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Hutspot (Dutch stew)

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pitrow View Drop Down
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    Posted: 26 March 2012 at 09:25
Hutspot (pronounced: Hoots'pot)

From Wikipedia:
According to legend, the recipe came from the cooked bits of potato left behind by hastily departing Spanish soldiers during their Siege of Leiden in 1574 during the Eighty Year's War, when the liberators breached the dikes of the lower lying polders surrounding the city. This flooded all the fields around the city with about a foot of water. As there were few, if any, high points, the Spanish soldiers camping in the fields were essentially flushed out.

The anniversary of this event, known as Leidens Ontzet, is still celebrated every October 3 in Leiden and by Dutch expatriates the world over. Traditionally, the celebration includes consumption of a lot of "Hutspot met klapstuk/stooflap" (Hotchpotch with chuck roast/beef shoulder chops).

The first European record of the potato is as late as 1537, by the Spanish conquistador Juan de Castellanos, and it spread quite slowly throughout Europe from thereon. So the original legend probably should refer to what the Dutch call a 'sweet potato' or pastinaak which is a parsnip; this vegetable played a similar role in Dutch cuisine prior to the use of the potato as a staple food.




Recipe
  • 1 lb lean roast (beef or pork)
  • salt
  • 2/3 lb onion
  • 4 lbs potatoes
  • 2 lb carrots
  • milk
  • 4 tbsp fat, butter or margarine
  • pepper

Wash meat, boil in about 2 cups water and salt (I would guess about 1 tsp or so, she didn't remember exactly) for about two hours. Wash and mince carrots. Peel and slice onions and potatoes. Add carrots, onion and potatoes to meat. Boil about 30 minutes, until done. Remove meat from pan. Mash all the vegetables and add fat, butter or margarine and pepper to taste. If it is too thick, add some milk, but a spoon should be able to stand up in it. Serve with the meat.


A couple notes from me:  Mom didn't have the recipe written down so this is more or less from her memory. From what I remember as a kid she usually used pork, since it was cheaper than beef.  Most of the time she would cut the pork into 1/2 inch cubes, which would make it cook faster so you didn't need to boil it for 2 hours, though traditionally I believe it's cooked as a whole roast and sliced thin.  I do recall that it seemed like the carrots and onions were smashed pretty good, but she left the potatoes a little lumpy, about the size of a marble I'd say, so that it wasn't completely mush when you ate it.

As Chris said in the other thread, there are many many variations on this, so play around with it and find the way you like it.
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TasunkaWitko View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 March 2012 at 09:39
sounds really good, mike! if i get the chance, i'll be trying it before the last vestiges of winter are gone - if not, then, it will be near the top of my list this fall!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Margi Cintrano Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 March 2012 at 12:33
Enjoyed tremendously the historic introduction ... Great job.
This meat stew is simple to prepare --- a woman´s professional dilemma during the week ...
 
Thanks for posting.
Margi.
 
Volamos a Mediterraneo, un paraiso que conquista su gente u su cocina.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Karl Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 March 2012 at 14:51
I especially appreciate 16th century recipes.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ChrisFlanders Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 March 2012 at 06:18

Mike, your hutspot is indeed as expected very different from the "Vlaamse hutsepot" (flemish hutsepot), many times known as "stamppot". Even in this small pocketsize country there are many variations but there are 2 kind of mainstreams; one that fries the meat first and another that cooks all the meat in water. Which is best? I tried both and they are equally delicious but the one I'm very familiar with is the first one. Seems hutsepot was already known in the dark Middle Ages where people obviously used vegetables known and locally grown at that time. Veg and meat went into a large "husselpot" (husselen means to mix) or in a more french sounding "hochepot" a typical Belgian dish also known in some parts of France. I guess hutsepot was the dish "par excellence" to get rid of a lot of vegetables that were not all that fresh anymore; remember, there were no fridges, many root vegetables were kept in winter in a hole in the ground beneath the frost level.

Hutsepot is many times called "stamppot". I remember my mother using a very large wooden pestle to crush the hutsepot just a little after it was cooked. The verb "stampen" in "stamppot" means to pound. In a Brussels dialect they use the same verb but pronounced "stoempen" from which the dish "stoemp" (pronounce stoomp) has its name. This is mostly potatoes with just one vegetable, a bit but not entirely like Mike's hutspot. Stoemp is quite a big thing all over Flanders, there are cookbooks written on the subject, but that's for another time.

Hutsepot is not a meat stew nor a soup. It is somewhat comparable to Irish stew. It's a veg stew with meat and it has to be eaten with a fork not a spoon, which already implies that it has to be exactly right; not too much nor too little moist. A nice brown-ish color is very much wanted. And, it has to rest overnight and be reheated the day after to deploy all of its fantastic flavour. One thing on "Vlaamse hutsepot"; you cannot make small portions, there are simply too many ingredients. But, it can be frozen!

Vlaamse hutsepot or stamppot as I remember it;

Ingredients; The vegetables; onion, carrot, savoy cabbage (a must!!), parsnip, turnip, just a little Brussels sprouts, white celery. And quite a lot of potatoes compared to the other vegetables. All the vegetables need to be cleaned, peeled and cut in more or less the same rather chunky size (not to small).

The meat; pork; sausage, ribs, spiering koteletten (don't know the english translation), fresh pork belly and a little leaner pork meat. Sometimes marrow bones. Many times also beef; chuck or "bouillie" as we call it.

Preparation; use a very large cast iron pot! Start with searing all meat very well, cut in smaller pieces only if necessary. Remove the meat when nicely colored, then add the onion in the same fat and let color well. Remove from the pot. Put the meat back in and cover with all the vegetables except for the potatoes. Add water just 2 fingers high. Sometimes a few bouillon cubes are crumbled in (use stock if you want to). Add seasoning; s&p, freshly grated nutmeg, sprig of thyme and a bay leaf.

Let cook on high fire for a couple of minutes, then reduce fire to low; the vegetables have to be done but may never be cooked into a puree!!!. Let cook that way for a good 2 hours, covered. Then add the potatoes on top and cook further the same way until done. Check the water level from time to time, the preparation cannot cook dry.

Remove all meat and crush the vegetables just a little but it has to remain chunky. Serve with dark bread and mustard and... a good dark beer.

Remember; it tastes always best the next day!! As a sidenote; many times a few cloves were added when the preparation was preserved for the next day. The cloves were preventing bacteria...

Vlaamse hutsepot, perhaps more known as "Gentse hutsepot" (from the Gent Region);

The difference is that they also use pork ears, pork tail, pok trotters plus some or every other meat mentioned in the previous recipe. Many times a little lambmeat is added too. The vegetables are mostly the same.

Preparation; start with blanching all meat for a few minutes in boiling water. Remove the meat and rinse under cold water. The blanching water is now full of impureties and is no longer used. Now start with browning the onions. Put all blanched meat in and cover -only just- with cold water. Now add all vegetables the same way as the recipe above, potatoes come later.

Another aside; keep the outer large tough leaves from the savoy cabbage intact. When you have too many ingredients for your pot, you can use these to cover the preparation until it all has shrunk...

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote pitrow Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 March 2012 at 09:01
Nice Chris, I'm going to have to try your version one of these days, sounds like a great meal too!

On the stamppot / hutspot thing, it's my understanding that stamppot is a much broader term that refers to any of several dishes that involve mashed vegetables, hutspot being a type of stamppot. Again, that may be a regional thing too. I know my mom always made a stamppot with kale (boorenkool), potatoes and pork. If kale wasn't so expensive around here I'd love to make that one again.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 March 2012 at 09:21
wonderful comments and infomraiton, chris ~ thanks for posting.
 
regarding the "spiering koteletten," i can say with good confidence that the "koteletten" part must refer to "cutlets" in english, such as a "chop" on pork or lamb or a rib steak on beef. for the "spiering," it took a little work. the single word itself looks to be dutch for smelt, which is a small fish:
 
 
however, using the entire phrase, it translates from dutch into "eel cutlets," which would be an entirely different proposition:
 
 
my guess is that it would be the eel?
 
[EDIT:] not even close! keep reading below!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 March 2012 at 09:41
a little more research proves me to be VERY wrong! as i continued my search, i came up with this page:
 
 
which has a chart for BEEF (not fish!):
 
 
as you can see, the chart indicates that spiering koteletten appears to be a cutlet from the upper neck (or possibly the extreme forward part of the loin) of the animal. scrolling down, i discovered that the animal in question can be beef or pork (not fish!):
 
 
this pork connection was confirmed by another site:
 
 
 
Point #1 is described as the "rugstuk", or "saddle" - containing, among other cuts, "spiering." clicking on the link for spiering gave me this:
 
Quote De spiering is het nekstuk van het varken. Het is een sappig en smaakvol stuk. Weliswaar is er tussen de spieren nogal wat vet aanwezig, maar dit geeft extra smaak. Verwerkt in hutsepot of een stoofschotel is het uiterst geschikt. Bereid als gebraad geeft het een aparte smaak. Spieringkoteletten doen het uitstekend op de barbecue.
 
thank goodness for google!
 
Quote The smelt is the neckpiece of the pig. It is a juicy and flavorful piece. Although there is a lot of fat between the muscles there, but it gives extra flavor. Processed in a casserole or stew is highly suitable. Prepared as roast gives it a distinct flavor. Spiering chops doing great on the barbecue.
 
now, as we all know, google's translator can be clunky indeed, but one can usually get enough to figure out what's going on. based on this, i am concluding that spiering koteletten is a cutlet from the neck or extreme forward part of the loin from a pork or beef (not fish!). having butchered many deer, i would say that this cut is perfect for long, slow-cooking dishes such as hutspot, stamppot, carbonade and similar dishes. in fact, as i recall, spain's estofado de carne de toro, a similar dish, mentions the use of the neck meat.
 
mystery solved, i hope! Approve 
 
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ChrisFlanders Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 March 2012 at 11:32

Hey Mike, you're right, stamppot could indeed be a broader term in which dishes like huts(e)pot fit. I can only say that a dish like this -given it's well made, which is not so evident!- is something you remember all your life. Sounds idiotic but it isn't, it's the summum of comfort food. It is a dish with quite a bit of work and ment to be served to a whole lot of people, in the old days families had like 5+ kids and grandparents under one roof, lots of mouths to feed.

I made the recipe I posted only 2 times in my life and I never succeeded to make it taste like it should... Luckily enough there are restaurants serving this in wintertime.

And oh yes, I didn't mention the famous boerenkool or kale in english. One of THE top dishes in Holland is "Boerenkool met worst"(boeren means farmers, kool means kale in this case, worst means sausage) or simple said, kale with smoked sausage (it has to be Unox, ask your mom!). Strangely enough we know the dish mostly only by name in Belgium, only a good 2-3 hours drive away from kale country. Kale is even very hard to find in Belgium.

Ron, yup, it's number 7 on the last image. A piece of meat with a good deal of fat in it (fat=taste). In french it's called échine de porc, if I remember well. Thanks for the nice links!

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Melissa Mead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 31 March 2019 at 08:50
I started researching this last night, and most of the versions I found were just potatoes with veggies, kind of like Irish colcannon, only with gravy in the middle instead of butter. Is this a new trend?
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