All Holland Bakt star Francis Kuijk from Kaatsheuvel is on a study trip in Indonesia, where her roots lie. In her case, a study trip means a lot of food. In Indonesia, food is central everywhere, much to her delight: “Indonesian cuisine makes me the happiest.”
Francis was born in the Netherlands and raised in Australia. Her parents are from Indonesia. Yet it is no less than 38 years ago that she was last in Indonesia. “We were supposed to go in 2020, but covid threw a spanner in the works.”
We speak to her at the end of another long day full of culinary discoveries. They are on Java, in Yogyakarta: “Now we are a group of three. We all work with Indian cuisine, we only talk about food all day.”
“The color, smell and taste of rendang were very different.”
Francis mainly wants to gain inspiration: “Taste the difference between the dishes as we know them in the Netherlands and how they are made here. I ate rendang twice: a stew. But if you hadn’t told me beforehand, I wouldn’t have known. I tasted very different things. The structure was the same, of course. But color, smell and taste were different.”
Francis writes down everything she tastes in a logbook. Handy for later: “I’ve only been there a week, but I’ve already written down things that I’m going to use in a workshop.”
But it’s not just hosanna what she tastes: “Sometimes I notice that things are made in an economical way. I ate something in a restaurant that was tipped to us, which is from here and I thought, this dish is supposed to have jackfruit, but I can’t taste it. Everything is getting more expensive, so I wonder if that also plays a role here.”
Is Francis actually still pleasantly surprised by things she tastes there? She hesitates, because she actually expected that she would be blown away by flavors. And another thing, she later reflects: “Some things are made here just as they are in the Netherlands. But that’s positive. Because I notice here that we have retained the Indonesian flavors in the Netherlands.”
“Food carts with sweet and savory are really everywhere.”
Indonesia remains the great culinary source of inspiration for Francis. After her Heel Holland Bakt adventure in 2016, she wrote three books about Indonesian cuisine. According to her, cooking and eating are ‘the backbone of Indo culture’.
Francis sends a photo of a man in front of a cart: “Tarts of a meter long on which they sell dishes. Sweet, savory: everything. And they really are everywhere.” She sends a video shot from inside the car, driving past an endless series of red cloths. Dozens in a row. Behind each canvas is a snack bar, protected from the bright sun.
Francis’ new book will be published in October, about sweet and savory snacks in, of course, Indian cuisine. It is actually already finished, but she will adjust some things after this trip: “I have completely fallen in love with kue here: Indian cake or cake. Very simple, but so unbelievably delicious. My heart skipped a beat.”
