June Zine 2014 by British Society Of Amsterdam

ZINE #615 June 2014

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 info@britams.nl.

“It’s a friendly, caring community”

TEACHING PEOPLE, NOT JUST TOPICS

Federico Age 14 Italian/Dutch

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Contents

chair/ “chairman” Page 7 events/ “mass blind date” Pa events/ “sailing in nl” Page 10 sports/ “rugby 7s” Page 12 review/ “beth’s book review review/ “a’dam book review interview/ “jan van den berg review/ “shakespeare night” article/ “stephen hawkins” P britain/ “scottish vote” Page 28 competition/ “win hard rock p food/ “cooking coach” Page 42

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Colophon >

age 8 ZINE

w” Page 14 w” Page 16 g” Page 18 ” Page 22

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ADVERTISING

ADVERTISING SALES Andy Symmonds | asymmo@gmail.com

PUBLISHING

PUBLISHED BY John Richardson | JohnTheCopywriter.com FLIP MAGAZINE PUBLISHING PLATFORM www.issuu.com

prize”

EDITORIAL

ISSUE #615

Page 34

SUBSCRIPTIONS AND FEEDBACK Alison Smith | editor@britsoc.nl www.britsoc.nl

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Internationally Focussed An education that provides both opportunity and challenge inside and outside the classroom. A school where talent and excellence is fostered and potential is fully realised.

www.britishschool.nl Page 6

Internationally British

chairman’s blog/ June 2014

Dear Readers, I am very pleased to report that the latest of our “big 5” events was another great success. Shakespeare’s birthday was celebrated in style and with a gusto and humour fitting the Bard. This has always been a popular event with a limited capacity, but this year saw us forced to change venue, so we were a little concerned. Unnecessarily as it turned out: Paul Huxley did a great job of organising again and obviously convinced our new hosts of the importance of good food and wine at a good price. Thanks, Paul! Leaving our old venue, home to about 15 years of BritSoc Shakespeare, we were warmly welcomed by Greenwood’s on the Keizersgracht. Quality and service were excellent and I would recommend a visit – they serve a really good cup of tea too! The acting and reading was a lot of fun and almost everybody was involved in something. Next event for us is the Mass Blind Date on June 20th, so look for entry details and please join our usually large group of (mostly) singles for a fun evening. The value of our committee members and event organisers can never be overestimated. They work tirelessly and voluntarily to make things happen for our benefit. It is always sad to see someone leave and I would like to extend a huge Thank You to Jan van den Berg, who is stepping down after 17 years(!!) as our advertising coordinator. Jan’s played a large role in producing our magazine when it was a printed publication and has kept our income flowing by keeping our advertisers happy. On behalf of all BritSoc, thanks Jan and all the best for your exotic plans in the future. I am writing while recovering from a sport related injury, so urge you all to be careful, but remember that Golf and Sailing are now active again as we move into our full summer sports schedule. Here’s hoping for sunshine to go with the outdoors activities. Of course the big one this summer is the FIFA World Cup from Brazil, which will have started before our next issue. The atmosphere around a game is enough to draw even those who are not fans out for a party. So if anybody comes up with the venue, we will advertise through our media and let’s try to make a BritSoccer night happen!! See you out there.

Ian Cherington Chairman chair@britsoc.nl

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Mass Blind Date

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Café de Jaren to swap dates or swap

AMSTERDAM

Mass Blind Date Friday, June 20, 20.00 - 21.30

Where: in bars in the centre of Amsterdam for the date then Café de Jaren, Nieuwe Doelenstraat, for the after-party.

stories with everyone else on the date. To meet each other, men are told to go to a particular bar, stand in a specific area, and carry an identifying object – it could be a flower, an artichoke or anything else. Women call in to our blind date hotline on the afternoon of the date and are told the bar to go to, where the man will be standing and what he will be carrying. The rest is in the stars… *a top team of professional matchers (well, Tracey, Ian and a few other stragglers over a glass of wine), process your information and come up with the best match for you – up to 100 people take part so there’s a good chance of us getting it right….

Cost: because we’re such nice people, it’s free!

Look forward to hearing from you, Tracey, Marielle and Ian. What we need you to do: Send the following details before Saturday 14th June to rebecca_tracey@hotmail.com

The Amsterdam Mass Blind Date not only

Your name

gives you the chance to meet someone

Your mobile number (note: this will not

new, it’s the only date in town that gives

be disclosed to anyone, but is important

you the chance to swap them if they don’t

to add in case there are any issues and

work out! Here’s how it works:

we need to contact you)

You send us your details, we

Gender (Male/ Female – very important to

scientifically* match you, you go and

add this)

meet your date at a designated bar near

Age

Café de Jaren, you spend 1.5 hours

Star sign

together (gazing in to each other’s eyes

Height

or staring at your watch), you return

Two things about yourself you think

together to the after-party at

are interesting

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Sailing in the Ne As summer arrives and people look to water sports, we felt that featuring sailing in the Netherlands would be appropriate as part of our focus on the different sports that you can participate in.

f the total area of the

Netherlands, nearly a fifth is

inland water and there are 4400 km of navigable waterways. It

is not surprising, therefore, that boats

remain an important means of transport.

In the olden days these were powered by sail. Many of these traditional barges can

still be seen - Tjalks, Skutsjes â&#x20AC;Ś etc. They are all flat-bottomed and with lee-boards serving the function of a keel, enabling

them to sail in shallow water. They come in all sizes down to ones that a farmer

might use to move grain or a single cow.

referred to as day-boats in the UK) tend

to be more popular than dinghies (which

have moveable centreboards) unlike in the UK.

Skutsje

In the golden age of exploration, the Netherlands was one of the great

seafaring nations and names come to

Regenboogs racing

Hoorn and named Cape Horn after it) and

designed in 1951 at the Royal Loosdrecht

New Zealand). A full size replica of the

Olympic monohull dinghy class and the

werf in Lelystad.

on Optimists and are soon graduating to

mind such as Willem Schouten (born in

Nevertheless the Flying Dutchman dinghy,

Abel Tasman (discovered Tasmania and

Yachtclub, was to become the fastest

Batavia is well worth visiting at the Batavia

first to use a trapeze. Nowadays kids learn one-man Lasers.

Abel Tasma

It is hardly surprising that today, sailing is a very popular sport, with a larger

proportion of the public indulging than in most countries. Whilst world-class

Dutch sailors such as Lobke Berkhout and Bouwe Bekking take advantage of the

latest technology, the average sailor in the Netherlands is quite likely to be found in an older, more traditional boat such as a BM, Valk or Centaur. These open fixedkeel yachts (which would probably be

Miniature traditional ice-boat Ice-sailing is very popular and clubs organise races at very short notice.

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etherlands By Andy Symmonds

sports/ DN ice yacht

In summer, with wheels instead of skates,

you have sand-yachting which is becoming very popular in the few locations where

there is sufficient space for it to be done safely.

British Society of Amsterdam Sailing We sail approximately every third Saturday from early May to late

September. Most times it is on the Kagerplassen where we meet for a drink or light lunch then sail in the

afternoon and round the day off with

a barbecue. Other times we go to the Loosdrechtseplassen, meeting in the

morning and sailing to an island for a

picnic lunch. On the way back we may have a race, and sometimes round off the day at one of the several nearby restaurants.

In both locations we rent Polyvalks

(polyester Valks). These are 6.5 m long gaff rigged (or more correctly gunter-

rigged) boats with a 16 m2 mainsail and

a fixed keel. They have become the most popular hire boat since they are stable, and remain reasonably dry inside. They

can accommodate up to 5 persons though Most popular are â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;DNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, a US design, originating in a prize offered by the

Detroit News newspaper in the 1930s

(rather like the origin of the Mirror dinghy in the UK, sponsored by the Daily Mirror). With very little resistance, ice sailing is

really fast - and you have no brakes other than to turn into wind so you need to think well ahead!

3 or 4 is the most comfortable. Naturally we have to have a competent skipper in charge of each boat and the number of

these that are available on a given date determines the number of crew we can accommodate.

No previous experience is required in

order to join as crew. If you are interested, contact Geoff at sailing@britsoc.nl. For

details, maps and the latest information see: http://bit.ly/1pwt9RG

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A Day at the Se I

n line with the sporting theme of 2014, the British Society sent a small team of die hard volunteers to check out the Amsterdam 7â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rugby tournament that was held at the ground of AAC Rugby Club. We are very happy to report that this is an exceptional occasion representing a fun day out for the family.

The glorious weather and the occasional cold beer added to the event, but there was no doubting that it is a well organised tournament with some great skills on show from both the men and the ladies teams. The Amsterdam event is the final stage of the IRB Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sevens World Series and saw 16 nations competing including England, Australia, Canada, Ireland, France and New Zealand as well as the host nation. We visited the tournament on the Saturday and enjoyed some thrilling rugby throughout the day. The winners of the tournament were New Zealand, and the Netherlands won the Bowl to huge applause.

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evens

sports feature/

by Andy Symmonds

he event is really a wonderful day out, and we were left wishing that we had been able to attend all three days of the event. It’s a relatively easy cycle to the ground from the centre of Amsterdam, there is parking for vehicles of all sizes and it’s a lot of fun. The event has now been running for many years (this was the 43rd edition) and attracts teams from all over the world. If you enjoy rugby combined with a day in the sun then look out for the event again in May 2015. No weather guarantee but you’ll still have a great day whatever the skies do.

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Beth’s Book Review | June 2014 By Beth Johnson

Please note that in my reviews I try to avoid writing “spoilers” or otherwise divulging plot because half the fun of reading is discovering as you go, rather than having the plot regurgitated for you in advance. Rest assured that if I write about a book, I stand behind it.

ichael Cunningham, renowned for the novel The Hours, will be a guest of The John Adams Institute in Amsterdam on June 7th and Boekhandel van Rossum is delighted to be handling the book sale that evening. The Snow Queen, Cunningham’s most recent book, begins slowly with insecure characters suffering from New York angst about who they are meant to be. But with his gift for sparse prose and internal dialogue, Cunningham crawls into the hearts and souls of his characters as they examine their growing sense that “there is more.” This is a book which demands (self) reflection and perspective on our own lives as they have developed over time. A thoughtful, compassionate and beautifully written work

Revival of “lost” classics has become quite a trend. The Hesperus Press, based in London, has revived more than 300 classics in the last decade, including a sci-fi, dystopian novel from 1920, City of Endless Night by the American, Milo Hastings. Written immediately after the end of World War I, Hastings describes Berlin in 2041 as “an entirely roofed-in city of sixty levels, sheltering 300,000,000 sun-starved humans. Since 1941 the city had held out against the World State which tried to bomb it into line. Hohenzollerns ruled this tight world; ruled it with the blessings of “autocratic socialism,” “the perfect government which we Germans have evolved from proletarian socialism.” The book predicts with uncanny realism the dreams of the Third Reich. It is a fascinating and compelling read which examines every conceivable aspect of a carefully planned society and economy. I highly recommend this mindbender.

Prayers for the Stolen by Jennifer Clement is an electrifying and devastating story of the girls in drug cartel-run Mexico who are abducted by the traffickers and brutalized by the corruption of the system. Clement is a talented novelist who places the reader right in the middle of the lives of the traumatized villagers of these areas. She manages to show tenderness and humour along with the terror of life in this forceful and extremely well-written book.

Beth Johnson is the owner of Boekhandel Van Rossum (Beethovenstraat 32 in Amsterdam) which sells a wide range of Dutch and English books. Page 14

In London last week, I met with two important Young Adult authors, both Americans who have put down roots in the UK and whom I am trying to convince to come to visit schools in The Netherlands. Both authors hope to come to Amsterdam in 2015! Meg Rosoff

Picture me gone Meg Rosoff speaks straight to the hearts of teens, not shying away from their emotions or the dark side of adolescence which we parents would prefer to ignore. Her first novel, How I Live Now is a tender love story which takes place during an apocalyptic Third World War. It has received major awards and was filmed last year. The next five books – each with its own characteristic style - have won more than seventeen international literary awards. In her most recent work, Picture Me Gone, 12-year-old Mila accompanies her father from London to New York, where they search for her father’s best friend, gone missing. Mila is an intuitive detective with wisdom beyond her years who begins to discover just how messy the world of adults can be. Rosoff has a warm, wry style and an acute sense of honesty which delivers prose with a punch Patrick Ness

More than This Patrick Ness is also a highly acclaimed YA writer whose books are frequently dystopian in a world where teens have no choice but to survive on their own. The Chaos Walking trilogy (The Knife of Never Letting Go, The Ask and the Answer and Monsters of Men) has been hailed as extraordinary and one of the most important YA science fiction works in recent years. I attended a reading of Ness’ most recent YA novel, More Than This, at Lutyens and Rubenstein Bookshop where some 75 teen fans were present. In this story, a boy drowns but then wakes in another place, deserted, alienating. As he explores he discovers indications of another life. Ness poses philosophical dilemmas in this tense thriller which will keep readers of all ages thinking long after the book has been re-shelved.

www.boekhandelvanrossum.nl Page 15

The Harbour Master A Book Preview by Daniel Pembrey It’s almost holiday time and a lot of us will be thinking about which books to buy to take on holiday or upload to kindle. Author, Daniel Pembrey, has been kind enough to send us a preview of his newest novel, The Harbour Master.

Maverick cop Henk van der Pol is thinking about retirement when he finds a woman’s body in Amsterdam Harbour. His detective instincts take over, even though it’s not his case. But Henk’s bigger challenge is deciding who his friends are – not to mention a vicious street pimp who is threatening Henk’s own family. As his search for the killer of the woman in Amsterdam Harbour takes him into a corrupt world of politics and power, Henk finds himself facing some murky moral choices. The Harbour Master delivers for Amsterdam what fans of Scandinavian crime fiction have come to love: a fascinating light shone on the dark side of a famously liberal society, combining vivid characterisation with ice-cold suspense. Page 16

hapter One:

HE DISCOVERY

There’s a spot down by the harbour, with bicycle seats mounted on bollards like fishing perches, where you can’t help but feel alert and vigilant. Even, or especially, at six in the morning.

Maybe I’m biased. My forebears were fishermen and port workers, longshoremen and mariners. That March morning, the water was glassy through a flat mist that was cool and clammy round my eyes. It called to mind generations of ancestors setting out at dawn, sailing off into the North Sea, unsure of what destiny lay before them. We Dutch remain at heart a seafaring people: a small but proud collective, who once traded with the farthest reaches of the globe – as attests the pale stone Maritime Museum across the harbour, and the eighteenthcentury vessel moored to it, its masts blurring into the fog. Those monuments to the ‘golden age’ were faint and ghostly that morning like some dim recess of my memory. I let my finished cigarette drop to the ground. It fizzed out in a puddle as I exhaled the last smoke, thinking too that it would be a fine time to quit smoking, approaching early retirement as I was. There was a single dog-walker. Also a vagrant talking to himself, louder than easy contemplation at that hour allowed. It’s hard to find silence in this city: the movement of vehicles on the ring road, the rumble and creak of early trains entering and leaving Central Station, a faint fog horn out in the sea channel. After thirty years as a cop on this beat, I can confirm that peace only comes from within. I eyed my phone: still plenty of time before I was due to meet my wife. We tried to meet

for breakfast on a regular basis now that Nadia had left for university and the nest had become empty again. Perhaps it was good for me – a routine once retired? But that morning I was planning to tell Pernilla about the trip I’d discussed with Johann, my old army friend and fellow BMW motorbike owner. My gaze remained on the dog-walker, who had an alert stance similar to my own, his hands buried in the pockets of his charcoal grey raincoat. So much of cop work comes down to making quick and accurate character assessments. Maybe I needed to get a dog too, I was thinking – a retired police one perhaps, co-retirees together? – when suddenly the man’s hands flew up out of his pockets and waved above his head. “Hey,” he yelled. The dog barked like a gun shot across the harbour. “Hey!” I was off my perch and running towards them. Before I’d even got there, I caught the fleshy greyness breaking the water surface. My sinking insides and a buzzing round my ears confirmed what my brain already knew: that it was a body, with a floating corona of hair. I reached for my phone again. About the author: Daniel Pembrey grew up in Nottinghamshire beside Sherwood Forest. He attended Edinburgh University and INSEAD business school near Paris, then worked for ten years at a prominent Internet company, in Seattle and Luxembourg, before moving to Amsterdam. Now he writes thrillers and psychological suspense stories, and occasionally contributes non-fiction articles to publications including The Times. You can also follow him on Facebook, www.facebook.com/DPembrey and Twitter, @DPemb. To receive occasional email updates and offers of free exclusive content, please sign up at www.danielpembrey.com. The book was reviewed in DutchNews.nl: http://bit.ly/1ktb1QU

Buy this book Page 17

interview of the month/

www.britsoc.nl April 2011 Bulletin #582

World Cuisine

“World Cui Shakespea

……see inside for mo

“Will (Shakespeare) and

www.britsoc.nl October 2011 Bulletin #588

Jan van den Berg A member of the British Society for more than 20 years, and for the last 17 years he has been the advertising coordinator for the BritSoc bulletin. Now known as The Zine.

Good bye…and Thanks Page 18

Do not m October Sushi Wo

Come and “roll your own” a

“

www.britsoc.nl December 2010/January 2011

www.britsoc.nl April 2012

www.britsoc.nl December 2011/January 2012

Bulletin #579

Bulletin #593

Bulletin #590

double issue

BritSoc wishes all its Members a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

BritSoc wishes a a very Merry and a Happy

Get the Festive Season off to a good start and…. Come

dine with us

At The Mint Hotel, Amsterdam on Saturday 10th December 2011 at 19.00 Price per person Members 65,- Non Members 75, - includes welcome drink, 3 course dinner and wine during the meal. Reserve your tickets online www.britsoc.nl but hurry as numbers are limited.

Menu Starter: Mabre of slow cooked guinea fowl, duck liver, Spinata Romana with a prune compote and fine salad. OR: Salmon tartare with a baked shallot creme and lemon mayonnaise.

“Come Ye and Felicitate with the Bard”

isine meets are in Haarlem”

Main: Pink-roasted venison fillet with a Breton carrot and Cevenne onion mash. Jus of celeriac leaves and juniper berries. OR: Cod fillet baked on the skin, with risotto nero and a foam of mascarpone and anchovies, with fried anchovies and beetroot. Dessert: Mango shapes with black rice and coconut sorbet. OR: Poached Williams pear with cinnamon and thickened olive oil.

You created this PDF from an application that is not licensed to print to novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com)

On Saturda Saturday, January anuary 29th.

Lots of Christmas goodies co BritSoc Christmas Dinner at the Burns Night in January, so get

Dark January nights find us once e again holding our annual Dark

Burns Night Supper & Ceilidh

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miss our

orkshop!

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Pop a Cork with the BritSoc at our Champagne Tasting Event!

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see more about the Comedy Festival on page 8

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interview of the month/

What was The British Society in those days? Much the same as now, I think. There were regular events, sports activities, coffee mornings and pub nights. The Gala Christmas Ball was, and still is, the biggest yearly event. Who was Chairperson at that time? Any anecdotes? Garri Slark was the chairman and Dennis Noble the Consul-General. I think Reijer Groeneveld took over when Garri moved to Germany. Lizzie van den Berg-Hayes followed up as the first female chairperson and she handed it over to Dave Humfress, her present husband. When they left the country Stephen Huyton took over for a long stint. Did you ever fulfil other roles in the Society besides coordinating the advertising? I organized one Car Rally/Treasure hunt, several bike rides in and around Amsterdam, visits to the Bokbier Festival and a Malt whiskey tasting in the Oude Kerk and a Pub Quiz Night, as far as I can recall. Which BritSoc event is your favourite? I loved the Car Rallies, various trips to France and Belgium with John Cameron-Webb and a bus trip to Dijon. Also a sailing weekend in Friesland, when there was at least enough wind to get the feel of it. Another time we went sailing with Geoff on the Kaag and there was hardly any wind. We had a friendly couple on board with a moaning child, which made it a rather unpleasant long way back. Do you have a favourite BritSoc anecdote? Nothing jumps to mind really. Although on the way back from Dijon we stayed overnight at an Ibis Hotel and at the breakfast table the explicit French sex channel was a hot topic. How have you seen the Society change through the years and what do you think of it now compared to before? I haven’t been taking part in the BritSoc activities much since my split-up from Lizzie. I think it has become more professional in a way. ….and the Bulletin? How was that for you before we all went digital? The Bulletin was copied on A4 sheets, and maybe 12 to 20 pages. Each month one of the members would host the stuffing evening, when the bulletins were stuck in envelopes, stickered with the address labels and sent off by mail. The quality of the copying was quite poor so I offered my services to produce the bulletins myself on a fast duplicating machine, which I did for many years since. The change from the copied bulletins, first to BritSoc News as an A5 booklet and later printed in offset were a big improvement, but still costly. The present digital ZINE format is a big step forward, though I still like to hold a magazine in my hands to read it quietly. I don’t like having to read small print on a colored background, even though you can zoom in closely. What are your plans in Ecuador? To live with my fiancé Laura and her children, as it seems starting in Ibarra, just north of the Equator, improve on my Spanish and hopefully see a lot of one of the most beautiful countries I have visited. Will you join the British Society there if it exists? Not likely, perhaps a Dutch Society. Well Jan, a HUGE thanks for all your consistent and dedicated work over the past years. As editor of the Zine, also for many years now, I appreciate your reliable help and wish you all the best with your new adventure in Ecuador and, if you get the chance, please pen us an article about life in South America.

Page 20

www.britsoc.nl December 2010/January 2011

www.britsoc.nl April 2012

www.britsoc.nl April 2011

www.britsoc.nl December 2011/January 2012

Bulletin #579

Bulletin #593

Bulletin #582

Bulletin #590

double issue

BritSoc wishes all its Members a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Get the Festive Season off to a good start and…. Come

dine with us

Menu Starter: Mabre of slow cooked guinea fowl, duck liver, Spinata Romana with a prune compote and fine salad. OR: Salmon tartare with a baked shallot creme and lemon mayonnaise.

World Cuisine

“Come Ye and Felicitate with the Bard”

“World Cuisine meets Shakespeare in Haarlem”

You created this PDF from an application that is not licensed to print to novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com)

On Saturda Saturday, January anuary 29th.

Lots of Christmas goodies coming up including the BritSoc Christmas Dinner at the Mint Hotel. PLUS we have Burns Night in January, so get you dancing shoes on!

Dark January nights find us once e again holding our annual Dark

Burns Night Supper & Ceilidh

……see inside for more details For more details: page 5

Christmas Events on pages 6, 7 and 8

“Will (Shakespeare) and Kate - our tribute to the Royal Wedding”

.nl ritsoc www.b 12 20 June #595

www.britsoc.nl February 2011

www.britsoc.nl June 2011

www.britsoc.nl July 2011

Bulleti

Bulletin #580

Bulletin #584

Bulletin #585

ww w Nov .britso c.nl Bull ember etin #58 2011 9

Pop a Cork with the BritSoc at our Champagne Tasting Event!

MAKEUP WORKSHOP

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www.britsoc.nl May 2012 Bulletin #594

bra cele ary ers fe iv n An zz Ca tel” s soc Ja Brit and Aem 2010 our he Gr e” r o Van ctober rs T sf Cak n u e er rd O 00 h e of Join “He nday 3 hrs - 21 “A Piecission Su 600 adm ! rom 1 zz f r free bers! m d ja o e” lan now f c me ie o insid ix h D gister ll Brits tails wit ..de e a r ht… for ig N

Sailing Start of the 2012 season

Make your own Bling at our

Jewellery Workshop on 24th Marchntil Bonfire Not

long

Do not miss our October Sushi Workshop!

Whodunnit? Find out at the Murder Mystery Dinner... details inside

Come and “roll your own” at SohoSushi on October 22nd – details inside

see more about the Comedy Festival on page 8

For more details: page 5

For more details: page 3

www.britsoc.nl March 2011

www.britsoc.nl November 2010

www.britsoc.nl August 2011

www.britsoc.nl September 2011

Bulletin #581

Bulletin #578

Bulletin #586

Bulletin #587

September is a Bumper Month for BritSoc! Three main events to enjoy!

Amsterdam 6 Date MassPage Blind ´ ´ ´

It’s on Friday March 4th

Remember, remember the 7th of November! We are having a

Bonfire Party Spectacular Fireworks! BBQ ! Bonfire! Mulled Wine! Best Guy competition!

Family Fun in the Amsterdamse Bos

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Live like a Toff at the Pimms and Polo, Kick up your heels Spanish Style at the Sevillanas evening or find your Dream Partner at our Speed Dating Event!

“Is this a party I

see before me?”

Shakespeare’s Birthday 2014 by Paul Huxley

This May 3rd, our happy band of brothers celebrated the life and works of the Immortal Bard at Greenwoods on the Keizersgracht.

n occasion of controlled cultural chaos, blending its ingredients in the style of Macbeth’s Witches’ brew, to serve up an evening of magic. Page 22

And who will forget Ian’s emotionally charged interpretation of Mark Antony’s funeral oration;

“If you have tears, prepare to shed them now” - indeed, indeed..

Spiced with tasty sweetmeats from Alison, Anne Sophie, Mike and Rupert. And leavened with laughter too; Duncan, Kirsten and team’s Scooby Doo version of Hamlet. Ray’s Sir Edwin from Monty Python’s Great Actors sketch. And a whole host of volunteers performing pieces from The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged). - Even the RSC has never performed Macbeth in Jimmy hats.

“

It was based on a rich meaty stock; “Once more unto the breach ....”, “We few, we happy few ...”, “ What duty they do owe their lords and husbands ...” and more.

event review/ With the majority of attendees participating, and everyone sharing their enthusiasm, we had, as all agreed, a truly great evening.

Many thanks to Daniel Post, and Jenny Nelson and all the staff at Greenwoods for their quality food and excellent service. And a very special thanks to Mike Cowley, who before retiring, hosted us for a dozen great years at his renowned English restaurant, Ma Brown’s in Haarlem. One of the best things about birthdays is they happen every year like clockwork.

So see you all again for Shakespeare at Greenwoods in 2015.

Photos By Britsoc Photographer Benjamin Arthur

See all photos at http://bit.ly/1txjKqJ Page 23

Stephen Hawk

PLANCKS Symposiu

= mc².

By John Donnelly

Does anyone not know this equation and does anyone not know what it means?

controversial view did not prevent him

from being awarded the Pius XI medal for showing exceptional promise in scientific research in 1975.

Hawking’s theory about black holes

eventually evaporating due to radiated energy gave rise to the term Hawking radiation. This caused an argument about the existence of a physical

Advertisers of breakfast cereals would

Professor Hawking’s contribution to

recognition. It is the only mathematical

ranging, from the publication of the most

sell their souls to have its universal

equation that Professor Stephen Hawking allowed himself to quote in his book,

‘A Brief History of Time.’ After hearing from his publisher that each equation

he included in the book would halve its sales, he very sensibly tried to write it

without any. However, Albert Einstein’s

seminal mass-to-energy equation could

not be avoided. There are no estimates of how many book sales Professor Hawking

missed because of this, but it is unlikely to be many.

Stephen Hawking, born in Oxford,

England in January, 1942, is probably the most well-known scientist of our age.

Currently he is Director of Research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at Cambridge University. Prior to

that, he was the Lucasian Professor of

Mathematics there, the seat which was previously held by Isaac Newton.

Page 24

science and society in general is wide-

complex scientific papers on physics and cosmology, to publishing popular books

paradox among cosmologists which

is still unresolved. The author has no

intention of explaining it here; interested parties should Google, ‘the black hole information paradox.’ Good luck!

explaining cosmology to the man in the

On Friday, 23rd May, 2014, Professor

explaining it in the simplest of terms.

the PLANCKS symposium in the Beatrix

a proponent for the provision of facilities

1500. The title was, ‘the Universe as a

own disability, a result of the Motor

A-Eskwadraat, the instigators and

a wheelchair for most of his adult life.

that, thinking, ‘we’ve got nothing to lose,’

Hawking is best known for his work

Hawking. To their surprise, a reply arrived

street and even writing childrens’ books

Hawking gave the opening address to

Besides these achievements, he has been

Theatre in Utrecht to an audience of

for the disabled. This last, is due to his

Hologram.’ Casper van Scuppen from

Neuron Disease which has confined him to

organisers of the competition, explained

on the origin of the universe and the

big-bang theory. He asserted that prior to the big bang, time did not exist. An

they sent an email inviting Professor

almost by return saying he would be delighted.

agnostic, his theories at times conflicted

The Physics League Across Numerous

He answered such heretical criticisms

(PLANCKS), is an international theoretical

boundaries, no one, not even God, would

students. With an acronym like that,

with the concept of an almighty creator.

Countries for Kickass Students,

by arguing that as the universe has no

physics competition for undergraduate

be free to influence its beginning. This

it could only have been contrived by

king at the

um in Utrecht

Professor Immanuel Bloch, Director of the Max Planck Institute. Professor ‘t Hoofd spoke on the recently discovered Higgs

particle and Professor Bloch on quantum matter at single atom level.

The teams in action varied from the

noisy and animated to the silent and

concentrated. Surprisingly, there was a

distinct lack of use of the whiteboards in the team locations. Lady team-members were conspicuous by their almost total absence.

The award ceremony took place on

Sunday morning in the auditorium of

the University Academic Building in the centre of the city. Several pairs of dark glasses were spotted, evidence of the

party the evening before. The auditorium

was the scene of the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, to end the war of the Spanish Succession, which effectively

recognised the Netherlands as a state for the first time.

Chairman for the day, Professor Jaap

Dijkhuis, Head of the Physics Department introduced Professor Gerard ‘t Hoofd who presented the prizes. Like the

Oscars, the envelopes were opened

and the winners were announced. Third was Smoluchowski’s Team from the

Jagiellonian University in Poland, second was Tena, a homegrown mixed team

from Utrecht, Nijmegen and Eindhoven

Universities, and the winners were another mixed homegrown team, Dutch Physics Olympiad from Utrecht and Nijmegen Universities. the students of A-Eskwadraat, a study

ideas and experiences and to challenge

of Mathematics, Computer science,

the University of Utrecht and various

association which caters for students Information science, Physics and

Astronomy at the University of Utrecht. The intention of the competition is to

increase international collaboration, social

each other is created. With the help of

sponsors, A-Eskwadraat organised this

competition which attracted entries from 32 teams from 14 countries with seven teams from Hungary.

activities and personal development

The symposium was opened on Friday

physics students from different parts

Hawking, Nobel prize-winner, Professor

of individual contestants. By gathering of the world, a setting to exchange

afternoon with speeches from Professor Gerard ‘t Hoofd of Utrecht University and

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Masks - I started collecting masks in Ecuador in 1997. Since then I have purchased masks in Kenya, Tanazania, Mexico, Indonesia and Cambodia and I plan to keep expanding the collection as travel and funds permit. ANDY SYMMONDS

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HOME IS WHERE THE ART IS By Andy Symmonds

Puffins - I commissioned this picture when my grandmother died as a permanent reminder. I had already bought pictures by Claire Harkess, a talented Scottish artist. Claire was really helpful and I was thrilled with the result. I now have four pictures from Claire. ANDY SYMMONDS

Map - I have always been fascinated by maps and I can spend hours poring over the details. I particularly like this one as it depicts my favourite city that almost matches the modern day, but with subtle differences and many streets in Oud Zuid are not yet built. The Paradiso was still a church, so I can imagine that the music was rather different to what concert goers experience today. ANDY SYMMONDS

Page 27

Independence for Scotland â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Good for Britain? The political case for voting YES/NO to Scottish Independence

by Andy Symmonds Page 28

britain/

Y?N > Page 29

he current discussions regarding the possibility of an independent Scotland leave many with mixed feelings. As a British citizen of English and Scottish ancestry, the thought of the breakup of the Union fills me with sadness, but at the same time a deeper concern for both the present and the future.

Growing up I had a real respect of the sense of identity that was shown by the Scots, and a curiosity as to why the English didn’t really have the same feeling about their country. I also realised quickly that there was a strong anti English sentiment from many Scots, and that the joke that they would support Scotland and anyone playing against England was not really a joke for most. This has changed over the last half century to the point where the English now have a clearer sense of identity. The Cross of St. George has been rescued from right wing extremists and Scotland is now voting to break away from Great Britain. The arguments for independence as put forward by Alex Salmond and his supporters in the Yes group are a blend of emotional and economic, but some of the assurances are starting to look Page 30

either misguided or wishful thinking. The Yes voters claim that an independent Scotland will continue its membership of the European Union (EU), use the British pound as currency and that there will be no loss of business to locations south of the new border. Salmond assumes that he will negotiate the terms of, what is effectively a divorce, in a way that favours the new Scotland at every turn, but the reality is likely to be very different. The EU made it very clear that a newly independent Scotland will no longer be a member and that they will have to apply like any other nation (at the back of the queue). The underlying reality is that the EU does not want to encourage separatist movements as this has a potential impact in other member states (Spain has Catalonia agitating for independence) so the message is clear. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said it would be “extremely difficult, if not impossible” for an independent Scotland to join the European Union. Even with this clear and public communication, the Yes voters still claim on their website that ‘the Scottish Government proposes to agree the terms of Scotland’s continued membership of the European Union between the date of the referendum, and the proposed

date of independence on 24th March 2016.’ The future of the Scottish currency still remains a mystery. The Yes voters state that they will use the UK pound. When the leaders of all the major UK political parties clearly stated that this would not happen, Salmond accused them of ‘bluff, bluster and bullying’ but still lacks any credible alternative. It would not be in the best interests of the UK to create a new currency union which ties the UK currency to a fledgling nation state, especially one that includes the £38 billion toxic debt of RBS. This will be a problem as Scotland has no plans to join the Euro zone and would struggle to do so anyway as a non-member of the EU. The fact that an independent Scotland is likely to have a lower credit rating will not help. Maybe the Scottish dollar or lire, or a revival of the groat, will be the way forward. The support of business leaders is also draining away rapidly. The Scottish Chamber of Commerce has recently revealed that 77% of businesses have identified potential risks to the country’s economy, in the event that voters choose to break away from the rest of the UK. Standard Life, the Edinburgh based insurance company, announced that it would take “whatever action necessary” to protect its business, including moving its operations to England.

Other companies, including RBS, are also making plans to move south if Scotland does vote for independence. The likely failure to stay in the EU will have an impact on export businesses, prompting recent concerns from the Scotch Whisky Association about the potential negative impact of Scottish independence upon their business. There are a host of other issues where the future looks very uncertain, and Salmond and his supporters appear to be planning for a best case scenario where they receive everything they want from the rest of the UK in what are effectively going to be divorce settlement negotiations. Salmond appears to believe that he can cherry pick the positive elements and leave any negative elements to the rest of the UK; this is not likely to happen. Independence will touch many parts of life from the day-to-day issues of currency and border controls to less tangible issues like defence. The impact of some of these changes is impossible to predict, but the one thing that will change forever is the connection between Scotland and the rest of Great Britain and the world.

by Andy Symmonds Page 31

SPUISTRAAT PARTY 1st PINKSTERDAG Sunday 8th June

Come and join the fun in the Spuistraat.

Everyone welcome.

The Ondernemersvereniging Spuistraat En Omgeving (Business Collective of the Spuistraat area) is organising a street party on Sunday 8th of June with the motto:

Nice To Meet You

All the participating businesses from the Paleisstraat to the Spui will be taking part and presenting what they do to the public. Visitors will be treated to drinks and snacks and there will an array of entertainment and prizes to be won. The party starts at 12:00 and goes on until 23:00. Besides stalls there will be live music and DJâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s on two stages, plus many fantastic activities from a fashion show, a cartoonist, and fun for the kids such as face painting and a puppet show, to a concert by an Amsterdam choir, and an open air cinema presentation.

Plenty of reasons not to miss this great party.

www.facebook.com/spuistraatfeest Page 32

ZONDAG 8 JUNI • EERSTE PINKSTERDAG • 12:00-23:00

SPUISTRAATFEEST mAAK KENNIS mET DE LEvENDIGE SPUISTRAAT • SWING EN SPRING mET DJ’S EN OPTREDENS vAN O.A. ThE bLUE mONDAyS - SUPERcITy - ROOIE WAAS - AmSTERDELIcS EN mEER OP 2 mUZIEKPODIA • GENIET vAN DIvERSE mODE- & bEAUTyPRESENTATIES • STA IN DE RIJ vOOR EEN KNIPbEURT • vERbAAS JE bIJ LA TROUPE DU ROUGE-bLANc EN SmUL vAN SNOESJES mET SOESJES (mEDUSA’S WORLD) • LAAT JE TEKENEN DOOR SNELTEKENAAR STANLEy hEINZE • LEEf mEE mET JAN KLAASSEN & KATRIJN bIJ DE AmSTERDAmSE POPPENKAST • LAAT JE SchmINKEN • hOU JE bENEN bIJ ELKAAR NA DE fREESTyLE vOETbALShOW (PANNA PRODUcTIES) • KIJK UIT NAAR EEN SPEcTAcULAIR OPTREDEN vAN JOhNNy & ThE GANGSTERS Of LOvE • mAAK KANS OP EEN DINER vOOR TWEE • ZING mEE mET EEN WEESPERTREKvAARTmANNENKOOR • LAAT JE vERLEIDEN DOOR EEN DIvA OP STELTEN • vUL JE bOEKENKAST OP DE bOEKENmARKT• SPEEL (EN DRINK) mEE mET DE PUbqUIZ • STIL JE hONGER bIJ DIvERSE DINERbUffETTEN • ONTSPAN bIJ DE OPENLUchTANImATIEfILm-vERTONING vAN RATATOUILLE • LAAT JE vERWENNEN, vERbAZEN, vERLEIDEN & vERRASSEN DOOR DE vEELZIJDIGE SPUISTRAAT

NICE TO MEET YOU ETEN SPELEN LEZEN SWINGEN KIJKEN DRINKEN LUISTEREN GENIETEN

Het Spuistraatfeest wordt u aangeboden door de Ondernemersvereniging Spuistraat En Omgeving: 1027, 420CAFE, Administratiekantoor K. Bakker, Antiquariaat Brinkman, Argentina Restaurant Los Santos, Ariadne Postzegel & Muntenhandel, Automatiek Het Spui, Lanskroon, Bon Bon Boutique, Broodje Bert, Bulterman Filatelie, Café de Zwart, Café Hoppe, Café Lange Leo, Café ’t Spui-tje, Coffee Company, Concrete, Croissanterie Egstorf, D’Vijff Vlieghen, Daad Amsterdam, Dante Kitchen & Bar, De Koffie Salon, De Koningshut, De Tweede Kamer, Frietsteeg, Gastronomie Nostalgie, Godelief, Gollem, Grand Café Luxembourg, Grekas Greek Deli, Grillroom Taba, Haesje Claes, Hay, Hear Hear, Het Slangenpand, Hotel Estherea, Humphrey’s, Kadinsky, Kantjil & de Tijger, Van Stapele Koekmakerij, Le Pain Quotidien, Locals, Lucius, Luden, Lungoccino, Magic Mushroom, Margarida, New Times, NH City Centre, Nova Hotel, Nunc, Pegasus, Profiles Hair & Body Spa, Schuim, Scissorhands, Soap Treatment Store, Softland, The Minds, Traiterie Chef, Trattoria Caprese, Van Nes Cupcake.

WWW.fAcEbOOK.cOm/SPUISTRAATfEEST Page 33

WIN

With our Summer Memories Photo Contest !!! You could win a dinner for two at Amsterdamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Hard Rock Cafe*

Simply by entering your best SUMMER snaps to our exclusive BritSoc photo contest. Running from June through August, get inspired with your camera this summer. Whether you are tripping to the Med or camping with the kids in Friesland, you are sure to bring home plenty of memories. All you need to do is send us your favourite 3 photographs which, for you, evoke summer memories and we will judge them. Send JPEG format images via email to

benjaminarthur@gmail.com

Benjamin will judge them along with Andy Symmonds & Alison Smith and the winner will be notified in September.

*includes one non-alcoholic drink per person

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British Language Training Centre

bltc

English & Dutch Courses Teaching English (TEFL) www.bltc.nl Tel. 020 622 3634

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ISA campus, main entrance

CMY

Setting the stage. 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.

Exciting and developing young minds Sportlaan 45 - 1185 TB Amstelveen - The Netherlands - Tel. +31 20 347 1111 - www.isa.nl

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 cornflakes, 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 info@kingsalmarkt.nl Easily 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

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NICKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S NOSH

Britsoc food correspondent Nick Nugent Reporting from the four corners of the Amsterdam kitchen Las Dalias on the Road: Page 39

Las Dalias on the Road

efore I get to the main event of this review, I just wanted to let you know about some other food experiences recently, which either donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really warrant a full review or I am sparing you a rant on how bad this was and how bad that was. I have had my parents visit me for the first time in Amsterdam after 6 1/2 years of living in the Netherlands. I cannot tell you the difficultly I have had finding venues for lunch and dinner, as they are very fussy. I had tried a few steak places to check that if we were to ask for seriously well done meat, their chef would do it. I really wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to go back to any of them. My Mum demanded Italian for her birthday so I went back to Assaggi, which I always rate very highly. We also had a nice experience in Bluespoon, the Andaz hotel restaurant (this one probably deserves a full review, but I could not take notes at the time). http://bit.ly/PvfSt3 I have also had a string of colleagues visit me recently with the same demand for Indonesian food. I am not a fan of Indonesian as the few times I have tried it I have not liked it at all. It always seems to be too sweet, too peanuty, too bland and no spiciness whatsoever. In the interests of research, and to make sure I give you the most rounded view of food in Amsterdam, I have once again challenged my taste buds. I tried a restaurant called Blue Pepper and had the rijsttafel there. I thought everything up to and including the soup were great, but the mains were pretty bland. Service was great and I made quite an error with a bottle of fizz (I thought the half bottle price was

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*** the price for a full bottle), which made the bill impressively well over 100 euros per head, with the rijsttafel being 70 euros anyway. www. restaurantbluepepper.com After many consultations with many long serving Amsterdammers, I tried Sama Sebo, which consensus said was the best. I booked this and took my colleague there without testing beforehand, which could have been a bit dangerous. He liked it. I, however, have only confirmed my suspicions based on all my previous attempts, that I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t like Indonesian food. If anyone wants to challenge me and knows of somewhere where I could be blown away by the flavor, then let me know and I would be up for the challenge. www.samasebo.nl/en/ Also, in the last few weeks, I have managed to get to my 35th Indian restaurant in Amsterdam and I think I am ready to reveal who I think is the best. Probably in the summer edition of this column I will do that. OK, so after all the preamble, I have got to the main event. I have recently been introducing my newer friends to Amsterdam to the food markets, which are a great thing to do on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Las Dalias on the Road was an interesting option as it promised shopping, music and food. This market is a touring version of the relatively famous (if you are a hippy or clubber) Ibiza market. It was held in the Gashoulder in Westergasfabriek plus the food section being outdoors. The weekend in question was nice and sunny, but particularly cold, so standing around outside was a bit chilly. Inside there were your typical hippy stalls of tie-dyed garments, plus more modern artisanal fayre and some face painting for the kids. I am quite fond of electronic music, the typical Ibiza stuff, and so I was hoping for some tunes to walk around the various stalls and eat my vegan and vegetarian

offering, which I was pretty sure it was going to be. What we were treated to was a flamenco band and dancing, which was nice, with the band eventually morphing to do Spanish rap and some sort of crossover flamenco/electronic concoction, which was more what I was looking for, but still not quite right for me. The stalls were very heavily aimed at the female visitors, which left me looking at the wooden sunglasses stall which after a few glasses of Rioja looked very good and eventually I succumbed to purchasing some.

really spiced things up. The cheesy version had the type of cheese which was very sickly and after a couple of handfuls of chips I was done. Overall I have a very nice pair of wooden sunglasses, but my food experience leaves me a bit cold (as did the weather.) If any of you are out and about at any of the other festivals this summer please feel free to send in your comments to nicksnosh@hotmail.com.

The food stalls outside were quite disappointing as I was hoping for a more Spanish flavour. There was one doing Paella, but after a quick sample I realised it would be quite dry and flavourless so I steered clear of that. The other options were the vegetarian falafel stand, chips with various toppings, spanish ham and sausage stand and a pizza place. So in the interests of research I channeled my inner hippy and went for the falafel. It was actually a Dutch stand, and I’m pretty sure you will see it at the Rollenkeukens if you want to try it. It was called “vega met ballen.” I tried the proeverij combo, which was 2 standard falafel, 2 nuts goats cheese versions and some salad all served with a yoghurt sauce. You could take some additional hot sauce if you so wished, which I did, and it was spicy! The falafel were very moist, which is the opposite to what I had expected as I think a lot of falafel can suffer from being too dry. These were good, but they did have the appearance of being somewhat mass produced. I could not get to the people running the van to confirm, but the taste was good in any case. The salad was nice and fresh and the hot sauce added some zing where needed. After walking around a bit more and a couple more glasses of vino, myself and my friends decided to test some of the other stalls to make sure we give you the full consumer test! We went for the slinger chips stall, which offered chips or crisps with various toppings. I went for the cheesy option and one of my friends went for the fritesaus and black pepper. The latter was the best option as the black pepper

http://lasdaliasontheroad.com Page 41

Getting the best out of White Asparagus Karen Vivers

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food glorious/

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food glorious/ K

aren 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.

Getting the best out of white asparagus

As I was deciding on this month’s recipe, as usual, I started by scanning through my lastest creations. Sitting at my laptop running my cursor up and down the list of my newest recipe files, debating as to which you would enjoy most, I noticed something. I realised that I now have more than ten recipes for white asparagus! Considering that as recently as two years ago I had none, I reckon that’s pretty good going. I started to think about why I seem to focus on this particular ingredient every year. It’s not unusual for me to get slightly obsessed with an ingredient, but this one is not a natural choice. As I mentioned (probably this time last year) I had never even tasted white asparagus before I came to live in the Netherlands. I wondered if my yearly urge to use this type of asparagus in my cooking has something to do with the fact that it’s just everywhere at the moment. The markets are full of the stuff, shops are bursting at the seams with it, every cook in the country is creating their own recipe or including it on their menu somehow. So, all that must be influencing me, right?. The other thing is, and I’m being really honest here. The other thing is that I was not immediately a fan. It has been a very acquired taste for me. And even now, I can’t say that I love it. I can hear you gasping. I know, I know, so why bother then? Well, it has become a challenge. I have challenged myself (unwittingly) to find a way of eating white asparagus so that I really enjoy it. And this one, is definitely my favourite to date. With all the trial and error over the years, there are a few things that I have learned. One, is the pairing of white asparagus with other ingredients. You know, the usual suspects, potatoes, butter, hollandaise, and, my personal favourite, eggs. I haven’t necessarily made the asparagus in this recipe the shining ingredient, the star, but it really adds to the dish. This has become my favourite because

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the flavour of the asparagus is subtle, the eggs carry it along, and for me, tone down the asparagus’ hit and its texture. Probably, I should just call this an omelette. That’s what I thought when I started typing up the recipe. It felt a bit pretentious to call it a ‘frittata’. After a wee bit of thought though, I decided it is O.K to call it by its Italian name. Why? Well, it has parmesan..... so that’s a good reason for me, and, the way it is cooked is more frittata than omelette in that it needs to be flipped - don’t be scared, it’s fun! Or, for the more cautious cook, you can take the sensible (but boring) option of putting it under the grill.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes (includes cooking the asparagus) Cooking Time: 10 minutes Ingredients for 4 servings 1 x tbsp olive oil 500gr / 1.1 lb. white asparagus. To prepare them, remove about 2cm / ½ in. from the bottom end of the stalk, this takes off the woody part, then peel them with a vegetable peeler to remove the outer, stringy layer. 6 x large eggs 150gr / 5 oz. of ham, chopped roughly (optional) 100gr / 3.5 oz. of finely grated parmesan cheese 1 x tbsp of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped 1 x tbsp of fresh chives, finely chopped Salt and pepper

Method

1. Place the asparagus in a large pan. Add water from a recently boiled kettle to cover them generously. Add some salt. Cook the asparagus for about 7 minutes at a gentle boil. Once the asparagus has had 7 minutes, it should be almost ready. You can check by spearing the thickest part with a sharp knife. If the knife goes in quite easily, with only very little resistance it is ready. Place your slices of ham in the pan, cover it with a tight fitting lid, take it off the heat and set aside for 2 minutes. 2. Cut the asparagus into pieces of about 2cm / ½ in. in length. 3. In a bowl beat the eggs together with a fork then add the asparagus, ham, parmesan, herbs, salt and pepper and mix through. 4. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan on a medium heat and then add the egg mix. 5. Agitate the mix a little to allow it through to the

food glorious/ pan surface so that it cooks. I like to pick up the pan and let the egg mix swirl around and touch the sides to cook. 6. Push the sides of the frittata down all round the pan. This just loosens it a little making it easier to turn. Cook for about 3 to 4 minutes. The idea is to get it cooked and set as much as possible before turning. 7. To turn the frittata over, remove your pan from the heat, place a plate on top of your frittata. The plate should be big enough to cover the complete top surface of your frittata. Then in a swift, confident movement, place one hand on the base of the plate and turn the pan upside down, then slide the frittata from the plate back into the pan so that what was the top becomes the bottom. 8. Put the pan back on the heat and cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes, then serve.

information about how to eat to stay healthy. This book started life as a collection of recipes used by Karen to lose over 40kgs. Karen was diagnosed with a Binge Eating Disorder (B.E.D) in 2003 and had lost and gained 100’s of kgs over her teenage and adult life. Karen realized that she had to face her fear (and her great love) – food - and take a whole new approach. This became the start of her successful and sustainable weight loss and the inspiration for her business “The Cooking Coach”. The book can also be downloaded to kindle and other E-readers and is compatible with tablets and smartphones as well as laptops and PCs.

Tips and Variations •

If you are not feeling confident enough to flip your frittata, you can always put it under the grill to brown the top. Remember to use a pan that has a handle which can take the heat if you use this method. Although, flipping is much more fun!

Karen’s COOKING BOOK “Love Food, Live Healthy” now available on Amazon.

Learn How to Cook the Healthy, Tasty Meals you WANT to Eat!

Karen has recently published her first book ‘Love Food, Live Healthy’ ,which is ideal if you want to eat more consciously or lose weight without compromising on flavour or your enjoyment of food. A very achievable, common sense approach to healthy eating and cooking. With over 150 no-fuss, contemporary recipes suitable for cooks of all skill levels. As well as the recipes in the book showing you what to eat, there is lots of

The Cooking Coach Love Food, Live Healthy www.thecookingcoach.eu Mobile : 06 1424 0009 Email: karen@thecookingcoach.eu Page 45

George Osborne’s purr-litically correct cat runs away from No 10 Downing Street Last week, Freya, the Chancellor’s tabby, ran away

from No 10 Downing Street and was rescued by a

homelessness worker. David Thomas from the Telegraph

imagines the radicalised feline’s version of events. Long live the Revolution! Long live Chairman Miaow’s Little Red Book! Long live the dictatorship of the purr-letariat! My name is Freya the Radical Cat. I put the pussycat into Pussy Riot, and the first thing I want to make clear is that I am not a pet. That’s a derogatory, species-ist term. I refuse even to say the P-word. Or anything else, come to that. Now, some human sympathisers with the cause of Mammalian Liberation call us cats – and members of developing species like dogs (obviously I respect their smelly, flatulent, pathetically sycophantic canine culture, but it is by no means as evolved as feline civilisation), guinea pigs and budgies – “companion animals”. But I reject that term, too. We do not choose to be companions. We are bought and sold like furred and feathered slaves. So the purr-litically correct term for us is Captive Animals. Specifically, I am a prisoner of the Osbornes, high-ranking functionaries in the Neo-Fascist, Coalitionist junta. Because of them, I can never have kittens. After I was spayed – an act suffered by millions of cats around the world, which I am starting a paw-tition to have banned – I made a bold bid to start a new life. For two blissful years, I tasted freedom when I escaped from the Osborne’s Notting Hill home. But then I was “found” and “returned home”. Or as I see it, captured and taken back into captivity by an act of illegal, forcible rendition. Read more here: http://bit.ly/1kkyxUP

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