My first Gourmetten

An ongoing discussion on the Facebook chat group, Americans in Amsterdam, is how the Dutch are reserved and rarely invite Americans into their homes. The Dutch, in general, have a social life that leaves little space for ex-pat Americans. I have read accounts of folks, having lived in Holland for years, with children in school, lamenting over never being invited over for dinner by a co-worker or one of their children’s friends’ parents. It’s not a language issue, as the Dutch tend to be fairly fluent in English, but more a cultural divide. I, therefore, feel fortunate, and appreciate, having a Dutch woman, Lianne Turkenburg, as my closest friend in Amsterdam. She has introduced me to her inner circle of friends, which I have nicknamed “The Goddesses” due to their good looks, youthfulness, and regal attitudes. Just before I left Holland to return to my house in Cortona, Italy, Lianne invited me to join her for dinner at her parents’ house. A rare treat. “We’re having Gourmetten,” she announced. It sounded just like “gourmet,” so I smiled, having no idea what she was proposing. “Mom and Dad are excited you’re coming, so they are making this special meal.”

Hans and Marianne Turkenburg have lived in the same quaint house on the outskirts of Amsterdam for 36 years. Bordering a large park and forest crisscrossed with trails and lakes, it is part of a well-tended development of two-story homes with pleasant front and fenced backyards meticulously landscaped with an abundance of flowers. Lianne was born in the house as, even today, Dutch women prefer giving birth at home. Typical of a Dutch home, the spaces are compact, with the main floor comprised of an open kitchen and living room. The bedrooms are upstairs. The backyard is an integral part of the living space. The Turkenburgs have renovated the house since their two children moved out, with Hans creating the ideal spot on a covered back patio for Gourmetten, the name assigned to the dining experience that heralds Dutch celebrations, especially Christmas, but also birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, etc. It is a meal that might hail from the Dutch East-Indies trade but probably was a promoted concept by the meatpackers back in the 1970s. However it came to be, it is now as highly anticipated as Thanksgiving is to Americans. I had never heard of it.

I had met Hans and Marianne once before, accompanying Lianne to her mother’s birthday dinner at a restaurant in Amsterdam where Marianne and Hans had spent nearly every one of her birthdays since they had met in their youth. We enjoyed a very pleasant evening, but I knew that they were somewhat confused over why their 27-year-old daughter, working in a high-powered job with a handsome and dashing long-term boyfriend, was spending such an inordinate amount of time with a 71-year-old woman. I happen to have a few years on them. 

Lianne and I first met when I rented her boyfriend’s apartment in the De Pijp neighborhood of Amsterdam in the summer of 2018 for a month. I returned for a much longer period in 2019 and into 2020, staying there while I renovated the apartment I purchased. We found we simply enjoyed each other’s company, going for long walks around the canals, taking numerous road trips, and watching movies after leisurely dinners. She visited me in Denver before I moved to Amsterdam and has joined me in Italy three times thus far, staying the last time for nearly a month. We never run low on conversation, travel, wine, exercise, and laughter.

“What’s this Gourmet meal?” I asked as she maneuvered her car deftly through rush-hour traffic, heading to her parents’ home.

“Simply the best meal in the world. There are lots of sides. That’s what makes it special. My mom is famous for one of her sides.”

Marianne and Hans warmly welcomed me, and we toured the house with their new puppy, Johnie, who was squirming between our legs and thrilled for attention. We made our way out to the Gourmetten table, designed and constructed by Hans. He had taken a round wooden dining table comfortably seating six and cut a hole in the center. He then fitted the hole with a circular steel pan, deep enough for special heat-absorbing barbeque stones to cover the bottom, which had tubes connected to a propane tank to provide a circle of flames. The pan and grill extended about four inches above the table surface. It was quite ingenious and took less than 10 minutes for the stones and flame to be the perfect temperature for grilling meat. Once Lianne and I were seated, Marianne and Hans set down two platters of raw meats, a basket of sliced baguettes, a bowl of carrot and celery sticks, and bowls of red bell peppers, sliced mushrooms, and green onions. There was also a simple tomato and greens salad.

The focus of the meal was on the bowls of butter, garlic butter, satay peanut sauce, a sauce that resembled Thousand Island dressing, mayonnaise, and Marianne’s famous sauce made from Boursin garlic cheese, mayonnaise, cream, and more garlic. I quickly realized that “sides” for the Dutch are not what “sides” are for Americans. Rather than a potato dish, mac and cheese, corn on the cob, salad, or any number of foods we serve alongside the main course, sides for the Dutch are sauces.

Lianne motioned to one of the meat-laden platters. “We go to our local butcher—he’s known us for years—and tell him we are having Gourmetten. We tell him how many people, and he prepares the meats.” 

Marianne piped in, “There’s hamburger, steak, pork, chicken Cordon Bleu, duck, sausage. Lots of it.”

 “We usually drink beer, but we know you prefer red wine,” Hans said as he poured me a glass of Pinot Noir before setting a perfectly-sliced piece of raw steak and a mini hamburger on the grill. He added a couple of slices of bread slathered with butter. Marianne and Lianne followed suit, choosing different items. I jumped right in.

It took us a number of glasses of wine, and a few hours, to work our way through all the meats and sauces. Every so often, we’d munch on carrot sticks, and Hans would dump a mound of mushrooms and green onions on the grill to break up the meat overload. Gourmetten to the Dutch is simply the greatest mixed grill, cooked teppanyaki-style, ever devised. The only thing more plentiful than the meat was the comradery and conversation. I will gladly accept any future invites for Gourmetten.