Located in Amsterdam’s city center on the corner of the Prinsengracht and Utrechtsestraat is Café Onder de Ooievaar.

Onder de Ooievaar is a local pub that serves local beers and spirits alongside traditional Dutch cuisine.

Its name translates to Cafe Under the Stork, which it gets from the historical building it inhabits. On the side of the building you can see the Amsterdam Crest, with the 3 X’s across from the Hauge crest, a stork holding a black eel. On the corner, you can see the Hauge crest once again, the stork, towering over the restaurant, thus the name Under the Stork. 

 Café Onder de Ooievaar opened on February 29, 1996.

 The Cafe is located on the corner of the Prinsengracht and the Utrechtsestraat.

The small kitchen serves a variety of delicious meals, the coffee is excellent, and there is a variety of great local beers on the tap.

Chef Stephan Troost

During our visit we had the pleasure of meeting with Chef Stephan Troost. Among the list of traditional dishes served at Onder de Ooievaar, is Chef Stefan’s famous Dutch Meatball. A recipe passed down from his grandmother, which he now shares with the world. Chef Stephan is famous, world wide, for this dutch meatball.

Currently he is now working on a catering project at the newly opened Paviljoen Loef in Haarlem, Netherlands.

 

 

 

 

The famous Dutch Meatball

Ingredients:

• 1lb ground beef
• 1lb ground 55% pork
• 3 eggs
• 4 slices of bread without crust
• ½ cup milk
• 1cup bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp. time
• 1 tbsp. rosemary
• 1 tbsp. parsley
• 1 tbsp. paprika
• 1/3 cup beef stock
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 onion
• 4 tbsp. soy sauce
• 3 tbsp. Dijon mustard

Preparation:

Chop up the vegetables and herbs, small dice the onions, mince the garlic. In a bowl combine the onions, garlic, soy sauce, paprika, herbs, and the beef stock.

Toast the bread slices then let them soak in the milk for about 15 minutes. Remove the remaining milk

In a large bowl, use your clean hands to mix the ground meat with the soaked bread. Once that’s mixed in add the bread crumbs, eggs, mustered, and the veggie and herb mix. Mix well, and don’t be afraid of getting your hands dirty. (You may use gloves, if that feels more comfortable). Depending on how moist the mixture is, you may add more bread crumbs.

Once you’ve got everything mixed and it fells right to you, it’s time to roll. Now understand these meat balls are meant to be big so don’t be stingy with the amount. Use your measuring cups as a range for size; ½ cup being the smallest and 1 cup at the larger end. Once your balls are nice and rolled cover the pan or dish with foil and bake them for about 20min at 350°F. After the first initial 20min add the gravy to the pan or dish, cover and return to the oven for an additional 20min.

This dish goes nicely with a side of mustered, is appears to be a thing to eat your meatballs with mustered in the Netherlands.