Those crazy Dutch… and their strange food

I couldn’t write about the Dutch, my dear reader, and not write about their food. Mainly because food is such an important part of our lives and partly because I like to eat and am not indifferent to what I eat and also because the crazy Dutch have a crazy relation with their food.

First let’s start this culinary introspection by going to the very stereotypes I ranted about in my first post. Stay with me, this has a purpose. What food comes to mind when you think about Italy? For me it’s pasta, fish and wine. France? All kind of fancy and useless dishes. America? A big, greasy, unhealthy burger. Holland??? Four months ago – nothing, maybe the cheese, but that’s not a real dish. Today the first thing that comes to mind – fries with mayonnaise . Yup, that’s the strongest association. The crazy Dutch love their friets mayo.

Above – a place where you can buy all things fried, right in the center of the town at the market.

But wait, there’s more, there seems to be a real love for deep fried things. from all kind of fish nuggets to the very typical croquette, bitterbal and of course frikandel. All deep fried and server with either bread or the all present fries. Unhealthy as it is these are, the crazy Dutch know how to make these heart-stoppers very well. I mean, a croquette might be like a heart attack in a bun but it still tastes good…

Supposedly, there is such a thing as traditional Dutch food like stampott or hutspot, which is a sort of a mash potato, onions and carrots combination, but I yet have to see it eaten on a large scale.

Therefore, with all regret, I must say that Holland doesn’t have the greatest culinary tradition. And there is more! There is something I can’t put my finger on, dear reader, about how the crazy Dutch consume their food. There are many nice restaurants, many fancy places with very good food but, in the same time, people don’t seem to care that much about food, on a daily basis. Eating some “bread” (which is a way of saying a sandwich with some cheese and maybe some other stuff on it) is the most common thing I’ve seen. And people seem to think that what I cook is strange, Which either means that I’m a really bad cook or that when it comes to food most of the crazy Dutch are not so eager to try new things. And there seems to be something about noodle soup… Don’t know what but the crazy Dutch seem to love that stuff… Wonder if there is some secret organization which identifies itself by eating noodle soup… must investigate.

OK, back to the subject. So, what you, my dear reader, learned so far. The crazy Dutch love all things fried, especially fries and especially with mayo. There are some traditional dishes but you have to look for them. They eat a lot of sandwiches and most of them don’t really like new food. And there is something about noodle soup…

But what about the famous cheese? It’s good, that’s what’s about it. And there is a lot of it and as far as I can tell you can divide it into 2 categories – new and old cheese. And I’ve also see green cheese, which is not only edible but also good. But there is a catch. You see, in Romania you have the 2 basic types of dairy products – cheese (brânz?) and… cheese (ca?caval). Brânz? differs from ca?caval in the way it’s made. Anyway, long story short, brânz? is usually white and can be very fresh (a few weeks) and you can’t find it in Holland. The closest thing I’ve found is the feta cheese but that’s not quite it.

Anyway, in Holland you have the second type of cheese, and a lot of it, and did I mentioned that it was good? These crazy Dutch really know how to make their cheese, that’s for sure.

Above – The last moments of a piece of herring, if eaten traditionally. the white stuff is pieces of onions.

Last but not least there is one more thing… the herring. That’s basically, a raw piece of slime fish you eat with chopped onion, and, if you can, by holding it by its tail, throwing your head back and biting that thing with fury. Well, I don’t do it that way. Because the fish is good but incredibly slimy and fatty. What I do is I take it, put it on a plate, slice it up in bite-sized pieces, put a ton of onions on it, some lemon and than enjoy. And that fish is probably the only healthy thing from the crazy Dutch diet and it only seems fittingly that it’s a slimy fish .

Oh boy, these crazy Dutch and their food. For me a vey Important part of what has defined my experience in Holland.

So, my dear reader, the crazy Dutch stories are almost over, a week has come and gone, there is only one more day. Read on! And be amazed!