marecek05 Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 (edited) Gentlemen! As the discussion in regards to French underwater cavalry was driven off topic, I have decided to create a topic regarding dutch food and my view of it as an outsider, who lived in Netherlands for a year during a school. It will be presented chronologically, however for dramatic tension, spring will contain stuff that actually happened in the autumn: 1. Arrival. I was being told about and presented wonderful Dutch traditional foods such as hutspot and stamppot. This made me think, why the Dutch, having monopoly on spices, never thought of using any of them. Also the circumstances of invention of these two became something of a joke. Late 16th century Jan: Anke, lets go build a dam! Anke: But, we need to cook something or we will have nothing to eat when we come back! Jan: Lets put these potatoes, potatoes, carrots, onions and let it boil for 8 hours. It will be delicisious! 2. Welcome drink. Getting drunk with Dutch people, it is unavoidable that someone orders bitterballen. You dip them into mustard try them and they are delicious. More drunk you are, more delicisous are they. On your way home you are presented with a Kroket, which is Bitterballen's larger brother. But it being larger, it starts to make you think about what is inside. That is a mistake. 3. Sightseeing. You go sightseeing around Netherlands. It is very nice. You get to try a lot of cheese. It mostly the same cheese, but it is good though. Then you go to seaside (Den Haag in my case). You try Nieuwe harring. Raw fish, manly you think. But Dutch are civilized, they dip it in raw onions to make it better. It is okay for humans, great for seagulls, therefore they steal your fish. 4. School lunch. You grab cafeteria lunch and then watch your teachers, professors, adult people of standing and gravity put chocolate sprinkles on their bread for lunch. 5. Drinking after sightseeing. On your way home you grab kopsalon - the greatest form of kebab. 6. November - After an hour long ride on your bike in a snowstorm and/or freezing rain (in november in Netherlands it didn't really rain. Due to strong wind, it was more like a super cold mist), you decide to grab a Snert (hearty peasoup with bacon). It is exactly what you need for that kind of weather. 7. After being drunk from Jenever, you decide to grab some food. You get french fries with peanut sauce. Surprisingly good, like really good. You dare to try more peanut stuff. 8. Netherlands had colonies. Indonesian - yum! Surinamese - yum! Honorable mentions: Pannekoek - pancake with bacon baked into it - yum! Stroopwaffeln - hands down best tea desert! Kibbeling - incredibly meh... Closing comments: I really like Dutch people, I find them overall very nice (some of the nicest I met in Europe) people, with their little quirks (being congratulated that you know someone who has a birthday, copious amounts of hair gel used) and food that they market really badly, with promoting the traditional tasteless mashed dishes. Edited September 10, 2015 by marecek05 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt Bubbles Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Hi, as a native Dutchy I'm pleased to read someone enjoyed our little country! As for us not using that many spices in our foods, while having an monopoly on the market, I can guess the business-strategy behind it: Dont get high on your own supply We Dutch dont really have a cuisine, we borrow a lot from other countries and former colonies. French, Italian and Indonesian cuisines are most popular in the Netherlands. Freshly baked Kibbeling is pretty nice tho, most of the times it aint baked fresh and gets very soggy :/ Pancakes are a favourite for most indeed and every child will love them, nice sidenote: Pancake (Pannekoek) also is an abusive nickname for a loser. Off to lunch now, all this food talk gets me all hungry here Grtzzz Bubbles 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konali89 Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 There is a common misunderstanding between Dutch pancakes and the American pancakes ( for as far i know we call them American pancakes) The Dutch ones are much flatter and larger. Lets compare them: VS Both look delicious, but i grew up with the Dutch ones so i will go with them:) Did you know, you can actually eat them cold aswell. Not many do it, but it is certainly not bad or anything. Have you while beind in the Netherlands, ever come across or tried ''Poffertjes''. they are awesome:) another great similair dish. Lovely for the little kids, or Captain Bubbles:) Now i got hungry so see ya later:) Ty for the kind words about our little country:) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marecek05 Posted September 10, 2015 Author Share Posted September 10, 2015 I never tried poffertjes as I am not that much for sweet food. That is also why I haven't discussed the desserts, as I haven't really tried that many of them. Might try them next time I get to Netherlands. In regards to the Netherlands as a whole, I think that it is sad that tourists, especially younger, tend to view it thorugh the lens of weed and whores. All the while it is really beautiful and quite calm (due to all the Dutch hurrying to meet their agenda book appointments and preplanned leisure). Btw, I might be going for a week to Utrecht in November. As I have seen most of Holland proper, do you have tips for east and north netherlands? I have heard that Groningen is quite nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeekoning Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Another great treat, the stroopwafel (for me) is best served frozen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt Bubbles Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Btw, I might be going for a week to Utrecht in November. As I have seen most of Holland proper, do you have tips for east and north netherlands? I have heard that Groningen is quite nice. Groningen is nice, a student-town with lots of bars all concentrated in the old city-centre. Another interesting place could be Franeker, where they have one of the oldest Planetariums in Europe. http://www.planetarium-friesland.nl/fr Or the oldfashioned pumping station in Lemmer: http://www.woudagemaal.nl/8143/de-linformation-en-francais/ Grtzzz Bubbles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeWoudt Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 I've had kibbeling that's delicious and some that tasted like microwaved waste. It very much depends on the vendor, the flavoring and the quality of fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lytse Pier Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 (edited) We are fortunate to have friends from all over the world come over regularly and there are two special ducht things; one that all like and one that all unanimously dislike. All of our overseas friends love Speculaas. Cookies with a rich tradition in our spices monopoly. Here are some images of Speculaas: https://www.google.nl/search?q=speculaas&espv=2&biw=1920&bih=979&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMI7r3o1KntxwIVwrMUCh1Q4w3h As a lot of people might know the Dutch are infamous for their licorice. The Danish have some of that too, but the Dutch have something that will be spit out by every foreigner I have ever met. Double salted licorice. Licorice is an aquired taste already, but wait until you taste this double salty one! Here are some images too of that special product I am always bringing when I leave my country to travel. It is found no where else, not even in Denmark / Scandinavia. https://www.google.nl/search?q=speculaas&espv=2&biw=1920&bih=979&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMI7r3o1KntxwIVwrMUCh1Q4w3h#tbm=isch&q=double+salted+licorice Typical reaction to eating double salted licorice: Edited September 10, 2015 by Redbad72 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jodgi Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 I lived in Holland (Rosenburg outside Rotterdam) for two years when I was little. I remember patat. French fries served with mayonnaise. I remember coming back to Norway and getting kethcup with my patat. Next up is frikandellen. Dunno what it is, shaped like a hotdog with a fishfinger like crust. Probably deep fried until it's mother wouldn't even recognize it. Tasty, tho... pork meat? As you've already mentioned, normal breakfast and lunch. I've told the tale of Dutch food to wide eyed kids during my years of school in Norway. It is a good story: "Every day we had white bread <gasps>, butter and cakesprinkling <roll eyes and pass out>" Here's to hagelslag, muisjes(?) and all that other unhealthy shit they put on our bread! Stroopwafels has actually been made available in selected Norwegian shops during the last five years, it's great! Though my parents have made sure to pick it up for the entire family EVERY time they've traveled over the years. You can tell the Dutch are a fun loving bunch. All the above mentioned plus Grolsch, honorable mention to Heineken; If I'm gonna drink like a lady, Heinie's fit the bill. Alas, my child-fluent Dutch is lost to me. I can only dig up a few phrases. But I still pronounce it better than my parents who have a much larger word repository still active. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marecek05 Posted September 10, 2015 Author Share Posted September 10, 2015 You can tell the Dutch are a fun loving bunch. All the above mentioned plus Grolsch, honorable mention to Heineken; If I'm gonna drink like a lady, Heinie's fit the bill. I am sorry, although I like the Dutch, I really cannot recommend Dutch beers. I've tried most of Dutch beers available in supermarkets and they weren't good. There might be some good microbrews, but the bigger ones were very disappointing. Therefore I drank mostly Belgian beer while there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeRuyter Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 I am sorry, although I like the Dutch, I really cannot recommend Dutch beers. I've tried most of Dutch beers available in supermarkets and they weren't good. There might be some good microbrews, but the bigger ones were very disappointing. Therefore I drank mostly Belgian beer while there... Then I recommend you try "La Trappe" a Dutch trappist beer brewed in a monastery (De Koeningshoeven in Tilburg(yes trappist and not in Belgium!). They have all the Belgian styles. I recommend the quadruple. http://www.koningshoeven.nl/en/abbey/brewery.php Unfortunately my childhood Nederlands taal is also mostly gone! Whenever I visit family in Den Haag we like to go to the beach restaurants in Scheveningen for bitterballen and patats. My cousin is a chef working nearby in Leidschendam. Inevitably we end up in an Indonesian or Thai restaurant though! In fact I highly recommend the restaurant "Max Amsterdam" (in the Jordaan neighborhood)for a modern view on Indonesian cuisine. Excellent Rijsttafel. I have a pofferje pan and sometimes we order kroketen from an online Dutch food store. Now I am hungry too!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodblue Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 I am sorry, although I like the Dutch, I really cannot recommend Dutch beers. I've tried most of Dutch beers available in supermarkets and they weren't good. There might be some good microbrews, but the bigger ones were very disappointing. Therefore I drank mostly Belgian beer while there... Did you try Hertog Jan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt Bubbles Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 I remember patat. French fries served with mayonnaise. I remember coming back to Norway and getting kethcup with my patat. LOL, most ppl react like that when they hear our favo way to eat patat: ( if bored, skip to 1:30) Frikadellen, I personally hate them, its all the left over parts of cow, chicken an pig grinded together and fryed. I would never recommend them to anyone, not gonna make a commercial here or anywhere else for fryed eyeballs&brains, yugh . We Dutch put sweets on our bread, but also meat and or cheese (no, rly?) One of my favo ones was and is: Bread with Peanutbutter and sambal... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambal#Indonesian_sambal Ah the beers... Lagers are our main consumables, Heineken en Grolsch are most famous, Amstel and Best-Bier are the cheapest way to get a headache tho... Allthough Im not from the south of the Netherlands, after Grolsch my favourite would be Jupiler. As mentioned by DeRuyter and Goodblue the smaller brands are more tastefull. As I live close to Amsterdam, this is one of my favourites: http://www.brouwerijhetij.nl/?lang=en Grtzzz Bubbles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts