John Boomkamp

 

MooMba’s Chef John Boomkamp shares simple but flavorful seafood recipes to delight you long after your Aruba vacation has ended. Fishing aficionados can bring their own fresh catch for MooMba to prepare for dinner.

Chef John Boomkamp has worked at MooMba for the past three months, after relocating to his favorite vacation spot from his native Holland. After completing his culinary studies, Chef John worked in international kitchens throughout Holland and Germany for about a decade. He was also chef at the Twensehove Restaurant for two years and Executive Chef for five years at the Klaverblad Restaurant, both in the vicinity of Enschede, in the eastern part of Holland, before moving to Aruba.

MooMba Beach is a casual open-air bar and restaurant located in impressive palapa huts right on the beach between the Holiday Inn and the Marriott Surf Club. This culinary hideaway is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week and has a delicious international menu with Caribbean highlights.

“After completing his culinary studies, Chef John worked in international kitchens throughout Holland and Germany for about a decade”

The menu at MooMba Beach boasts fish so fresh that it goes from the boat right to the kitchen! Caught by local fishermen, tender and tasty Caribbean seafood is served smoked, grilled, pan-fried, blackened, baked and in any preparation you can imagine.

MooMba’s Fish Delight (for 4 persons)

Place fish fillets (wahoo, mahi-mahi, grouper or any other white fish) in a buttered baking pan. Cover them with onions, celery, fresh garlic and herbs, dry white wine, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and bake in the oven for 7-8 minutes at 375 degrees F. Then uncover and bake an additional 4-5 minutes, according to thickness. Remove from oven.

In a saucepan, combine the juice from the fish with 3 Tablespoons butter to create a light sauce. Then squirt some fresh lemon and add fresh herbs to the mixture. Pour over the fish and eat right away.

Serve with a green salad, pasta, broccoli, carrots, pumpkin and/or rice.

MooMba’s Coconut Shrimp (for 4 persons)

Use five shrimp per person (clean shrimp, remove head, de-vein and allot to dry on paper. Note: Chefs around the world often use an odd number of ingredients when cooking - for good luck! Italians even use an odd number of coffee beans in a glass of Sambuca.)

 

Add 2 beaten eggs to 8 ozs grated coconut and mix well. Dip shrimps in mixture and place in deep fryer. (If using a frying pan, cover the bottom with ½ inch of well-heated oil before adding shrimps.) Cook one minute on each side over medium heat.

Serve with Pineapple Dipping Sauce:

Take 4 Tablespoons sugar and add to 3 slices of fresh pineapple or canned pineapple rings. Cook until the pineapple is soft and hot. Blend and add a pinch of hot chile powder, according to taste. Place shrimps around the plate and a ramekin with the sauce in the center.

MooMba’s Fish Chowder (for 4 persons)

Ingredients: 2 Tablespoons butter, 1 large onion, 3 springs thyme, 3 Tablespoons ketchup, 1 diced carrot, 1 chopped celery spear, 1 diced fish fillet, 5 Tablespoons flour, 1 cube fish bouillon, 1 pint full cream milk.

Butter pan. Saute onion. Add carrots and celery and brown slightly. Add thyme and continue to brown. Add ketchup. When well-combined, add 5 Tablespoons flour. Lower flame. Stir until the flour is dissolved. Add bouillon cube and milk. Stir until mixture is creamy, add salt and pepper to taste and bit of white wine. Blend liquid and strain. Return to sauce pan with chunks of raw fish and cook for 15 minutes over medium heat.