I spotted Interior Junkie a while back, more than a year ago and I absolutely loved it. Especially the Interior peeks in peoples homes called the “binnenkijkers”. I also loved the lay out of the site and when I began blogging myself, I always kept that lay out in mind. I soon found out that Elisah Jacobs was behind this magic. I also asked her about her experiences in setting up a website and I decided to ask her if I could interview her. In the mean time, a lot changed: her website got a complete make over and recently she got an interior column in the Cosmopolitan, writes for “de Uitkrant” and A-MAG”, photographs on the side and slowly but surely she’s going to do interior styling.

We met at cafe van Mechelen, and had a nice cup of tea while we chatted away. It was one of the first times Elisah got interviewed, so she thought it was funny that I was going to interview her. Normally she is the one who gets to interview, so now roles reversed.

Age 29

Job Journalist and Owner Interior Junkie

Website http://www.interiorjunkie.com/

Why and when did you start Interior Junkie?
It started with me buying a house and writing about my adventures on NSMBL.nl. The column was very popular, so that got me thinking. I also noticed that there was a shift in my interests. I liked blogging on interior more than fashion, had so many topics I wanted to blog about so I thought why not give it a go and start a blog on Interior and styling. In the summer of 2012 I took a couple of months to think about topics, lay out, a name and I had to have enough content. One thing was sure, this was going to be a job, not just fun. In january 2013 I created a Facebook page for InteriorJunkie and that was the official start of it all.

Why so passionate about food?
There are 3 things in life that I love: eating, sleeping and writing. And of course my family too! The previous apartment that we had was really small, about 45m2 and the one thing we knew was that if we moved, we wanted to be able to have a big dining table. The house we have now is big enough to have a proper dining area with lots of room for people and more important dinner parties. I have a very big dining table, about 2,5m long, so it can fit quite a number of people.

Where do you get your inspiration from?
From cook books and mostly my dad. All Indonesian recipes I have, I got from my dad who made me swear never to put them “online”. <<SORRY>> And I loooove “het groot Indonesisch kookboek”, if I am not sure this is my go to source..Actually I am a bit experimental when it comes to cooking, so I like to read the Allerhande and then come up with my own twist. Mostly I want to be done within 30 minutes and in the weekends I like to experiment more.

Hotspots:
To combine food with interior: Hutspot, the new one on the Rozengracht, Hay (interior and coffee) and the Fietskantine (hairdresser, coffee and bike shop)
Regarding Food: Van Mechelen is a favorite, right around my corner. Bar Franklin and Bar Spek – Industrial, maybe its a trend, but I love it. As I am from Zwolle, Vito’s has a special place in my heart because of their fabulous pastrami sandwich. I could travel to Zwolle just for this sandwich and on my way there I can get very exited.

Fave cuisine:
Indonesian. Preferably cooked by my dad. Otherwise its Italian and I also like to have some Moroccan food every now and then. I love the combinations of savory and sweet.

Fave meal:
When my dad cooks. He makes the best sates. My favorite meal is his Nasi with barbecued sates.  Otherwhise I am obessed with Truffle..I love the pizza they have at Da Portare Via, it costs about 15 euros, quite expensive but it is worth every euro.

Fave cookbook:
Jamie Oliver, Italy. I loved the show, bought the book and because of him, one day, I want to go and travel through Italy.

What 3 ingredients would we always find in your home?
Truffle oil, pine nuts and rucola. Ok and also Parmesan cheese and tomatoes and to top it off I always have milk. Seriously, I am obsessed with drinking caffe latte.

Most memorable culinary moment?
During a design press trip, visiting Helsinki (at that time world design capital), we got to dine in a pop up restaurant in the mines of Tytyri. The restaurant was situated 80 meters under the ground and come to think of it, it was a down under restaurant. The whole setting, the ambiance, nice people from all over the world, cute lighting and delicious food made it a very memorable moment. And yes, of course we had reindeer and some fabulous fish too. That evening, everything was served in the table ware from iittala and when I got home I immediately bought it too. It always reminds me of that moment.

Preferred culinary destination?
Asia, and then to be specific Thailand. I love to eat like the locals, in those places where you know they are a bit nasty, but so freaking good. Stockholm, fresh fish..I will never forget that.

Do you have a bucket list
Yes, a culinary tour with my Boyfriend visiting Italy. I have that ideal picture in my head, driving around drinking wine and tasting all this amazing food. I would also like to do cooking workshops in Indonesia, to really get my roots.

Fave take out place
Stamppotje and their Pompoen stamppotje, and then with meatballs, gravy and some bacon bits. It even inspired me to have a Pumpkin mash dinner party; I served it with some rucola, bacon and a kick ass “rookworst”.

Favorite drink:
As mentioned earlier, I am obsessed with a Caffe Latte. I don’t really drink alcohol, but if we need to go al chique and stuff, I love a good cocktail: a mojito to be precise.

Food you had today:
I start my day mostly with 2 cups of coffee and a banana….! But I am going to change this, I promise, starting with a smoothie. For lunch, I had a grilled sandwich with hummus made from beets, lettuce and cucumbers: divine. Tonight we had a crusted chicken filet baked in the oven served with a salad (cheese, avocado, cashew nuts, tomato, cucumber and a dressing from apple vinegar, oil, mustard and honey). Also divine! For dessert, I ate a whole pack of Danone stracciatella yoghurt. I am a real dessert person, I have to have dessert after dinner. That’s how I was raised, together with Mona ;).

Recipe of the Indonesian peanut soup – Pindasoep Elisah’s style
Going back to one of the previous questions, the dining table is big enough to host enough friends to sit and have my notorious “peanut soup”. Our kitchen is around the corner, so they sit and I cook while we talk. Funny note, Elisah and her BF Chris are both a bit traumatised by this soup because everybody always requests she makes it.

This is the basic recipe I use, but then I am a bit more generous with the herbs and I add a hard boiled egg and serve it with some rice.

If you liked this post, be sure to check out my other interviews.

Screen Shot 2019 03 25 at 13.46.51 2 - Talking 2 Elisah Jacobs from Interior Junkie

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