The Dutch food thread, because Dutch food isn't so bad as its reputation.

[Windigo]

So I decided to make a thread about Dutch food, because internationally there are so many misconceptions about it.
Supposedly our food is bland, repetitive and uninteresting. Talking about Dutch food usually conjures up images of cheese, potatoes, sad vegetables and mashed potatoes. Maybe if we're lucky someone will think positively about Stroopwafels or the aformentioned cheese ( stroopwafels are Dutch syrup cookies).

But there really IS much more to Dutch cooking, and it's not all bland at all. When you look further back into history, it certainly is no longer bland.
Remember the VOC (Dutch east Indian trading company) etc? We were not known for our spice trade for no reason, back in the day spices were very important to Dutch cooking.
What also should speak for us and our food, is that we're one of the largest food exporting countries in the world. Let that sink in! Almost everyone has eaten some Dutch food before, they just probably didn't know it was Dutch. If it was truly so bad, why does everyone want our stuff?

So why do we have the reputation that we have bland food?
Well, first and foremost reason is the rise of Calvinism. A religious protestant sub group, that condemns anything decadent as sinful. It preaches sobriety and minimalism, and spices were considered a decadent form of waste as back in the day spices were expensive and considered a luxury. And you don't NEED spices to eat food, according to the Calvinist mindset. A saying from that era reads 'Zuivel op zuivel is het werk van de Duivel' (dairy on dairy is the work of the devil) referring to a sandwich with cheese AND butter. That was already considered too indulgent by the Calvinists. They gave rise to the culture of minimalism when it comes to food that is still prevalent in Dutch conservative circles. That is why the cheese sandwich is still our most common lunch meal.

What also played a role is the Huishoudschool (household school) that was created in the 19th century to teach middle class and higher class ladies how to run a household. These women used to have staff, but as staff became rare and expensive they had to learn how to cook for themselves. At the time, Calvinism was prevalent and thus the ladies were told to cook without spices. As responsible wives, they should not waste their husbands money on pleasures like spices and alcohol. At that time it was also commonly believed that food was healthier if it was cooked longer, hence the reputation of Dutch mothers boiling vegetables to mush.
Unfortunately, the household schools lasted until the 60's, which is why Dutch mothers are still seen cooking this way to this day. It's only from the 70's onward, that women were starting to learn to cook differently.
Plus, after the second world war the resources in the Netherlands remained scarse until about 1960, so there wasn't much room for spicing up your food or making it interesting. All this led to a perfect storm of bland food in our culture.
But it wasn't always like that.

The goal of this thread is to delve back in time, and show what Dutch food is good and great . I will post recipes, photos and history tidbits, so you might change your mind about how bland and boring we Dutch really are!
And if you have a contribution, please post about it. It will be fun to watch this thread grow!

 

[vernplum]

I've been to Amsterdam 3 times and I don't remember not liking the food there nor finding it dull. Last time I was there was over 10 years ago so I can't place any very memorable meals. I did eat Bitteballen and loved those. The food I remember the most though was the raw herrings - best in the world! I still think of those; they don't travel well and the ones I bought in jars just aren't the same.

Eager to learn what other great dishes the Netherlands has and maybe replicate some authentic tastes.

 

[Windigo]

I've been to Amsterdam 3 times and I don't remember not liking the food there nor finding it dull. Last time I was there was over 10 years ago so I can't place any very memorable meals. I did eat Bitteballen and loved those. The food I remember the most though was the raw herrings - best in the world! I still think of those; they don't travel well and the ones I bought in jars just aren't the same.

Yeah, it's the freshness of our preparation method that makes them stand out from other pickled herrings. Even the Japanese love Dutch herrings!

I will definitely post a very reputable recipe for bitterballen in this thread.

Eager to learn what other great dishes the Netherlands has and maybe replicate some authentic tastes.

That's great to hear! I will try to share my knowledge here as best I can, it's my job now after all!

I will soon start a website for my business with articles about food history ( in Dutch) but what I write here will be similar content.

 

[TastyReuben]

This should be interesting to learn about.

We went to Amsterdam for a long weekend back in the ‘90’s - I must admit, I don’t remember a single thing we ate, except for bread rolls, lunchmeat, and cheese for breakfast.

That’s unusual for me, because that’s usually how I remember a place, remembering what we ate, but I have no memory of eating anything in Amsterdam (or in Volendam, a side-trip).

One fun thing about here (meaning the US), there used to be two “family-style” restaurants here that were Dutch-themed, Pannekoeken and Dutch Pantry:

Who Are the Dutch?
Breakfast Restaurant in St. Louis Park, MN | Breakfast Restaurant Near Me | Pannekoeken Huis

I think there are still a few left of each, but at one time, especially in the Midwest (and especially with respect to Dutch Pantry), there was one at just about every motorway exit, it seemed.

I thought you might enjoy seeing/reading those, though I’m under no impression that they ever represented actual Dutch cooking (except maybe the pancake) - mainly typical American roadside fare, served up by girls dressed “traditional” Dutch outfits. I remember stopping at a few of those when I was younger.

 

[TastyReuben]

Oh, I’ve had stroopwafels before, but they’re somewhat newish here. I can buy them even at the small Kroger in my hometown - we didn’t have those when I was a kid, though.

And Calvinists…misguided religious fervor strikes again!

 

[Windigo]

This should be interesting to learn about.

We went to Amsterdam for a long weekend back in the ‘90’s - I must admit, I don’t remember a single thing we ate, except for bread rolls, lunchmeat, and cheese for breakfast.

That’s unusual for me, because that’s usually how I remember a place, remembering what we ate, but I have no memory of eating anything in Amsterdam (or in Volendam, a side-trip).

Amsterdam used to have, at least in the 90's - the reputation of some of the worst food in the country. It was full of tourist trap types of places, and very few good restaurants indeed. The 90's were a time when the Dutch gastronomy scene was making huge changes, but they were more spread out through the country and Amsterdam was notorious for being lacking in innovation.

The other problem is that (and that's still true today), in the Netherlands you have to be Dutch to see the difference between a good place and a mediocre one. Certain things are red flags to watch out for, but you'll only know them if you live here. Ironically, most places that serve more traditional Dutch lunches for example usually are mediocre to bad. If I see a restaurant carrying cheese sandwiches, kroket sandwiches and egg sandwiches, plus pancakes than I know it's usually not anything remarkable. Given your penchant for breakfast places, I can imagine you were dissapointed. This being because the aforementioned foods are exactly what's popular around Dutch conservatives. Those people consider eggs and ham on toast already something fancy. See what happened to you?

Of course, this distinction is one that doesn't exist in most other countries. Hence another factor for our bad reputation.

One fun thing about here (meaning the US), there used to be two “family-style” restaurants here that were Dutch-themed, Pannekoeken and Dutch Pantry:

Who Are the Dutch?
Breakfast Restaurant in St. Louis Park, MN | Breakfast Restaurant Near Me | Pannekoeken Huis

I think there are still a few left of each, but at one time, especially in the Midwest (and especially with respect to Dutch Pantry), there was one at just about every motorway exit, it seemed.

I thought you might enjoy seeing/reading those, though I’m under no impression that they ever represented actual Dutch cooking (except maybe the pancake) - mainly typical American roadside fare, served up by girls dressed “traditional” Dutch outfits. I remember stopping at a few of those when I was younger.

It really also depends on what kind of Dutch. A lot of Americans think Pennsylvania Dutch are Dutch people, but they are Germans. The language they speak is Dietsch, not actual Dutch which is actually called Nederlands. The Americans couldn't tell Dutch and Dietsch apart, and that is how most came to regard the Amish and Mennonites as 'Dutch'. But they are Dietsch. So I wonder what passes for traditional Dutch clothes there?

These are traditional clothes from the region of Amsterdam and Volendam:

I know, it looks awful. However, that's not how Amish and Mennonites dress at all.

 

[TastyReuben]

I know, it looks awful. However, that's not how Amish and Mennonites dress at all.

That’s similar to how the waitresses dressed, especially the aprons. I remember those.

Being that between us (Ohio) and Pennsylvania (our neighboring state), we claim about 90% of the Amish people (that’s made up, but I’m probably not far off), most people around here are very aware that the Pennsylvania Dutch aren’t Dutch at all, but German. It’s not unusual to even see it listed as an available language on websites that do business here:

Given your penchant for breakfast places, I can imagine you were dissapointed.

No, not at all! We were very happy to embrace the local habit, and if I’m being totally honest, being on a short break with a lot of other Americans (the break was scheduled through the airbase in England where I was stationed), there was a fair amount of complaining about…well, everything, so any opportunity we could take to say, “Hey, lunchmeat sandwiches for breakfast - awesome!” we took it! One thing either of us have never had much patience with is a person who’s traveled to another country/culture and then immediately begun complaining about how this is wrong and that is wrong, meaning it’s not like home - of course it’s not…you’re not home!

 

[TastyReuben]

Oh, one other thing: my FIL, his family is from New York and Pennsylvania, and his nickname his whole life was “The Dutchman,” or just “Dutch.”

Why? Because he was German!

 

[Windigo]

That’s similar to how the waitresses dressed, especially the aprons. I remember those.

Being that between us (Ohio) and Pennsylvania (our neighboring state), we claim about 90% of the Amish people (that’s made up, but I’m probably not far off), most people around here are very aware that the Pennsylvania Dutch aren’t Dutch at all, but German. It’s not unusual to even see it listed as an available language on websites that do business here:

View attachment 102131

Oh, that is interesting! I am glad to know that at least in your region people are actually informed about the difference between Dutch and Dietsch. Though I too learned something new today, as they apparently call it Deitsch themselves!

Those clothes then were indeed accurate, and a pancake house IS a Dutch thing. That is, if the pancakes were like the ones I make.

No, not at all! We were very happy to embrace the local habit, and if I’m being totally honest, being on a short break with a lot of other Americans (the break was scheduled through the airbase in England where I was stationed), there was a fair amount of complaining about…well, everything, so any opportunity we could take to say, “Hey, lunchmeat sandwiches for breakfast - awesome!” we took it! One thing either of us have never had much patience with is a person who’s traveled to another country/culture and then immediately begun complaining about how this is wrong and that is wrong, meaning it’s not like home - of course it’s not…you’re not home!

I love your openness, I always get frustrated with discussions on other websites where everyone seems to know how bad our food is, especially those who have never been here

 

[CookieMonster]

this is a very curious topic.
I worked for a multi-national, which had a research center outside of Utrecht - 1980-1990's I was there 2x or more per year.
so once upon a time , , , the group was headed out for dinner and asked our Dutch host for stuff typically Dutch - to which he replied: "there is nothing Dutch, we have imported everything."

second job with a different multi-national which had R&D contacts to a Dutch firm headquartered in Utrecht - but had a diverse employee base - German, Dutch, Greek, French . . .) which treated visitors to a much wider range of eateries , , , none of which were historically "Dutch"

that said, I never went hungry and I was not disappointed in the food/plates/dishes presented.
oh, except for one pizza place - that was a disaster . . . but, it's hard to hold a Dutch kitchen responsible for bad pizza ....

having made entire meals from the "herring bar" in Nederland, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway . . . I'm all attuned to some real Dutch dishes.

and obtw, etc and et. al. "Pennsylvania Dutch" is the anglicized version of "Deutsch, which is German for 'German' " - those 'Anti-Baptists' seeking religious 'freedom' - originating from north-western Switzerland, north along the Rhine area (which was German or French....depending on when which war was won/lost....)

 

[karadekoolaid]

I can't say I've ever eaten real "Dutch" food, so I can't comment on whether it's good or bad.
I've never seen a "Dutch" restaurant; not even in Aruba or Curacao or Bonaire, but then I've never seen a "British" restaurant outside of the UK either. My thoughts are that both cuisines are, let's say, "conservative", in the sense that dishes are not highly elaborate. Well, for example: a Sunday Roast is delicious, and unique, but everything goes in the oven or is boiled/poached. Nothing wrong with that.
The story of spices in Holland began during the 16th century, when the English, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese and Danish began. to navigate the world. Spices were highly valued (especially in the Middle East and Europe), considered to have all sorts of magical properties, and were therefore treated as commodities. The Dutch merchant navy rounded South Africa, passed India and ended up in Indonesia. Indonesia is home to cloves and nutmeg. The Dutch annexed the Moluccas and monopolised the clove market, which produced tons of money. Indeed, the price for stealing cloves was execution.
As an aside, the only "spices" to originate from South America are chiles, Jamaica Pepper (Allspice), vanilla and Tonka beans. All the rest come from the Middle East, India and Indonesia.

 

[Rocklobster]

Having this with supper tonight.

 

[The OMWC]

I will confess to owning a Dutch cookbook.

I spent a lot of time in the Netherlands (set up a factory near Geleen) but putting aside the fine bread and cheese, there wasn't much appealing to a vegetarian.

Regarding the OT stuff, this area is very heavy with various flavors of Amish, Mennonites, and similar. Enough so that I've gotten stuck in buggy traffic jams. I was astonished to find that I understood their speech almost perfectly, better than I understood Hochdeutsch; then it was explained to me by a linguistics professor that Dietsch split off from German about the same time as Yiddish, and the latter was my first language.

 

[rascal]

Croquettes I make are from 2 different recipes, one of which is dutch.
Cant think what in them would be dutch though??

Russ

 

[Windigo]

Croquettes I make are from 2 different recipes, one of which is dutch.
Cant think what in them would be dutch though??

Russ

The Dutch version has a beef ragout filling, which is only eaten here traditionally. Recently additions have been made to the culinary landscape of croquettes which include vegetable, potato, satay and ghoulash fillings.

Belgian croquettes are with potato, cheese or shrimp filling ( though we eat those too) , and Spanish ones with ham or manchego. The Japanese also have croquettes called 'Korokke' (very similar to the Dutch name Kroket) because they got to know them through the Dutch during the trade embargo. Japanese croquettes feature potato, ham, and beef fillings.

The recipe for Dutch Kroketten and Bitterballen