I’m the one who cooks at home. Cooking is a passion of mine. Nature once interviewed me for a piece on how scientists use their lab skills in the kitchen. Cooking is a bit like chemistry, after all. Take the perfect boiled egg: it’s about getting the balance right between the white and the yolk, and you don’t get that just by boiling it. You need to let the temperature fluctuate. There’s a published study on it that I’ve been meaning to replicate. It’ll be time-consuming, but I’m going to try.
"I want to excel at everything I do. The downside is that I often find myself wondering if it's good enough"
My friends appreciate… that I organise get-togethers. And that I like to celebrate friendships with food – cooking something special on a Saturday night and spontaneously inviting people round for a lovely evening. On the other hand, I don’t think they would say I’m the best listener. It’s not that I don’t listen, but I tend to jump straight into problem-solving mode. That’s how I’m wired. Need help, solutions, contacts? Just say the word.
I worry too much. I throw myself into everything I do, and I want to excel at everything I do. Maybe it’s because I’m the eldest daughter and my mother always told me, “I was never allowed to work, but you must make sure you can take care of yourself.” The downside is that I often find myself wondering if it’s good enough and struggle to let things go. I’ve always had that drive, and I suppose I’m afraid of losing it. My father was also very driven. He used to reorganise laboratories for DSM. When he retired, he became depressed. He felt like he was no longer contributing to the world. The same could happen to me, but the difference is that I’m already thinking about it: when do I want to stop working? Who will I be without my job? And what will I do? I imagine I’ll turn to cooking – maybe in a care home kitchen – and teaching cooking workshops. I don’t have time for that right now.
"There's nothing more boring than routine. I love the beach when on holiday, but you’ll find me swimming every morning and afternoon"
There’s nothing more boring than… dull people. And routine. I’ll cook a recipe twice at most; after that, I’m done with it. I’m not one for lazy holidays, either. I love the beach, but you’ll find me swimming every morning and afternoon. Swimming gets you into a rhythm. It has a calming effect on me.
When I look in the mirror, I see… that I still look OK. And that I need to lose some weight – I’m working on it. But mostly, I look to see if I still look happy, and I do! Most people think I’m younger than I am because I’ve got this childlike cheerfulness. Some people say, “Yvonne, you can’t have long hair or wear red trousers at nearly 60.” And I just think, What the fuck? Let people be themselves. I actually like standing out a bit.
What are you afraid of? Illness. Sometimes I get this sudden feeling that something’s wrong and I need to get it checked straight away or it’ll be too late. Not for myself, but I want to be there for my children for as long as I can. I suppose what I’m really afraid of is dying – that that’s it, and you’re never coming back, and there are so many things you never got to do. Like becoming a farmer. I think I’d love that – looking after crops and animals all day, working with your hands, feeling physically tired at the end of the day.
"I respect my medical colleagues so much. When one of them says in a meeting, “This patient is rushing to get married before he dies”, I just think, How do you cope?
The lab is the best place in the world. Yes! As a PhD student, I already loved having my own lab bench – knowing what experiments you’ll be doing that week, working meticulously, performing quality checks, analysing results… it’s wonderful. I rarely do lab work these days, but that’s fine. I love everything around it, too – being there, talking to colleagues, solving patients’ problems… I prefer not to meet the patients, though. I’ve got so much respect for my medical colleagues. When a doctor says in a meeting, “This patient is rushing to get married before he dies”, I just think, How do you cope? I’d rather solve puzzles behind the scenes.
There is such a thing as love at first sight. After my divorce, I thought I’d never have another partner. But then René came along. He meant to follow my cooking website on Facebook but accidentally sent me a friend request. He was looking for a recipe, so I sent it to him and didn’t hear anything after that. When I asked him about it, it turned out there’d been a typo in the recipe and the dish had turned out far too salty. I was mortified, especially when he told me he had a heart condition. To make it up to him, I took him out for coffee. I remember thinking, What am I getting myself into? But we had an instant connection. He gave off an air of warmth and reliability that I found incredibly attractive. And now we live together.
"I want to be a fly on the wall in Trump's Oval Office. I want to know if things are as bad as I think they are"
If you could be a fly on the wall anywhere, where would it be? I’d pick Trump’s Oval Office, or maybe the Dutch Parliament. Not exactly fun places, but politics matters, and I want to know if things are as bad as I think they are. Or else I’d be in the rehearsal room with my favourite band, U2. I first saw them live when I was 14, at Pinkpop, way back when. They were phenomenal!