ACCESS NL > Features > Amsterdam Kitchen: A tasty podcast
Amsterdam Kitchen: A tasty podcast
2021-02-09 | By Giulia Quaresima
Particularly at the moment, the kitchen seems to be the perfect place to spend time and energy and to release stress. Amsterdam Kitchen is an English-language radio show and podcast full of mouth-watering culinary inspiration.
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, with health and government officials urging us to stay home as much as possible, and with restaurants closed and food deliveries reduced to essentials, many of us have rediscovered the pleasure of cooking. The kitchen seems once more to be the centre of domestic life, and if social media is to be believed, cooking has been one of the most common activities during lockdown.
Being right in the moment, in the kitchen, hands busy with gluey dough, is surely the best place in the house to allow any bad thoughts to flow away. It’s inevitable that our relationship with food and cooking might have been impacted by these unprecedented times–from missing our beloved restaurant, to wishing to explore different food traditions around the world, to missing family meals in particular. But the present situation might also give us the time at home to try new recipes and improve cooking skills, whether as a passionate home chef or just as an enthusiastic eater.
Podcasts
Food podcasts offer access to new recipes, kitchen tips and ideas, and are a perfect resource for current, or any, times. A podcast is digital audio, often structured as an audio blog, and usually available as a series, published in episodes; they are accessible online, to download or stream, and cover a huge range of topics, such as politics, news, languages, and movie reviews.
Broadcast Amsterdam – the organisation behind Amsterdam Kitchen – was born in Amsterdam in 2014. Growing from an idea to share stories, the small team of volunteers aims “to provide accessible English-language information and lifestyle content, mainly for the benefit of international residents who have not yet mastered the Dutch language and who desire a better understanding and engagement with local, cultural life, plus the unique opportunities and challenges of living and working in this great city.” It goes without saying that while some of their content is Amsterdam-based, it has relevance for internationals across the Netherlands. The team also makes original videos for their YouTube channel, have a regular slot on local TV, and in March 2018 launched a new, independent, internet radio station. Broadcast Amsterdam is also a partner of ACCESS.
Amsterdam Kitchen
Now in its fourth season, the network’s food series, Amsterdam Kitchen, covers food stories, events, seasonal cooking ideas, interviews with local chefs and even tips on growing your own food. It can be listened to live on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon on the Amsterdam Broadcast website, delayed through their On Demand page, or as a podcast through Spotify and other platforms. The shows are handily available in two versions–a full radio one with music breaks, or talk-only containing just the interview segments.
Amsterdam Kitchen covers a range of food-related topics. In recent times they have talked about the current lockdown situation, from food delivery news–now that restaurants and cafes are closed– and take-away options, and even cycle-through restaurants. They’ve looked at Amsterdam BBQ spots and local picnic places, alongside their more regular restaurant and culinary course reviews, and food events and festivals.
Music and guests
The show is enriched with music breaks and an excellent cast of interviewees from the food industry. Episodes have seen Charlotte Kleyn, a food historian, discuss Dutch eating habits, and an interview with Edu Hernández and Rafa Ramos of Farmsterdammer, a new initiative to encourage people to grow their own vegetables by sharing ideas, seedlings and pick-up places.
The shows also contain exotic culinary tips from many of the Netherlands’ internationals, including representatives of Surinamese, Greek, Japanese and Korean communities. There are also features on such curiosities as the first take-away pizza delivered in the Netherlands, in addition to a lesson on Hollandse nieuwe haring and a mystery involving white asparagus!
Other subjects have included the necessity for a healthy diet for wellness of mind and body, winkelwagen (shopping cart) tips for gluten-free and vegetarian dishes, street market reviews, and wine reviews. However, the driving force behind this excellent podcast remains people’s life stories–full of ups and downs, legal battles, solid ideals, and special details, but always with, of course, a strong passion for the kitchen and food.
Interested to read more? Click here to learn more about Dutch food.
About the author
Having lived in The Hague since 2018, Giulia Quaresima, as a typical Italian still loves cooking traditional dishes.