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What do you get when you cross a historic parcel of Amsterdam real estate, Aussie-Brit designer and hotelier Anouska Hempel, and a globetrotting chef with Dutch roots? You get the graphically plated, Eastern-kissed cuisine served at the Dylan Hotel in Amsterdam. Well, at least up until two weeks ago you did.

After stumbling on a copy of the elusive Dylan Amsterdam cookbook upon touching down in the frozen city I decided to make reservations for lunch, dinner, afternoon tea or whatever was available at the actual establishment. Instead of trying to decipher the hotel/Dutch phone system, we walked the ten minutes from where we were staying on Dam Square over the three or four picturesque canals that separated us from the Dylan.

Detail: Lemongrass
Photography by Sigurd Kranendonk

The Dylan has its own fleet of perfect black cruising bikes parked in a small courtyard out front. Each two-wheeler sports a tiny, perfect license plate proudly stating its place of residence in all caps - "The Dylan". We were welcomed by a friendly smile attached to a smartly dressed man who greeted us as if we were old friends. We were whisked inside and generously guided through a tour of the restaurant just as a film or photography crew was breaking down and leaving.

Here's the thing. I was really excited about sampling chef Schilio van Coevorden's cuisine at the Dylan. His cookbook shows stunning photographs by photographer Sigurd Kranendonk of banana cardamom chips, ginger beers, Herve cheese brulee with black sesame crackers, and Pandan pudding with blueberry and coconut sauce. A good portion of the menu looked as if it could be friendly for a visiting vegetarian in the Netherlands. I was very excited to be there.

Not so fast. The chef has apparently left the building.

Two weeks prior to our arrival Schilio left The Dylan and is now cooking a more Dutch-inspired menu at The College Hotel. There is a new chef in the house at The Dylan, but the East meets West influences that anchored the menu under Schilio are no longer apparent. Afternoon tea, also scratched. So that was that. There was no way for me to experience chef Schilio's Dylan-era cooking unless I gave it a try in my own kitchen.

Bikes in the Dylan courtyard.
Photography by Sigurd Kranendonk

The Dylan cookbook consists of 180 of recipes from the Dylan Hotel in Amsterdam. It is a stunningly beautiful book ans Schilio's updated twists and creative takes on traditional (beloved) favorites are inspiring. It is the kind of book that gets you thinking differently about all the different variables and possibilities that come into play when you strive to make a recipe your own.

The book is available in Dutch or English but it is hard to find. I found eight English copies on Ebay UK for those of you who are eager to get your hands on it. You can also try ordering direct from the hotel by emailing hotel@dylanamsterdam.com

Pad Thai
Photography by Sigurd Kranendonk

Below is an example of the Pad Thai recipe (pretty close) to the way it appears in the book. Look closely at the recipe, it reflects the way all the recipes in this book are written - short-hand instructions, grams and litres - the combination of the two could be enough to discourage some of you newbie cooks. For my U.S. readers, at some point in the near future I'll translate this recipe for you. Promise. After I unpack, and do laundry, and finish my taxes and all that other fun stuff. The recipes in this book are certainly worth the effort for those of you who are up for it.

Dylan Pad Thai Recipe

Heidi vegetarian notes: For the vegetarians out there, you are still in business. I usually use a bit of soy sauce in place of the fish sauce (or Pim gave me another fantastic alternative veg-friendly wonder sauce, but I left it at her house on accident), I'll use sauteed tofu strips in place of the prawns, leave out the dried shrimp, etc.

4 tablespoons peanut oil
75 g dried shrimp
100 g tofu, diced
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 bunch kuchai (Chinese chives)
250 g bean sprouts
125 g cellophane noodles, cooked, rinsed with cold water
6 small red Thai chilli peppers, finely chopped
5 tablespoons fish sauce
1 1/2 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons ground peanuts
3 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon paprika powder

Heat the oil in a wok. Stir-fry the shrimp and the tofu in the hot oil. Add the eggs and stir well. Add the remaining ingredients for the Pad Thai and stir-fry everything for 2 minutes.

Crepes

1 litre water
500 g spinach
2 eggs
500 g flour
2 tablespoons oil
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
peanut oil for frying

Bring the water to the boil. Blanch the spinach in the water Puree the spinach with all the water. Pour the mixture through a sieve and allow the resulting liquid to cool. Beat the eggs, flour, oil and salt through the spinach mixture until you have a supple batter Heat some peanut oil in a frying pan and fry 8 pancakes Fry the pancakes on one side, until the top is dry Set aside a little of the batter.

To finish

1 sachet squid ink
16 gambas (large prawns), cleaned
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon lime juice
1/2 litre green coriander curry (see below)
1/2 litre basic curry (see below), blackened with a sachet of squid ink

Mix the sachet of squid ink into the remaining pancake batter. Fry a black-coloured pancake with it. Cut this pancake into thin strips. Slice the cleaned gambas (prawns) in half lengthwise. Stir them into the fish sauce and the lime juice. Put half a gamba (prawn) in the middle of each pancake.

Divide the Pad Thai over the pancakes. Put another half gamba on top of the Pad Thai. Fold the pancakes into neat parcels. Fold a strip of black pancake in the middle of the Pad Thai parcels. Wrap the Pad Thai parcels in heatproof plastic wrap. Steam the parcels for 15 minutes. Pour the green curry onto one half of each plate and the black curry into the other half. To arrange put two parcels of Pad Thai on each plate.

Serves 8.

Green Coriander Curry

3 litres Thai coconut milk
250 ml Thai fish sauce
250 g sugar
250 ml (kaffir) lime juice
4 lime leaves
3 stalks lemon grass
5 red Thai chile peppers, coarsely chopped
200 g root ginger, coarsely chopped
200 g galangal, coarsely chopped
10 g dried shrimp paste
stalks of 1 bunch coriander (cilantro)
leaves of one bunch coriander (cilantro)
250 g green peas

Bring the coconut milk and fish sauce, sugar and lime juice to a boil. Add the remaining ingredients, except the coriander and the green peas. Put the pan on low and gently reduce the mixture until about 2 litres are left. In a blender or food processor puree the sauce with the coriander and the green peas. Pour the sauce through a sieve.

Basic Curry

3 litres Thai coconut milk
250 ml Thai fish sauce
250 g sugar
250 ml (kaffir) lime juice
4 lime leaves
3 stalks lemon grass
5 red Thai chile peppers, coarsely chopped
200 g root ginger, coarsely chopped
200 g galangal, coarsely chopped
10 g dried shrimp paste
6 ripe plum tomatoes

Bring the coconut milk and fish sauce, sugar and lime juice to a boil. Add the remaining ingredients. Put the pan on low and gently reduce the mixture until about 2 litres are left. In a blender or food processor puree the sauce. Pour the sauce through a sieve.

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