Introduction

Growing up in Melbourne, I have been around food more or less all my life. When I was seventeen, my mother took over a health-food store with a take-away food section that had not been doing very well, but she saw its potential. She put the last of her savings into every appliance you could imagine, from a frozen yoghurt maker to pie warmers. We pimped up the menu with our homemade falafel in pita bread with hummus and fresh tabouleh: a big success!

My culinary journey continued when I was twenty, and I started travelling. In Chianti, Italy, I had the good fortune to live with a lovely lady, my friend’s mother. She was an amazing cook and she loved to take me with her around the markets. I would watch her with admiration as she carefully chose the perfect tomato and just the right cheese. I realised then that good cooking is not just making a meal in a kitchen. It’s about knowing and selecting the best of every ingredient to make as perfect a dish as possible.

After Italy came Amsterdam. I worked as a cook in a variety of cafés and restaurants before starting Small World Catering in 1999. Little did I know that within a year Small World would become a successful catering business and a bustling café. The menu burst with gourmet sandwiches, take-home meals, fresh salads, pressed juices and, of course, great coffee. Located on a really sunny street corner with spare crates as seating, Small World’s terrace was born and our popularity grew.

All the knowledge I’ve acquired over the years culminates in Small World, but it’s the people who have made the shop what it is today. It’s almost impossible to estimate the number of nationalities that have worked with me over the years. They have come to Small World from all over the globe, from Russia and Africa, Iceland to America. Each one of them bringing his or her own twist to the dishes. Quite a few of those dishes are still with us today: the Spanish Tortilla, French Lemon Tart, New York Cheesecake, Thai Fish Cakes, Mediterranean Couscous and the Mexican Burritos. Over the years, Small World has become an Amsterdam institution, featuring in loads of magazines and travel guides. The locals think of Small World as ‘their’ place, as do regular visitors to Amsterdam, who always stop in when they’re in town for a bite and a chat. This book has long been a wish of mine, now realized thanks to a loyal customer who wanted to help make it happen for years. Her favourite is the berry muffin!

Love your Lunch is not only a book about Small World. It is, most of all, a book about home-cooked comfort food served with an elegant twist. I want to show you how to make delicious lunches using the best ingredients and the simplest techniques. The recipes have all been tried and tested, not just by our own chefs, but also by people without a chef’s experience. They work, and they are delicious. We put every recipe we could fit in into Love your Lunch, including our famous Carrot Cake. It was hard to give that one away, but it wouldn’t be the Small World cookbook without it!