Questionnaire
Bénine Bijleveld
This is Bénine Bijleveld. And believe me, you want to get to know her. After reading this piece, you will definitely want to reserve her cookbook (here then). A cool, gluten-free book that isn't actually that healthy and that she made together with top model and photographer Kim Feenstra. Look, that's what we need.
Tell us everything about your book…
“No way I would have believed you if you had said this a year ago. But I secretly dreamed of it. It really feels like a baby. There are many gluten-free people who don't know how to cook deliciously, due to various obstacles. For me, it's in my nature. Someone said that Kim and I should talk to each other. She had just been in Het Perfecte Plaatje. I'm a diehard cook, she enjoys food and we have the same ideas. It's not a diet book, not a girlfriend book, and especially not sappy. Food Talk is a cool, gluten-free book with a raw edge. Actually, we are two women with male humor. Kim and I are not those clingy types who are picking at each other and eating cakes. In diet books, people say all sorts of things, but they actually don't know enough about it. This is not a healthy book, but a tasty book. Let's be normal, but with good and fresh products. It encourages you to cook and eat together, instead of constantly looking at a screen. That's why it's called Food Talk.”
What is your favorite recipe from the book?
“Haha, I give a different answer every time. I think I'm sowing confusion, but I just feel like something different every time. Right now, it's Flammkuchen with caramelized onion. Good cooking and eating comes with a nice wine.”
“Food Talk is a cool, gluten-free book with a raw edge”
Your healthy role model?
“In health, I don't have that much, I don't find a dietitian very innovative, but chefs I do. I like Janneke Vreugdenhil, she writes for NRC. She tells stories, that's what I want too. It's not just a recipe book, but also a story. And Jamie Oliver a hundred thousand percent. How he cooks, that cute lisp and that he grabs everything with his hands.‘
The best food shop?
“In the Netherlands, Landmarkt and Vishandel Tel are my favorites, but I also like to go to the Ten Katemarkt or I go to Asian markets. In France and Italy, I go wild in a supermarché, I can shop for months there.”
What do you eat when calories are not a factor?
“A kitchen bores me quickly, but the Asian one does not. I traveled for three months and it was just curry, curry, curry, and curry. I could eat that all day. Really, amazing.”
Never have I ever...
“I worry about calories. I read the packaging because I need to see if the product is gluten-free. But it's in my nature not to eat a whole pack of cookies or a large bag of chips. I'm not in the mood for that. If you can have everything, it's easier. You shouldn't deny yourself anything.”
And what do you do when no one is home?
“Cooking, with the music turned up really loud. Preferably classical Italian music, in my most comfortable and non-sexy clothes. Think sweatpants, big socks, and probably a faded tank top. I sing really loudly words I don't even know and in the meantime, I make a good risotto.”
“I sing really loudly words I don't even know and in the meantime, I make a good risotto”
What was the most ridiculous amount you ever spent on food?
“I bought a blue decorative pumpkin for fifteen euros because it matched my table well. That's really silly for something you won't eat.‘
What is undervalued in the kitchen?
“The hand blender, I often need that. You shouldn't be too cheap with it, because the one from Hema falls apart easily. Just spend forty or fifty euros.”
Who would you like to have coffee (or wine) with and why?
“With Jamie Oliver. If that guy is half an hour away from me, then I can finally ask him everything.”
No one knows this about you?
“I talk to myself, even in the supermarket. Quite strange, but it feels comfortable when I work through my list. ‘Oh nice basil, that needs to go in.’ People probably find it normal, actually weird.”
And what should always be in the pantry?
“Quite a lot, but definitely a good tomato sauce as a base. The one from my Mutti is the tastiest. And of course basics, like rice, pasta, and all the spice jars. I have at least thirty jars of spices and they should always be there.”
Ultimate moment of relaxation?
“The weekend mornings, to cook Instagram-worthy. A stack of pancakes, nice avocado sandwiches, and the music on. Then exercise and take a nice late shower.”
“I bought a blue decorative pumpkin for fifteen euros because it matched my table well‘
Name the last three things you bought:
“Well, I just went to Albert Heijn, so spinach and tomato sauce. But also a nice dress for the launch of a not-so-interesting brand. I hope it's really nice.”
If your bag could talk, what would it tell us?
“Stop with that way too heavy and big wallet, water bottles, and toothpicks and try not to always put all your groceries in me.”
What is on your bucket list?
“Oh man, so much. I would really like to go to Central America because I don't know that cuisine very well yet. I want to skydive, dive with a shark, but then with a white or whale shark without a cage. I've done cage diving once. Maybe I'm a bit of an adrenaline junkie, while some people say I look sixty because of the things I like.”
Your food rule?
“I don't know many, but maybe everything fresh? Just eat well, healthy, and fresh, then you can also cheat with chocolate. If you don't eat stupidly, that's possible. By the way, you do need money for that because I find it sad that food is made so expensive. The McDonald's is a few dollars, but fresh food is terribly expensive. I would like more attention for under-modal, so you can buy really good things without having your own vegetable garden.”
Photo: Mitchell van Voorbergen
