About Me

How nice that you are visiting my site!
I'm Andréa - and I've been cooking every single day for almost 30 years.
Not because I had to learn. Not because it's my job (though it became that too). But because somewhere along the way, cooking became the thing I can't imagine a day without.

I live in Brabant - the Burgundian south of the Netherlands - and I've been here my whole life. It's a region that takes food seriously. Eating together isn't just something you do. It's how everything important happens.

I grew up next door to an Indonesian family for over ten years. When they had something to celebrate, they cooked for the whole party. Not for a few hours but for days. The smell would start in the morning and by the time we were going to the party, the table was covered with twenty dishes and nobody was leaving until everyone was full.

That's where my love for Indonesian food comes from. Not from a restaurant or a cookbook, but from my neighbors.

In the Netherlands, Indonesian food was one of the exotic foods (beside macaroni, spaghetti and lasagna), but it has founds it's place in the weekly menu's. It's just food, on the table every week (for sure in my house). I cook it with good ingredients, they are always worth it.

In 2024 I published my cookbook, Het Kookboek van Brabant, with recipes from my home region in the Netherlands. I cooked, wrote, and photographed every recipe in it. Just like on the blog: real food, tested recipes, no nonsense.

My recipes are made for everyday cooking. Simple steps, normal ingredients, big on taste. From quick dinners to Dutch classics and crowd-pleasers for holidays and parties. If you cook from my site, you can trust this will work.

What You Will Find on My Blog

Three things make this blog different:

First, I'm Dutch. Actually Dutch - born and raised in Brabant, with a kookboek to prove it. That means you get the recipes that Dutch home cooks actually make. Stamppot. Hutspot. Hachee. Erwtensoep thick enough to stand a spoon in. And the full Indonesian-Dutch table that most of the world doesn't know about yet.

Second, I run the largest Dutch-language slow cooker communities in the Netherlands - with over 24,000 members. These are people who cook real food for real families and they love to use a crock pot. If a recipe doesn't work, I hear about it.

Third, I believe dinner should be the best part of the day. The Dutch call it 'gezelligheid' - there's no exact English translation, but it's the feeling of a table full of food, nobody in a rush to leave, the evening stretching out in the best possible way. That's what I cook for.

Every recipe is developed, tested, and photographed by me.
What you see in the photos is what you can serve at home.

Cooking with Confidence

I've spent years in the kitchen, so I know what works (and what doesn't).
I only share recipes I enjoy cooking and eating myself. Many are tested more than once.

I use ingredients you can actually find. No complicated chef talk, just clear steps.
My goal: you feel relaxed while cooking and proud when you serve it.

And I like fresh, homemade food. If we can make it ourselves in a simple way, we do.
And because life is busy, I keep my recipes as easy as possible.

A Little More About Me

I cook almost every day. I've been doing it since I was 21. On holiday, I skip the souvenir shops and go straight to the local market. I own more cookbooks than I have shelf space for. And I genuinely believe Dutch food is one of the most underrated cuisines in the world - which is exactly why I'm here.

Work With Me

I work with food brands, agencies, and publishers on recipe development, food photography, and sponsored content. Examples of my work: janssen-fotografie.nl. For press, events, and book launches email me at: hello@byandreajanssen.com.

With love, Andréa