A warm slice of high apple pie – or, as the natives call it – appeltaart, is one of the first distinctively Dutch things I came to appreciate when I moved to Amsterdam, back in 2012. It’s also the easiest to love about the somewhat austere Dutch cuisine. I must confess I’ll always point guests visiting from abroad in the direction of my favourite appeltaart place, rather than sending them off to nearest herring stall.
In case you were wondering how to dish up the matcha cake you just baked, and you happen to be in Amsterdam, I would recommend visiting Arita Porcelain Today for some inspiration. Japanese porcelain has been on European tables for centuries; this exhibition will plate up some food for thought too. Arita Porcelain Today – in the Asian Pavillon of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam until October 9th 2016 – conjugates traditional and contemporary design while celebrating the 400 years old cooperation between the creative industries of The Netherlands and Japan. The design project behind the exhibition originates from the collaboration between the Dutch design duo Scholten & Baijings and Japanese designer Teruhiro Yanagihara. Over the past two years, they coordinated sixteen designers from Europe, America and Japan and ten porcelain companies from the province of Saga, Japan, to create a 300 pieces contemporary porcelain collection using traditional methods. The aim was to revive and celebrate ancient knowhow and traditional craftsmanship from the Southern Japanese town of Arita, where Japanese porcelain industry originated in the 1610s. The flood of low cost ceramic imports in recent years …
