Chef Hans Over from restaurant Voilà takes you on a culinary day trip through Groningen. For his asparagus soup, he uses asparagus from the Groningen countryside, shrimps from Zoutkamp and salty sea vegetables, freshly picked in Noordpolderzijl. Cooking with local produce at its very best, you can too! We share his recipe here.
A culinary day trip through the province
It is actually quite strange: you can buy the most exotic ingredients at the supermarket, but to cook with only fresh local produce, you often have to make a detour. Fortunately, this is not a punishment in Groningen. Certainly not if you combine shopping with a relaxing road trip over the beautiful back roads of the Groningen countryside. Such a trip is rewarded, because asparagus harvested on the same day is not something you will easily find in the supermarket around the corner. For Hans, shopping is serious business, and today he takes you to Meinardi in Noordbroek, where the asparagus are so fresh that even the tips still glisten with juice. And for the tasty Dutch shrimps from SOLT' s Zoutkamper fishermen he drives to the Wadden Sea, the place that today also functions as a self-picking garden for a handful of salty sea vegetables.
“ “For a farmer, an onion isn’t just an onion. There’s a story behind it!” ”
Hans Over – Restaurant Voilà
The concept
1. Making roux
Ingredients:
50 grams of butter
50 grams of flour
Melt the butter over a low heat in a small pan. Add the flour a little at a time, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula. Allow the flour to cook gently. The flour must not change colour. If it remains damp, add a little more flour until you have a dry roux. Once cooked, leave it to cool gently.
2. Building connections
Ingredients:
1 egg yolk
100 ml cream
Combine the egg yolk and cream and mix with a whisk (do not beat)
3. Making asparagus stock
Ingredients:
250 grams of asparagus peelings
2 litres of water
10 peppercorns
4 mace
2 cloves
2 bay leaves
salt to taste
1/2 lemon
Crush the peppercorns and place everything in a large saucepan. Bring the mixture slowly to the boil. As soon as it comes to the boil, turn off the heat and leave the saucepan to stand for an hour. Pour the stock through a fine sieve into another saucepan.
4. Garnishes
A few lovely pieces of asparagus (particularly the tips)
Fresh samphire and sea lavender from the Wadden Sea
Dutch prawns from Zoutkamp
Blanch the nice pieces of asparagus in asparagus stock until al dente, then leave to cool.
5. Making asparagus velouté
Ingredients:
50 grams of chopped onion
1 clove of finely chopped garlic
50 grams of roux (stap 1)
1 litre of asparagus stock (stap 3)
500 grams of asparagus (soup-cut pieces, peeled)
liaison to taste (stap 2)
Put a small knob of butter in the pan and place the pan over a low heat. Allow the butter to melt gently. Gently fry the onion and garlic in this. Add the roux. Allow the roux to heat through slowly, then turn the heat up to high. Stirring constantly with a whisk, add the stock a little at a time. Bring the stock to the boil whilst continuing to stir. Add the chopped asparagus and leave everything to simmer gently until the asparagus is tender. Purée everything with a hand blender until the soup is smooth. Just before serving, add the liaison to the soup and stir everything through thoroughly. Please note: the soup must not be allowed to boil at this stage, as the egg yolks will curdle and the soup will separate.
6. Designing signage
Spoon a generous portion of prawns onto the plate. Garnish with the asparagus and the briny sea vegetables. Pour the soup alongside the dish. Delicious with a slice of sourdough bread and a generous dollop of farm butter.
