My Take on Dutch Food
Dutch food. Um… not my favorite ethnic cuisine. Moreover, I've found that most expats here feel the same way when it comes to strictly Dutch eats. Perhaps this explains the apparent lack of “Dutch” restaurants outside of the Netherlands?
I shall begin with the salads. While the normal varieties of lettuce are easily obtained at the local grocer for some reason when one orders a salad at a Dutch restaurant you get a plate of lettuce that appears to have be denuded of the actual leaf part of the vegetable leaving only the veins. Perhaps I am just not refined enough to know what this is all about. It's even quite possible that this is not lettuce. I would go so far as to say that perhaps this kind of thing is quite common in restaurants throughout continental Europe and I'm just singling out the Dutch here as the target of my frustrations. Whatever the case, I'm not to big on anemic lettuce. If that wasn't enough there always seems to be some odd pickled item thrown in to boot. The Dutch have some odd fascination with combining ingredients that just don't belong together in a salad.
Of course, the Netherlands, being a coastal nation, consumes a lot of fish. This is good, I eat a lot of it and it's widely featured on menus. I even enjoy pickled herring with a good cracker now and then. The Dutch like pickled herring as well. Apparently, during the warmer months when it's in season, stalls hawking this delicacy pop up everywhere like so many tulips. As I haven't tried this item yet I can't say how I feel about the taste. What gets me is the way they eat it. The preferred method is to grab one by the tail, dangle it above your head, open your mouth and let 'er go!! Yes, folks, head and all, just let it slide. Wow, I'm giddy with anticipation. I would also have to warn people about the fish quiche as well. Hmm… egg and fish, I think not. Kim and I bought one on accident and I tasted it to see whether or not it was fully cooked. Flat out gross. We threw it away without even taking a bite.
Dutch beef, now here's a real treat for you, about as flavorful as chewing on a piece of cardboard. I've been told that the reason for the lack of taste is due to the cows being only grass-fed. Sounds like a fair explanation, I'll stick to chicken.
Then there is bitterbollen. Little fried balls that contain… well just about anything really. Bollen as it were, come filled with everything from fruit to fish to cheese to heaven knows what. Of course regardless of the ingredients the filling always comes in the form of a puree. I have yet to try the Oliebollen (oil balls?!) Perhaps I'll pass.
Oh, funny story. I was at the supermarket buying various things when I came to the dairy section. Right next to the regular milk cartons there were brightly colored cartons containing, I assumed, flavored milk. So I grab one that indicates caramel. I think: “awesome, I've never tried caramel flavored milk before!” I bring it home, set down a glass, open up the container and begin to pour. “Plop, plop,” goes the substance into my glass. It's pudding. Pudding… IN A CARTON!! Crimony! It was tasty pudding as it turns out but after you've poured out all you can pour out, there is still quite a bit of yummy pudding still in the carton. Maybe it's just my hang up but I would think that at this stage of human evolution it would be possible to find a more suitable container for pudding. Again, that's just me.
Potato chips, confusingly known as crisps to the British are very common here and they come in all of two flavors, plain and paprika.
But is not all Oliebollen and herring heads ladies and gentlemen. There is a bright side, and that side is the stroopwaffle, translated as butter-syrup waffles. Essentially a small wafer-like disc pressed into the shape of a waffle. Crispy on the outside, decadent on the inside, sugar the whole way through!! Eat them by THE TRUCKLOAD!! Sell your grandma for some stoopwaffles if you have to. Seriously.
I shall begin with the salads. While the normal varieties of lettuce are easily obtained at the local grocer for some reason when one orders a salad at a Dutch restaurant you get a plate of lettuce that appears to have be denuded of the actual leaf part of the vegetable leaving only the veins. Perhaps I am just not refined enough to know what this is all about. It's even quite possible that this is not lettuce. I would go so far as to say that perhaps this kind of thing is quite common in restaurants throughout continental Europe and I'm just singling out the Dutch here as the target of my frustrations. Whatever the case, I'm not to big on anemic lettuce. If that wasn't enough there always seems to be some odd pickled item thrown in to boot. The Dutch have some odd fascination with combining ingredients that just don't belong together in a salad.
Of course, the Netherlands, being a coastal nation, consumes a lot of fish. This is good, I eat a lot of it and it's widely featured on menus. I even enjoy pickled herring with a good cracker now and then. The Dutch like pickled herring as well. Apparently, during the warmer months when it's in season, stalls hawking this delicacy pop up everywhere like so many tulips. As I haven't tried this item yet I can't say how I feel about the taste. What gets me is the way they eat it. The preferred method is to grab one by the tail, dangle it above your head, open your mouth and let 'er go!! Yes, folks, head and all, just let it slide. Wow, I'm giddy with anticipation. I would also have to warn people about the fish quiche as well. Hmm… egg and fish, I think not. Kim and I bought one on accident and I tasted it to see whether or not it was fully cooked. Flat out gross. We threw it away without even taking a bite.
Dutch beef, now here's a real treat for you, about as flavorful as chewing on a piece of cardboard. I've been told that the reason for the lack of taste is due to the cows being only grass-fed. Sounds like a fair explanation, I'll stick to chicken.
Then there is bitterbollen. Little fried balls that contain… well just about anything really. Bollen as it were, come filled with everything from fruit to fish to cheese to heaven knows what. Of course regardless of the ingredients the filling always comes in the form of a puree. I have yet to try the Oliebollen (oil balls?!) Perhaps I'll pass.
Oh, funny story. I was at the supermarket buying various things when I came to the dairy section. Right next to the regular milk cartons there were brightly colored cartons containing, I assumed, flavored milk. So I grab one that indicates caramel. I think: “awesome, I've never tried caramel flavored milk before!” I bring it home, set down a glass, open up the container and begin to pour. “Plop, plop,” goes the substance into my glass. It's pudding. Pudding… IN A CARTON!! Crimony! It was tasty pudding as it turns out but after you've poured out all you can pour out, there is still quite a bit of yummy pudding still in the carton. Maybe it's just my hang up but I would think that at this stage of human evolution it would be possible to find a more suitable container for pudding. Again, that's just me.
Potato chips, confusingly known as crisps to the British are very common here and they come in all of two flavors, plain and paprika.
But is not all Oliebollen and herring heads ladies and gentlemen. There is a bright side, and that side is the stroopwaffle, translated as butter-syrup waffles. Essentially a small wafer-like disc pressed into the shape of a waffle. Crispy on the outside, decadent on the inside, sugar the whole way through!! Eat them by THE TRUCKLOAD!! Sell your grandma for some stoopwaffles if you have to. Seriously.
posted by JC at 1:12 PM
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