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

[vernplum]

Lo

You did well! It looks very much like the real deal. Here's one of my pics of kibbeling eaten at the farmers market:
View attachment 102308
The left one is kibbeling, the right one mixed fried fruits de mer.

Kibbeling was originally invented because people looked down on eating the more 'unappealing' pieces of fish like the tails etc and that's why the stand holders started spicing them up and frying them and serving them with a free sauce.
These days customers demand fillets be used, but it's usually still a cheap fish and the sauce is always complimentary.
You could say Kibbeling is Dutch poverty food because it used to be whatever was left from the fish sales.

Looks great - how much does it cost at such a stand?

 

[Windigo]

Lo


Looks great - how much does it cost at such a stand?

These were 3.50 euro a portion including sauce.
That's about 1.80 in pounds.

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

I said these shops are an embarassement not out of disdain for their customers, but because they don't represent Dutch cuisine well. Lots of foreigners seem to think a frikandel or kroket and fries is the best food we have, because that's all we serve on the Costa del Sol.

I understood what you meant
Same as Brit pubs in Southern Spain.

 

[badjak]

I don't have a sweet tooth, but some items that I think are quite typically Dutch, I do like.
Drop (liquorice)
Appelbol (whole apple in puff pastry with sugar & cinnamon)
Limburge vlaai (kers en rijst) (sort of open fruit pie, I like the cherry and rice ones)
Speculaas

And savoury/snacks
Paprika chips
Borrelnootjes (peanuts in a spicy dough coating)
Herring / smoked eel

(By the way, 3.50 Euro is close to 3 £)

 

[Windigo]

I don't have a sweet tooth, but some items that I think are quite typically Dutch, I do like.
Drop (liquorice)
Appelbol (whole apple in puff pastry with sugar & cinnamon)
Limburge vlaai (kers en rijst) (sort of open fruit pie, I like the cherry and rice ones)
Speculaas

And savoury/snacks
Paprika chips
Borrelnootjes (peanuts in a spicy dough coating)
Herring / smoked eel

(By the way, 3.50 Euro is close to 3 £)

I suppose I still think about the old exchange rates, but you're right.

I definitely will make posts about some of the items you mention. For example, Speculaas which is a richly spiced biscuit.

 

[Windigo]

The history of Dutch vegetarian food.

In our culture, vegetarianism has always been considered a sign of extreme poverty. And due to our relatively cold climate (at least that's what it used to be like) it was harder to keep warm and eat enough calories without meat.
Traditionally even the lower middle class to upper poor class people would join together to buy a pig to fatten up and slaughter together at the end of the year. Usually around oktober or november, when the still well known Beer garden festivals are held in Germany. Those were held to celebrate the harvest and the freshly slaughtered pigs.
So most Dutch poverty food contains at least a little bacon or bacon fat. Traditional poverty food like ''doop' is a dish where poor people eat only potatoes, but they are dipped in lard and mustard. So even the poorest Dutch, for most of history, had access to some meat. Usually that was a bit of bacon on sunday, and the fat was used for the rest of the week to be eaten as above or with beans and mollasses. Beans with molasses and bacon is another poverty dish from long ago.
The desperately poor, those in the workhouses or the destitute on the streets were practically the only ones to whom meat was truly unavailable. Those people lived on bean stews, green vegetables, potatoes, and dark rye bread. I mention green vegetables here and not in the rest of this introduction, because back in the day vegetables were considered unhealthy which is why people who could just scrape by usually spent their money on meat or dairy to go with their potatoes instead of vegetables. Fruit was not even considered nutritious, it was eaten purely for pleasure so a poor person would definitely not have access to fruit.

But, around 1800 the first sign of vegetarianism did show up in the Netherlands. To the awe of many, some upper class people, mostly adventists decided that eating meat was gluttonous and sinful. They believed that Jesus was poor, and would thus have not eaten meat or very rarely. They wished to emulate this example.

The response in the newspaper to this new phenomenon? (translated quote )

Just imagine, no perch, no bass, no steak, no chicken although these are common, imagine what it's like for the gourmand? No truffled pheasants, no bass a la Chambord, no oysters for the one who desperately needs it to please his palate. To him the life of a vegetarian must seem no life at all!
What could one eat then? Flour, grits, potatoes, rice, pasta, and when done with this list one has to repeat it. Because as we all know, vegetables are not nourishing, and without meat they would be boring anyway. To think of cauliflower without sausage, spinach without ham, carrots without beef and pears without calves meat, such horror! Anyone considering this, must soon decide it to be impossible.

This was part 1. Part 2 coming soon!

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

More interesting Dutch food history, love it

One thing I struggle with is my understanding of the borders where the food habits change.
I tend to look at it all as 'Nordic' (which I know is wrong) because I can't really distinguish Dutch, Swedish and Scandinavian foods from one another.

Like the pickled herring I enjoy, I assume thats enjoyed by all over but I couldn't say for sure.

 

[The OMWC]

The history of Dutch vegetarian food.
View attachment 102427
In our culture, vegetarianism has always been considered a sign of extreme poverty. And due to our relatively cold climate (at least that's what it used to be like) it was harder to keep warm and eat enough calories without meat.
Traditionally even the lower middle class to upper poor class people would join together to buy a pig to fatten up and slaughter together at the end of the year. Usually around oktober or november, when the still well known Beer garden festivals are held in Germany. Those were held to celebrate the harvest and the freshly slaughtered pigs.
So most Dutch poverty food contains at least a little bacon or bacon fat. Traditional poverty food like ''doop' is a dish where poor people eat only potatoes, but they are dipped in lard and mustard. So even the poorest Dutch, for most of history, had access to some meat. Usually that was a bit of bacon on sunday, and the fat was used for the rest of the week to be eaten as above or with beans and mollasses. Beans with molasses and bacon is another poverty dish from long ago.
The desperately poor, those in the workhouses or the destitute on the streets were practically the only ones to whom meat was truly unavailable. Those people lived on bean stews, green vegetables, potatoes, and dark rye bread. I mention green vegetables here and not in the rest of this introduction, because back in the day vegetables were considered unhealthy which is why people who could just scrape by usually spent their money on meat or dairy to go with their potatoes instead of vegetables. Fruit was not even considered nutritious, it was eaten purely for pleasure so a poor person would definitely not have access to fruit.

But, around 1800 the first sign of vegetarianism did show up in the Netherlands. To the awe of many, some upper class people, mostly adventists decided that eating meat was gluttonous and sinful. They believed that Jesus was poor, and would thus have not eaten meat or very rarely. They wished to emulate this example.

The response in the newspaper to this new phenomenon? (translated quote )

Just imagine, no perch, no bass, no steak, no chicken although these are common, imagine what it's like for the gourmand? No truffled pheasants, no bass a la Chambord, no oysters for the one who desperately needs it to please his palate. To him the life of a vegetarian must seem no life at all!
What could one eat then? Flour, grits, potatoes, rice, pasta, and when done with this list one has to repeat it. Because as we all know, vegetables are not nourishing, and without meat they would be boring anyway. To think of cauliflower without sausage, spinach without ham, carrots without beef and pears without calves meat, such horror! Anyone considering this, must soon decide it to be impossible.

This was part 1. Part 2 coming soon!

Clearly your people hated me.

 

[badjak]

More interesting Dutch food history, love it

One thing I struggle with is my understanding of the borders where the food habits change.
I tend to look at it all as 'Nordic' (which I know is wrong) because I can't really distinguish Dutch, Swedish and Scandinavian foods from one another.

Like the pickled herring I enjoy, I assume thats enjoyed by all over but I couldn't say for sure.

Denmark has gaffelbiter, sort of pickled herring, that I really enjoy.
You won't find that version in the Netherlands though.
There is pickled herring (zure haring), generally sold together with big gherkins (zure bom), but I figure raw herring is more popular.
I haven't seen raw herring sold in any other country in the same way.

There are similarities in the food and also big differences

 

[Windigo]

More interesting Dutch food history, love it

One thing I struggle with is my understanding of the borders where the food habits change.
I tend to look at it all as 'Nordic' (which I know is wrong) because I can't really distinguish Dutch, Swedish and Scandinavian foods from one another.

Like the pickled herring I enjoy, I assume thats enjoyed by all over but I couldn't say for sure.

Dutch food has much more in common with Belgian, German and British food to be honest. Given those were the country's most close trading partners for a long time, that too makes sense. Belgium was even part of the Netherlands until 1839, when the Netherlands finally accepted their seperation treaty. This seperation was based on a conflict that had started as early as 1609 between the Catholic South and the Protestant Northern regions of what was then the Netherlands.

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

Dutch food has much more in common with Belgian, German and British food to be honest. Given those were the country's most close trading partners for a long time, that too makes sense. Belgium was even part of the Netherlands until 1839, when the Netherlands finally accepted their seperation treaty. This seperation was based on a conflict that had started as early as 1609 between the Catholic South and the Protestant Northern regions of what was then the Netherlands.

Not wanting to cause any offence but being basically ignorant on this score if I went to Ikea (as I will be doing soon to pick up some light fittings - kill me now ) would they sell food that's also eaten in Denmark? I know they sell Swedish food but maybe there's Danish crossover food there too?

 

[karadekoolaid]

I read recently that Fish & Chips was brought over to the UK by Dutch Jews. Wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Windigo]

Not wanting to cause any offence but being basically ignorant on this score if I went to Ikea (as I will be doing soon to pick up some light fittings - kill me now ) would they sell food that's also eaten in Denmark? I know they sell Swedish food but maybe there's Danish crossover food there too?

I am not offended but I can't answer either, I'm not an expert on their cuisines. I have a general knowledge of global culinary history, but I don't dare make any definite statements. I can only do that on Dutch culinary history.

 

[TastyReuben]

Not wanting to cause any offence but being basically ignorant on this score if I went to Ikea (as I will be doing soon to pick up some light fittings - kill me now ) would they sell food that's also eaten in Denmark? I know they sell Swedish food but maybe there's Danish crossover food there too?

I would guess that they would, just because culinary traditions are like the clouds…they don’t care about artificial borders drawn on a map by mere humans, and over time, through migration and trade, things get passed along, and considering the geographical and cultural closeness of Denmark and Sweden, it would seem odd if there wasn’t quite a lot of cross-pollination.

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

I would guess that they would, just because culinary traditions are like the clouds…they don’t care about artificial borders drawn on a map by mere humans, and over time, through migration and trade, things get passed along, and considering the geographical and cultural closeness of Denmark and Sweden, it would seem odd if there wasn’t quite a lot of cross-pollination.

I love the imagery that conjures