There was a time when we foodies looked down on meat substitutes. Of course, we had to – and should – eat less meat. We all agreed on that. Only, you didn’t need a meat substitute for that, did you? Are you bad. There were more than enough beautiful forgotten vegetables, just to name a few. A self-respecting foodie had to be able to make something tasty out of that – you really didn’t have to miss the meat.
Meanwhile, the Vegetarian Butcher performed important pioneering work, in product development, but especially in the field of marketing – he single-handedly helped rid the meat substitute of the cardboard-reform-burger image. But it was also the time of Ottolenghi, of sweet potatoes with za’atar, asparagus with runny egg yolks and garlic pies. Reaching for the meat substitute showed a very limited imagination. The meat substitute was for the foodie as Snollebollekes for the music lover.
I used to say it too, but I don’t eat that soup that hot anymore. For starters, the meat substitutes have steadily become tastier in recent years. But I find the technological development especially interesting. The new vegetarian steak at Loetje, for example, still has very little to do with steak, but it is impressive how the manufacturer has managed to align the vegetable proteins in such a way that they have the structure of pulled pork. By impregnating the block with cocoa butter, it gets a very nice brown crust during baking.
Meat substitutes are also valuable because they enable a restaurant like De Oude Sluis in Zoutkamp to no problem and put a vegan six-course menu on the table in their own style. They even advertise it on the homepage: “We are very fanatic when it comes to vegan cooking. (…) If you come to eat vegan with us (…) we can take this into account from the first bite and we will make it a beautiful evening!”
De Oude Sluis is a fine village restaurant – with a view from the conservatory of, yes, the old lock of Zoutkamp; a large piece of beachcombing wood with lights above the bar; paneling of wine boxes and corks; two guitars next to the fireplace; and plants with name plates: „Patrick is a pepper, Bibi a kiwi and Ad the advocado [sic]” – where the entire staff visibly takes pleasure in giving a packed tent a pleasant Friday evening.
A tasty, firm fish
The Old Lock is first and foremost a North Groningen restaurant, Zoutkamp (Soltkamp, the Groninger way) is located near Lauwersoog. The Dutch shrimps from the Wad, which are peeled by machine on the spot and therefore do not have to be sprayed flat with preservatives up and down to Morocco, are fresh and deliciously sweet-salty, together with a crayfish for the filling under a blanket of foamy cocktail sauce. The fish of the day is weever, a little known but extremely tasty, firm fish that is often by-catch. Does very nicely as tempura with anchovy cream. And they serve a noteworthy fresh, blond beer from Solt – a brand with a sustainability mission founded by five Zoutkamper fishermen, who also supply those tasty shrimp.
The dishes aren’t earth-shattering compositions (the wines aren’t special either), but everything that comes out of the kitchen is solid. The cuissons are all in order: from the well-seared pointed cabbage (with lovage foam and pickled beech mushroom) to that weever and toasted lettuce underneath, to the sous vide cooked guinea fowl in its rich gravy; all vegetable garnishes have been given their own cooking, the spinach is fresh and prepared; the steak tartare tastes like a coarse ox sausage. Skilled cooking is done here, with knowledge of and love for the products.
And that vegan menu comes along very nicely! Not vegetarian. Vegan! In Zoutkamp, mind you. Tribute.
So there are two meat substitutes in that menu. They are actually fish substitutes. The salty, fishy taste seems to imitate quite nicely – I suspect with seaweed extract. Jackfruit and mock tuna are an unexpectedly witty duo and work especially great with that cocktail foam. The slippery structure of the fake surimi remains difficult, but in a tempura with black garlic cream it is a nice vegan counterpart of the Pieterman dish. I can imagine that as a vegan you sometimes get bullied.
Another fun vegan idea: a polenta ‘cheese soufflé’ – fried on the outside and runny on the inside. Of course you can’t use cheese in a vegan menu, but the polenta could have been flavored with a dried mushroom or black olive. The gnocchi are actually way too gooey and chewy, but together with sweet mango puree it takes on something pleasantly chewy. I can’t imagine that this was the intention, but it is still very nice to eat.
Unfortunately, the dessert was less successful. The strawberry granita with pina colada foam and summer fruit is a bit of a generic cookbook dessert. It is much better to order an Irish coffee. It is prepared at the table in an elegant, manually operated espresso machine. And whipped the cream with a real Body & Fit protein shake cup, which you normally only see in the gym. “It was never a good time to ask the kitchen for whipped cream,” explains the hostess. So she decided to do it herself. Beautiful show. And that cup, with a metal spring ball in it, works perfectly! The cream flows beautifully semi-lobed.