferdinand Bolstraat 333 Online Reservation – Yes through website

3. Saskia’s Huiskamer http://www.huiskamerrestaurant.com/ Tel: 0628629839 Albert Cuypstraat 203 Online Reservation – by email

4. Proeverij 274 http://www.proeverij274.nl/ Tel: +31 (0)20 4211848 Prinsengracht 274 Online Reservation – Yes via website

So I hope out of this little lot there is something to take your fancy? Just to note that I have also visited Bollywood, Mayur and Taj Mahal but I am saving those for my review of Indian restaurants in Amsterdam which I hope will be ready for the next issue.

Lovefood HQSo we start with a dinner at Lovefood HQ which was just before meeting one of my old friends Charlie for drinks. I can honestly say I made a small error of judgement here as I was hoping to have a quick 60-90 minute dinner and then leave to meet up for the drinks. If you decide to go to Lovefood be prepared to be there all night.

The day we went the restaurant was offering an anti Valentine’s day menu. Once you know the concept of the place then this menu makes a lot of sense. Jason Hartley started life in digital communications which I think in layman’s terms means advertising and branding on the internet, but had a massive passion for good food and began doing some pop up events for fun a few years ago before finally taking the plunge and going full time in June last year. The design of the restaurant and menu really shows that there has been some thought to the look, feel and branding of the restaurant.

I cannot possibly go through all the courses which we got, so I will give you just the highlights. There were 3 amuses, followed by celebration of RED, sea bass and venison all with interesting titles like; Feeling a little tongue in cheek, Sea me gettin’ it on and Shot through the Hert. We also chose to take the matched wine from John the sommelier.

Jason will come to you table and explain everything you are getting in a much detail as you wish and is also happy to have a debate of

“Is this great nosh or what?”By Liverpool-Born, Amsterdam Foodie Nick Nugent.

I

http://www.jasonslovefood.com

the food and wine selections. The amuses were excellent with the mini scotch egg from quail, the amusing tongue in cheek which was a face made of beef cheek and tongue.

Only one note here that they were served on a wooden board and the things which were supposed to be warm were really only just that, warm, but otherwise delicious. We then had “RED” a celebration of RED which was served with red wine and followed with a sea bass dish served with white. It did not quite work, but both dishes were fun and innovative and matched their respective wines quite well, although the jolt going from red to white back to red again with the veni-sion was a bit much.

The venison, celeriac puree, poached pear in red wine was well cooked and presented, but my personal opinion on the Bordeaux chosen to accompany was that it was overpowering the dish.

We were really pushed for time at this point and so had to rush the cheese course. I really enjoyed the concept, ambience of the place and most of the food and wine choices. Next time I need to leave enough time to really enjoy it properly. I have also heard great things about their Sunday brunches too. Maybe that will feature in a future review!

Rating ****

Cost set menu 45 Euros, matched wine 35 Euros per person.

YamazatoThis venue was chosen by my girlfriend. The brief was that she was allowed to go anywhere in Am-sterdam and not to be too concerned on the cost. The 1 Michelin starred Yamazato was her choice and who am I to say no?

The first thing when you come to a Michelin starred restaurant is that your expectations are much higher about the food quality and service. Since I had booked well in advance and the fact that it was a Tuesday night we got a really nice table, which they were also able to arrange flowers to be waiting when we arrived.

The menu here is very extensive and you can choose from set menus or pick whatever you like.

Restaurant Review - Yamazato ***The choice was overwhelming and so we settled on TORI KAISEKI SET menu which had a nice mix of sushi and cooked dishes.

I am a massive fan of sushi and was really looking forward to the Michelin star experience of this type of food. I should add that I have never been to Japan, although it is very high on my list of destinations and with the Yen dropping in value is becoming more so. Therefore I do not know what real Japanese sushi should be like, although I have been to some other high class Japanese restaurants in my time so I know what I like. You may be thinking what is all this preamble leading too? In the words of a Saturday kitchen chef, I felt that what we had here was stealth food which would pass by your taste buds undetected!

Everything was very nicely presented; beautiful to look at, but it just did not deliver for me. Here we also chose matched drinks in this case. It started with a glass of bubbles followed by a bottle of Pouilly Fume, then a glass of sake with the sushi/sashmi and finally a glass of South African red called de Toren Fusion V, which I thought was so good I managed to seek it out on the internet and I am now a proud owner of 10 of them.

Just to give you an example of the underwhelming food, one of the starters was a soup with a minced lobster meat ball in it, which was extremely delicate with Dicon cut in Mont Blanc logo shapes and hints of miso and lemon flavour. It was nice, but not knock out for me.

Please do not think of me as a snob, but it was served in plastic bowls, I just expected some-thing more. The sashmi came on cucumber which imparted a very strong distinctive cucumber flavour on to the delicate fish. Finally the dessert we were served was in my opinion very poor even though Asian cuisine is not known for its desserts. Bitter green tea ice cream, super bitter blood orange and grapefruit which I suppose they thought was a palette cleanser, to me was just awful. After each course we just smiled at each other to judge whether we thought there was any flavour to be detected.

Unfortunately our taste bud radars are not powerful enough for this food, unless you count the atomic bomb which was dessert.

http://www.yamazato.nl/en/

http://www.yamazato.nl/en/

The service based on my expectations was also only adequate and so on the whole we left a little disappointed, but amused by the experience.

Rating ***

Cost: Tori Menu 85 Euros per person

Saskia’s HuiskamerThe next birthday experience finds us at Saskia’s Huiskamer for a birthday of a friend. The place can handle 38 people comfortably and is designed to have one party in each evening. It was started by Saskia who we were told was busy at home with her new baby. Our two lovely hosts who were also the chefs were amateurs in the kitchen but loved cooking.

The place is very relaxed and they are happy for you to come into the kitchen to discuss the food and menu for the evening or to fill the generic red and white wine bottles with more from the wine boxes. As you can imagine then this place is not really all about the food and the drink, but more about the group of friends you select to share it with and we were very lucky that we all got on well and had a great time.

The menu was four courses, a salad with mackerel to start, pumpkin risotto, veal steak with pepper sauce as main and then a cheesecake to finish. The food was what I would call good home cook-ing, but nevertheless sharing it with good friends was really what this place is all about.

Rating ***

Cost: 39 Euros including drinks per person for groups over 22 people.

By Nick NugentProeverij 274The final leg of this birthday restaurant extravaganza is my sisters XXth birthday party. I am not sure whether she would want you to know which one it was but it finishes with a 0!

My sister lives over in the UK and wanted to visit Amsterdam for her big birthday. I was happy to accommodate, but then when she said she wanted to have her birthday meal on her actual birthday which was a Sunday, suddenly I was presented with a bit of a problem. As I looked through the normal top quality restaurants most

Restaurant Review -Saskia’s Huiskamer ***are closed on Sundays and also Mondays too. It took quite a while to put together a decent list of restaurants open on a Sunday for her to choose from. If anyone wishes to share some I would be grateful.

I managed to find 15 which I thought she would like and eventually she picked this one which I was really pleased about. I asked them if they were able to do something special and they agreed to deliver a glass of bubbles when we ar-rived and in fact there were some balloons on the chair. The place is very elegant inside with lots of wood and an intimate atmosphere. You can select from the chefs menu or mix and match from the A La carte.

We were given an amused to begin which was a beetroot soup with horseradish which was earthy and sweet. For starters we chose differently with the poultry liver parfait for me and my sister choice of the almond and ricotta flan. The parfait was an interesting colour (dark brown), but never-theless tasted very good. I also tried the almond flan which was inoffensive, not really to my taste, but the cheesy breadcrumbs served as a garnish were excellent. We both ordered the Tournedos of beef which was served with pumpkin puree, crushed potato, carrot rice paper and dehydrated onion. All of these earthy ingredients worked very well together; there was however some boiled parsnips and quite acidic haricot beans which I thought did not need to be there.

We had a really flavoursome bottle of wine from Spain called “Pi” made from a little known grape concejon it was very good and excellent match for the well cooked beef. To finish we had one chocolate mousse which was incredibly rich and we really only needed this one between us. Incidentally the red wine matched very well with the dessert. This is a really lovely intimate place with a great atmosphere and good food. It will be a pleasure to go back and enjoy Jan’s hospitality again.

Rating ****

Cost: Around 45 Euros per person not including drinks.

Any ideas for articles, hints about restaurants, food events please contact: [email protected]

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http://www.huiskamerrestaurant.com/

amsterdam 2013/

“the golden age”

The Golden age

“The exhibition starts with a colourful array of wooden chests used to keep various financial documents such as bonds and securities, witness to Amsterdam’s emerging role as the world’s banking centre.

at the Amsterdam museum

In modern terms worth about

130 million euros per year in 1650.

“Thanks to the

vast quantities of Spanish silver

pouring into the country

Dave Thomas

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the Amsterdam grachtengordel (canal district) - a major engineering project undertaken in the Golden Age. Amsterdam Museum’s exhibition on the Golden Age explains how Amsterdam’s population quadrupled in a mere 75 years when the city flourished as the world’s financial and trade centre.

The exhibition recalls the Golden age though several themes and tells the story mostly through paintings of the period. The focus is on commercial endeavour and achievements and how these shaped Amsterdam. The exhibition starts with a colourful array of wooden chests used to keep various financial documents such as bonds and securities, witness to Amsterdam’s emerging role as the world’s banking centre. That was in part thanks to the vast quantities of Spanish silver pouring into the country (in modern terms worth about 130 million euros per year in 1650). Such lucrative trade could fund projects like the ring of canals and also some of the highly desirable canal-side properties (the best places were on the Golden Bend of the Herengracht between Viijzelstraat and Leidsestraat).

A strong point of the exhibition is how it views the Golden Age through modern eyes linking the then with the now. For example, the outlines of the Randstad were already clearly vis-ible and planners were concerned about how the surrounding countryside could best serve the food and leisure needs of a growing urban population. Amsterdam had also become a melting pot of nations and was known as a tolerant and more liberally minded city. Yet equal freedom on paper did not always mean equal rights in practice. For example, even rich merchants who came and settled in Amsterdam could only gain a say in its politics if they married into an established family of the city.

And continuing with the modern thread: Where would a seventeenth-century Google be located? Answer: In the heart of Amsterdam. As the world’s centre of trade and banking Amsterdam in the Golden Age was a veritable information hub with numerous publishing houses. Back then information also meant power and the scientific and diplomatic knowl-edge acquired reinforced the Dutch Republic’s global position.

Exhibition summary:

The Golden age

amsterdam 2013/

Title: Golden AgeAbout: How Amsterdam grew and flourished as a banking and trading centre in the seventeenth centuryenteenth centuryWhere: Amsterdam Museum (Kalverstraat 92)

Until: 31 August 2013Price: Adults 10 euros, children 5 euros. I AMsterdam card and Museumjaarkaart freeOpen: Daily from 10:00 to 17:00

Plus: A clear overview of how Amsterdam grew and flourished in the Golden Age.

Minus: Most of the exhibits are paintings and the exhibition has few interactive aspects. It is therefore less suitable for children.

article/ “Samurai in Rotterdam”

“Samurai in Rotterdam”

Samurai exhibition

until 26 May 2013

at the Wereldmuseum Rotterdam

Dave Thomas

his exhibition really is a must see. After the introductory video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlZHtuUuAIM&feature=youtu.be) you

enter a long hall with red walls, lined on both sides by suits of Samurai armour.

Take the time just to savour the overwhelming sense of valour and dignity that emanates from such a collection of hero’s suits. Next you can view a fine collection of beautifully decorated Samurai swords and helmets. The swords are not only lethal weapons but also works of art endowed with an almostmystical status. Likewise each ornate helmet is unique and reveals something of the character and status of its owner (See if you can spot the helmet somewhere in the exhibition with a Dutch word on it).

Yet the gifted swordsmen were expected to master the art of calligraphy just as well as they could master a sword. Their willingness to die was balanced by a strong appreciation of aesthetic beauty, which you can experience in a mock-up of a Zen Buddhist temple with a Japanese garden. They were also patrons of the arts and the exhibition gives you a glimpse into the legendary and secretive Samurai theatre. Several magnificent series of Japanese prints recount the Samurai’s exploits and, of course, the exhibition tells something about the Dutch connection with the Samurai (look out for the figurehead of Erasmus and how it became venerated).

In the rest of the Wereldmuseum, the permanent collection gives you a taste of the religious cultures of

Asia and Oceania with a particularly vivid explanation of Buddhism in Tibet.

If this exhibition gives you the Japan bug then pay a visit to the Sieboldhuis (www.sieboldhuis.org) in Leiden to learn more about Japan’s culture.

And there’s far more to do in Rotterdam. Two other good museums for kids are the Maritime Museum (www.maritiemmuseum.nl) and the Netherlands Ar-chitecture Institute (www.nai.nl). You can also visit the Cube Houses (http://en.rotterdam.info/visitors/places-to-go/attractions/287/cube-houses/) or take a bird’s eye view of the harbour and the rest of Rotterdam from the Euromast tower.(www.euromast.nl).

Essential details:

T

Exhibition: Samurai

Location: Wereldmuseum, Willemskade 22-25, Rotterdam (near Erasmusbrug)

Runs until: 26 May 2013

Price: Adults 12 euros, children under 12 and Mu-seumjaarkaart free

Opening times: Tuesday to Sunday 10:30 to 17:30

Note: Photography is not permitted in the Wereldmuseum.

SAMURAI IN ROTTERDAM

Take a step back in time at the Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam and enter the world of the Samurai, the elite warriors of feudal Japan.

article/ “Troy”

Dave Thomas

roy is an intriguing mix of fact and fable that has inspired generations ever since Homer wrote the Iliad. The Troy, City, Homer and

Turkey exhibition explores Troy using the statement

‘To me Troy is...’.

The exhibition starts with a brief introduction to Troy and the world of Homer. Just like Troy, Homer’s life is something of a mystery. No one knows for sure where and when he lived.

Troy, long held by academics to be a figment of the imagination, was discovered by the trader turned archaeologist Schliemann in 1871 (To me Troy is acknowledgment). His somewhat cavalier approach to archaeology inspired by his childhood dream of finding Priam’s treasure, the supposed jewels of which were worn by his wife of 30 years younger (To me Troy is my beauty), earned him a questionable reputation. Subsequent archaeologists were more meticulous, however.

The exhibition describes their work and displays some of the artefacts they found. This information is summarised in a computer model, which recreates how successive cities of Troy flourished and met their demise over a period of some four thousand years.

Yet Troy is far more than the Iliad or archaeological perspectives. It is a war whose outcome not even Zeus could influence and whose heroes inspired another mighty Greek, Alexander the Great.

Augustus Caesar traced Rome’s history back to Troy and at the peak of the Golden Age, the poet and playwright Joost van den Vondel claimed that Troy’s grandeur was mirrored in Amsterdam. Yet is not just Europeans who have appropriated Troy.

The exhibition also describes how Troy inspired Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (To me Troy is the victory at Gallipoli) and how it has helped to shape the modern state of Turkey. Some Turkish translations of the Iliad produced in the 1930s even claim that Homer was born in Turkey!

Finally the exhibition reflects on Troy now: a world heritage site, a major tourist attraction, the biennial Troy festival and the spate of Hollywood films.

To you Troy is ....?

T

What: Troy, City, Homer and Turkey (more than 300 artefacts on display)

Where: Allard Pearson Museum, Oude Turfmarkt 127, Amsterdam

When Until 5 May 2013.

Opening times: Tues-Fri 10.00 to 17.00 hours and weekends 13.00 to 17.00 hours

Cost: Adults 10 euros, children 5 euros, Museum-jaarkaart 2.50 euros and I AMsterdam Card free

Exhibition at Allard Pierson Museum until 5 May

To me TROY is...

Dave Thomas

britsoc event/ “Shakespeare Night”

“Shakespeare Night”

very year we meet to celebrate the birth of the Bard with a feast fit for an Elizabethan Queen. The entertainment is provided by whoever has the courage to stand and deliver a poem,

a recital or a song, original or borrowed. Broad imaginations and honed acting skills usually produce a hotchpotch of Shakespearean and other English delights; poetry, comedy monologues, stories, songs, quotes, puns, jokes - something for everyone.

You too can enjoy the spectacle, and even try your hand at giving your own unique interpretation of some of those English classics.

And, of course, “once more into the feast”, enjoying four courses of Chef Mike’s justly renowned English cuisine

Summary

E

What: Shakespeare Night

Where: Ma Brown’s, Nieuwgroenmarkt 31, 2011 TT Haarlem

When: Saturday 20 April

Times: From 19:00

Cost: Mike’s meal will cost around 36.00 Euros, separate tabs for drinks, and, of course, all the fun is free.

Contact: Paul Huxley at [email protected]

Shakespeare plus More at Ma Brown’s in Haarlem, Sat 20 April, 19:00

Paul Huxley

Shaking all over....

Shakespeare NightBe English for the evening and come along and join us in our unique annual

Shakestravaganzzzza!

poetry/“i wandered lonely as a chasm”

“i wandered lonely as a chasm”

Dave Thomas & John C. Richardson

poetscornerLongingchasm so imperceptibly vastcrippling inadequacies neither could grasp

desperate to see you but couldn’t be thereimpossible to convey feeling or care

never saw your faltering treadwas oblivious to words you purportedly said

emotionally stricken in relentless winter frostawaiting spring to redeem my loss

petals sporadically falling, sea in endless ebbhazy summers a mere recollection in my head

failing leaves of autumn, stripped to the coremellowed we met, with melancholy our score

© Dave Thomas 2013

poetry/

The Door is a JarYou see this jar?It’s full of scorpionsThe worst kind by farI’ve labeled it MoneyAnd keep in it the kitchen In case any financial advisors drop in for a cup of tea.

© John C. Richardson 2013

events// “WW1 battlefield tour”

Driving down to Belgium in private vehicles early Saturday morning, (car pooling can be arranged), the weekend will include visits to important

battlegrounds, monuments, cemeteries and take part in the impressive Last Post ceremony at the Menin Gate.

The costs for this trip are kept to a minimum by using private cars and using good, but modest hotel accommodation, which John can recommend.

The group will have an evening meal together Saturday evening to reflect on the days impressions and generally enjoy a weekend away.

Anyone interested to take part, please contact John before 6th April by e-mail: [email protected]

NOT TO BE MISSED:John Cameron-Webb is running a weekend guided battlefield

tour in and around Ypres on 20th -21st April.

YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU TO GO ON A BRITSOC WEEKENDFIRST WORLD WAR BATTLEFIELD TOUR

20-21 APRIL 2013

literature/ “literary quiz night”

[Liter-ary*)@

QUIZNIGHT

On 16 February, three teams of four people battled it out at the English Bookshop’s Winter Quiz night. They faced two rounds of tough questions on books ranging from science fiction through to plays and poetry.

There were an impressive number of correct answers even though the teams sometimes had to hang their luck on an educated guess.

With just three teams it was a fast and furious evening with a short break between the two rounds for a recuperating drink.

It was certainly less nerve-racking than Mastermind and there were plenty of laughs.

So if you feel you missed your chance then come along next time. It would be great to have five teams pitting their wits against each other!

mad march/ “mad amsterdam”

“mad amsterdam”

The MADDEST Facts about Amsterdam

and avoided the temptation to have huge out of town shopping malls and hypermarkets, which would draw the public away from the cheese specialist and the poultry seller.

The statue of the little woodcutter. I love this little man sawing the branch he is standing on. You can pass by this place a hundred times without spotting this adorable statue in the tree, despite being located in a very touristy place, directly opposite the bridge from the Leidseplein. This anonymous piece of art, in bronze and no taller than about 50 centimetres, has been here since 1989. The rumour is that it was created by Queen Beatrix but, whoever thought of it, it is one of my favourite Amsterdam charms.

The Begijnhof – an oasis of calm and tranquility away from the rumble of trams and tourist traffic near the Spui.

The Van Gogh Museum – for me this is the reason to own a museumkaart, so I can go again and again. World famous and one of the least stuffy museums you’ll ever visit. Measured by square kilometers, Amsterdam has the highest number of museums of all cities in the world. Amsterdam’s city administration counts 51 museums.

It’s possible to see top musicians, who are normally an impossible ticket sell out in the UK, in a small intimate venue like Paradiso or the Melkweg. Elvis Costello, Jarvis Cocker, Billy Bragg, Stereophonics, Jools Holland and even Prince to name a few. Much nicer than arena sized concerts!

The most MADDENING things about AmsterdamThe Traffic. On a zebra crossing you are fair game. Especially from bikes. Cycle paths could be renamed Psychopaths as bikes, like time, stop for no-one. As a pedestrian, getting across the road and avoiding bikes, then cars, then trams, plus scooters on the cycle paths and the occasional skater is a bit like playing a game of Frogger.

Water, water, everywhere….and not a drop to swim in! If you ever happen to fall into a canal, remember to close your mouth!

Dog Poo! Nuff said!

By Alison Smith

Coffee shops are not where you go for a tall skinny latte.

It is legal to buy and smoke cannabis in Amsterdam and you can do this in a “Coffeeshop” but it is ILLEGAL to smoke tobacco in a public bar, so, in principle, if you buy some cannabis and roll it up with tobacco and smoke it at the coffeeshop, the tobacco bit is the part that isn’t allowed.

Some brown cafés have carpets on the table, but no-one is allowed to walk on them.

One way streets sometimes have a No Entry sign at one end, then a Give Way sign at the other. I guess they know Amsterdammers love to bend the rules.

By some estimates, Amsterdam has more bikes (1 million) than people (about 750,000). There are twice as many bikes as cars in the country. More than 10 percent of all Amsterdam bicycles get stolen every year, so you’re actually better off with the basic bike, cheap and nondescript. Still, the fact that most bikes look very similar can be a real problem if you forget where you’ve parked. Most cities have multi-storey car parks. In Amsterdam there is a three-storey bike parking structure next to Amsterdam’s Centraal Station.

Amsterdam is a capital city without a parliament

Why I’m MAD about Amsterdam

You can walk everywhere, or cycle. Amsterdam is a grown-up village with many of the pleasures of a city and the convenient walking distances of a small town.

The 9 straatjes – These shopping streets, just off the main canals, have the most amazing array of individually owned boutiques, some with bizarre themes. For example there is a shop which only sells toothbrushes, another only sells light bulbs, another sells candles, from scented tealights to massive altar candles and another has a huge collection of curtain tassles.

It’s very charming how the city has managed to keep the grocery shopping local, literally the butcher, the baker and the candle (stick) maker

“No-one can be uncheered with a balloon”

food glorious/ “chicken cous cous + tangdi kebab”

“chicken cous cous + tangdi kebab”

Karen Vivers

Harissa Chicken with

Cous Cous and Roast Peppers

Karen Vivers, originally from Scotland, has lived here in Amsterdam since 1997, and has set up the Cooking Coach to help inspire people to get back into the kitchen.

The basis of the cooking lessons are easy, tasty, healthy recipes. Each course starts with a free introduction session, to make sure that you only cook what you like to eat.

As well as cooking lessons, Karen offers Culinary Tours in Amsterdam, is a passionate Food Blogger and works freelance as a Culinary Consultant, specialising in small and medium businesses, helping them get started, grow and deal with commercial challenges.>>

food glorious/Harissa Chicken with Cous Cous and Roast PeppersNormally, I’m not one for following food trends for my inspiration for recipes, or at least I am not aware of it. I usually get inspiration from the season, from ingredients, from my past, my family and also from travelling.

However, it seems that with this recipe I seem to be right on trend. Without realizing it, I have been beavering away, building up my recipe selection from the Middle East and North Africa, and it turns out that the culinary movers and shakers have been doing the same thing.

My introduction to spice, as I am sure it is for many Brits, was through Indian cuisine, which is known for its robust flavours and bold use of lots of exotic spices. This is where I started, the bigger the flavour the better – I thought.

Then, I decided to get a little more clever about it and try to adapt my heavy handed approach to some much more subtle style curries. From here, I moved onto the even more subtle Eastern Mediterranean and North African flavour combinations of some spice, herbs and citrus/sour flavourings. Anyway, that goes some way to explaining my personal inspiration for this dish.

With regards the historical and geographical elements of this dish, I’m not going to pretend that it is completely authentic, but it certainly has lots of authentic elements. For a start, cous cous. A type of semolina which is used in North Africa in many dishes, usually lightly flavoured with some herbs and butter or oil.

Cous cous has travelled far in culinary estimations, so much so that it was voted the favourite type of food by the French! (served with the lightly spiced stew type tagine meals). I am not ashamed to admit that I tried to make cous cous years ago and it failed miserably, because I tried to cook it like pasta, leaving me with a big soggy, sodden, wet mess. After this, I left it alone for a long time, before realizing that it doesn’t even need to be cooked, but just steeped in hot water or stock.

Harissa paste or spice is also an authentic element to this dish. Harissa is a mix of piri piri, Serrano pepper, other hot chilli’s, garlic, coriander and caraway. As with garam masala (Indian spice mix), not every harissa mix is exactly the same. The dressing for the cous cous salad is a fabulous, but very simple, warming spice combination of cumin and cinnamon, which through my learning process of these cuisines, I have found is very often the base for dressings or mild curry type dishes and tagines.

This recipe has become one of the most popular ones to make amongst my clients, that’s my reason for sharing it with you – not just to look like a trendy cook!

Harissa ChickenPreparation Time: 5 minutesCooking Time: 30 minutes Ingredients for 4 Servings. 8 x chicken thighs1 x tbsp honeyJuice of a lemon2 x tbsp harissa paste (you may need more or less de-pending on the size of the chicken pieces.)1 x tsp ground cumin1 x tsp ground coriander1 x tsp paprikaSalt and freshly ground black pepper Method1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.

2. Line a roasting tray with aluminium foil. Use enough foil that you can cover the chicken for the first half of cooking time to protect the skin from burning. Make sure though that the foil doesn’t touch the chicken as it will lift off your harissa rub when it is removed.

3. Mix the juice of half of the lemon with the honey, harissa paste, cumin, coriander, paprika and olive oil.

4. Place your chicken pieces in the tray and drizzle over your harissa mix, sprinkle some salt and pepper over.

5. Place the tray in the oven for about 20 minutes, then remove the foil from the top and roast for a further 10 to 15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the skin is crispy.

Tips and Variations• Serve with some roasted sweet potato and a simple green salad.

• Another option for the paste is 2 tbsp harissa paste with 2 tsp tomato ketchup – it’s a milder version (and easier!)

• Great with other cous cous or bulgar wheat based salads.

• Harissa is a North African, Tunisian flavour. If you can’t find it in the supermarket, try Moroccan or Turkish stores. It can be quite spicy.

• You can also use chicken fillets for a lighter version. If you do this, try slicing the chicken into thin esca lopes, and marinating them in the harissa mix for about 30 minutes. This will need much less cooking time.

food glorious/Cous Cous Salad with Roast PeppersPreparation Time: 15 minutesCooking Time: 20 minutes Ingredients for 4 Servings. For the Cous Cous Salad200gr cous cous.300ml hot water from a recently boiled kettle.2 x red peppers and 1 x yellow pepper, de-seeded, chopped in about 3cm square pieces.50gr dried cranberries (raisins or chopped dried apri-cots work too).2 x red onions chopped in thin rings.3 x spring onions chopped finely.Handful of fresh mint leaves chopped finely.Seeds of one pomegranate (optional – I only use when in season).100gr of toasted almonds.2 x handfuls of baby spinach (or rocket) leaves, chopped roughly.50 gr of Feta, crumbled (optional).

For the Dressing2 x tbsp olive oil and 2 x tbsp extra virgin olive oil.1 x lemon, juiced and zested.3 x cloves of garlic, crushed1 x tsp honey, 1 x tsp cinnam.on, 1 x tsp cumin seeds.Salt and black pepper to taste.

Method1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.

2. Place the peppers and red onion in a roasting tin and rub the vegetables all over with the olive oil and place them in the oven for about 20 to 30 minutes or until they are slightly browned and cooked through. The cooking time will depend on your oven, so check after 15 minutes, but don’t be surprised if it takes a good bit longer.

3. To toast the almonds, put a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat put the almonds in the pan until they are brown, turning to get as much toasting as possible. Be careful as this can happen all of a sudden. When ready, set them aside.

4. To make the dressing: take a small, non-stick pan, put it on a medium heat and add the cinnamon and cumin until they give off more scent. This should only take 2 minutes. Then, turn the heat low and add the lemon juice, garlic, zest, extra virgin olive oil and honey. Mix through, remove from the heat, season to taste and set aside.

5. Place the spinach leaves, mint and the spring onions in your serving bowl.

6. Place the cous cous in a large mixing bowl, pour in the hot water, cover the bowl with cling film and leave for 15 minutes. The cous cous will soak up the liquid, and the flavour. When it is ready, remove the cling and fork through to separate the grains. Pour the cous cous into your salad bowl with the spinach, mint and spring onions.

7. When your vegetables are ready, pour them into the serving bowl, mix through, then pour over the dressing and mix through.

8. Check the salad for seasoning. Sprinkle over the crumbled feta, dried fruit, pomegranate seeds and the toasted almonds.

9. This salad should be served at room temperature, it keeps very well and can be eaten for a couple of days afterwards.

Tips and Variations• Try with other types of roasted vegetables, aubergine works well as does roasted carrots.

• You can also make the cous cous with vegetable or chicken stock instead of plain water.

• Swap the cous cous for rice, bulgar wheat or quinoa.

• If you plan to keep this salad till the next day, the mint leaves can turn black, so you can add them at the end on your plate.

• Although you can serve this on its own, one of my favourite meals is to serve the cous cous with my Harissa chicken. Really good with roast chicken as well or roast lamb, great with little lamb chops too.

The Cooking Coach Love Food, Live Healthy

www.thecookingcoach.eu

Mobile : 06 1424 0009Email: [email protected]

food glorious/ “chicken tangdi kabab”

“chicken tangdi kabab”

food glorious/

Chicken Tangdi Kabab

The collection of my recipes emphasise the simple way of cooking Indian food with minimum ingredients without losing flavour. My recipes are easy to follow for even amateur cooks and the Videos make it simple to learn how to cook Indian food.

Chicken Tangdi Kabab

Chicken drumsticks marinated in a not so spicy yoghurt marinade, overnight for best flavor. Can be grilled in the oven or on a barbecue. If you like it spicy, you can add 1-2 green chillies while grinding ginger garlic.

Serves 4 persons

Serves 4 persons

Ingredients: 1 kg chicken drumsticks (8-10 pieces) For Marinade: 4 tbsp yoghurt5 large cloves of garlic & 1 inch of ginger – ground to a paste¼ tsp haldi, 1 tsp garam masala powder1 tsp Salt

Tip:To make your kababs spicy, you can add green chillies or chilli powder to the ginger garlic paste.

Video for Ingredientshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfZobEl0v0A

Video for Preparationhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmO7RuloTZM

Preparation:

1. Mix all ingredients for marinade. 2. Prick the chicken drumsticks with a fork.3. Put the chicken pieces in the marinade and rub it in well.4. Cover all the pieces well with the marinade.5. Marinate chicken drumsticks in the marinade overnight preferably or at least 4 - 5 hours in a refrigerator. 6. Smear a little oil on an oven proof dish.7. Place the chicken pieces in the dish. Preheat oven grill at 180 degree Centi grade Grill and Bake function.8. Put the chicken on a tray in the middle rack and allow it to cook for about 30 minutes. 9. In approximately 30 minutes, check if the chicken pieces are cooked and soft.10. Shift the chicken to a higher rack so that it can get grilled and brown. Grill in oven till brown. 11. In approximately 15 minutes, the chicken pieces will be evenly browned. The pieces should look succulent and not too dry.12. Serve with Hara Dhaniya (Coriander) chutney or Mint chutney.

My iBook and SimpleIndianFood Apps are available on the App Store with a collection of recipes ranging from Starters, Vegetarian Mains, Lentils, Non-Vegetarian Mains ideas to even Breads.

They will help you cook delicious Indian Food without much effort. The recipes are simple to follow and each recipe has a video of the ingredients and preparation. There is also step-by-step gallery so that you can follow each step of the recipe clearly and see how the food looks at every stage of the preparation.

A glossary helps you identify the ingredients with photos & description besides giv-ing their common name in English. I have also included a guide to online shopping for Indian ingredients.

My Cookbook and Apps are ideal for:

o Non-Indians who love Indian flavours but find recipes with many ingredients complicated.

o Young couples who never found time to learn cooking when they were back home but now miss their mom’s cooking.

o Amateur cooks who would like to learn basics of Indian Cooking

food glorious/

Home Cooking Made Easy

theatre/ “darling, sweetie, darling”

“darling, sweetie, darling”

Orange Tea Theatre presents "Hertz" Written and Directed by Sam Morris

Hertz is an immersive theatre experience, placing the audience at the centre of a young woman's journey of losing her sight and regaining her confidence. Performed entirely in the dark, Hertz utilizes as many other senses as possible to build a complete world without sight. As the woman walks down a busy street, we share her experience of the wind, rain, buskers, and cafe smells. We are also let into her private thoughts, hearing her inner monologue simultaneously as the action unfolds, allowing the audience to identify ever more with her. In total, the effect is one of 'being' the character as much as possible, sharing her thoughts, words and sensations.

After waking up in hospital to discover she has permanently lost her sight, and temporarily much of her manual dexterity, Lucy must come to terms with her new world. Her physical therapy takes the form of re-learning the cello, to improve her co-ordination, fine motor control and hearing. As her relationship is put under strain and Lucy herself struggles to swallow her pride and ask for the help she needs, her cello teacher becomes a port in the storm, providing much more than musical tuition. Finally, as Lucy begins her first public cello performance, the audience regains their sight to see their only visual impression of the piece - to see her as she plays, regaining the confidence she had before, and ready to move forward.

Hertz will take place at the Melkweg Theatre from the 14th to the 17th March. Following this we hope to tour to festivals, the rest of Holland and the UK.

Orange Tea Theatre perform English language plays in Amsterdam and the wider area. We focus on modern plays and new writing, chosen to invite, engage and stimulate our audience.

Tickets from Melkweg - €16 full price, €11 students.

www.orangeteatheatre.com

[email protected]

Tel: 0619624639

http://www.orangeteatheatre.com

http://www.orangeteatheatre.com

The Polanentheater is a charming, intimate small theatre in Old West, Amsterdam.

It is possible to have a meal before the start of the evening performance (phone first 020 6821311) and there is a a good bar for a beer after the show where you can meet the cast.

You can reserve tickets on the website : http://www.polanentheater.nlThe Polanentheater is located in the Polanenstaat 174, Amsterdam.

This is in Westerpark, Spaarndammerbuurt.From Amsterdam Central Station take bus 22, 48 or 49 (direction Zaanstraat / Spaarndammerbuurt)

- Line 22: stop at ‘Nova Zembla Square’ in Spaarndammerstraat, cross over at Knol-lendamstraat, the second street on the right is the Polanenstraat.

- Line 48 and 49: stop at Spaarndammer-straat, cross over at Hembrugstraat, the second street on the left is the Polanenstraat.

An InPlayers production

www.inplayers.org

Inplayers Amsterdam is proud to present

Death in the Livingby Mike Williams

Death in the Living is a musical revue comprising nine scenes and ten original songs based on the themes of Faith, War and Death.

Beginning in ancient times during a bizarre ritualistic ceremony and ending on a charming English green, we enter into a number of fantastic comical worlds populated by druids, Morris dancers and a doubting priest.

Music, comedy and drama combine to present a humorous and thoughtful portrayal of our experiences of this world and our expectations of the next.

Performance dates: March 13th - 8:30pm March 14th - 8:30pm March 15th - 8:30pm March 16th - 2:30pm, 8:30pm March 17th - 2:30pm

Venue: Polanentheater, Polanenstraat 174, Amsterdam

Admission €17 ,concessions € 15, matinees €13

Parental Advisory: in spite of the matinee performances this show is not suitable for young children

joke of the month/

“ha! ha! ho! ho

Joke of the Month-Mad MarchTold by Alison Smith

Paddy took two stuffed dogs to the Antiques Roadshow.

“Ooh!” said the presenter, “This is a very rare set, produced by the celebrated Johns Brothers, taxidermists who operated in London at the turn of last century.Do you have any idea what they would fetch if they were in good condition?”

“Sticks?” Paddy said.

-------------------------

Celibacy can be a choice in life, or a condition imposed by circumstances.

While attending a harmony for couples weekend, Dave and his Partner, Ann, listened to the instructor declare, “It is essential that husbands and wives know the things that are important to each other.”

He then addressed the men, “Can you name and describe your wife’s favourite flower?”

Dave leaned over, touched Ann’s arm gently, and whis-pered, “It’s Homepride, isn’t it?” Thus began Dave’s life of celibacy.

!!!!!!

!…Wish you were organized

…Not enough time? …Too long to do list?

…Trying to get 30 hours per day in 24 hours? !

Everything you don’t have time for… Consider it done! !

Personal organization services Expat, relocation services

Personal shopping Gift selection and delivering

Business and personal travel arrangements Moving coordination

Restaurant and Hotel reservation Sporting events and concert tickets

Hiring a personal trainer School and kindergarten selection

Chefs and catering Pet care coordination

Errand running Party planning and custom events

Invitations - change of address or birth announcements …Anything and everything…

!

Consider it done!

Consider it done! Prinses Irenelaan 1 1182 BJ Amstelveen

06-212 47 568 020-3316 521

"#$%&'#(')*"&+#$&,+)*#-./",#$+./0*1!2220')*"&+#$&,+)*#-./",#$+./0*1!

3#4"&,#!&*!5.6.*#"#!!

zine magazine march 2013

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