Food (Voedsel)

The holiday season makes people think of a couple key things; family, shopping, and FOOD!!!  American holidays tend to feature a few key things: Roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce (the stuff in the can has always creeped me out), and of course, pumpkin pie!  However, in Holland you get such dishes as snert, rundvlees salade, harring, boerenkool, and oliebollen.  There are many other foods typical for the Dutch that I will mention as well such as kroket, frikandel, and bitterballen. Now, I'm sure most of you Americans reading this are thinking...."What in the world is she talking about?"  Don't worry, I'll explain each of these things, and a few more, accompanied with pictures just so you can get a real idea of what the food is like.  Here we go!

The first typical Dutch food that we were introduced to was kroket.  Now, typically, kroket is more of a snack food that you could (theoretically) eat on the go.  (I say theoretically because I rarely saw a Dutch person eating while walking.... Must be an American thing.)  However, we went to a fancier restaurant in which our Dutch coworkers who had just picked us up from the airport, ate kroket with a fork and knife.  Not wanting to look incompetent and rude in a new country, we all did the same while thinking...."This looks like a kind of hot dog... can't I just pick it up?"  Eventually, we found out that you do indeed usually put the kroket in bread, and eat it much like a hot dog, it's even typical to add mustard!

A similar snack to kroket is bitterballen!  These taste very similar to the meat mash that is inside the breading of kroket, but in little balls instead of longer cylindrical shapes.  These are also served with mustard for dipping.  I had these on a rainy day touring the city, accompanied by a nice cold beer.  Do be careful when eating these, I burned my mouth!  

Bami!!!! This was my favorite hot snack served at school!  The real name is bamischijf, but most people just call it bami.  Bami is actually the name of the Lomein noodles on the inside of the breaded patty.  This is served on a bun or by itself and I always loved to add some sweet chili sauce to it. YUM!

By far, the best drunk snack is Doner Kebab.  This is not originally a Dutch snack, but Turkish.  Either way, it's delicious!  It's similar to a gyro and comes with chicken, veggies, cheese, and garlic sauce (DELICIOUS!!!!), the spicier, the better!

Friets met mayo and Frikandel!  Fries with mayo in a paper cone similar to the one below is a very popular typical Dutch snack.  I'm personally not too crazy about fries, so I only had this a couple of times and usually shared it with others.  I was just so excited to be in a country that loves mayo just as much as I do!  Then frikandel is basically a sausage-type meat stick sold at most snack bars.  I ate one from a snack bar and immediately felt disgusting for doing so... it was just not my thing, but the name is great! Frikandel!

 

Harring.  Now I think that most people in the U.S., or at least in Minnesota, have in the very least heard of herring (the Dutch spell it with an "a" instead of an "e").  These are raw, often pickled, little fish that are served with diced onions on the side.  Definitely not something to try if you are hoping to impress, or even talk to, anyone in the next couple days.  I'll just say that it was an interesting experience; one which I do not intend to repeat.

Rundvlees salade!!!!  I was completely obsessed with this dish!  It was a sort of potato salad-like dish that usually contained some kind of meat, in the case of rundvlees, beef.  You could buy this salad in various sizes at the grocery store, the smallest being one serving and only costing 27 cents!  I would buy at least 5 of them every time I went to the store!  So deliciously cheap!

Snert!  We eat A LOT of soup here since we get free soup everyday at school.   A typical Dutch soup is Snert, which is basically a pea soup with shredded meat and sliced sausages (because almost nothing that is typically Dutch doesn't contain meat of some sort).  This soup is very rich and filling, great for cold and rainy days.

Stamppot andijvie is a very interesting dish that sort of reminds me of the "famous bowls" at KFC, in that they both involve lots of things incorporated into your typical mashed potatoes.  Stamppot andijvie includes potatoes, kale or curly green chicory leaves, butter, milk, and bacon.  I was definitely a fan of this meal, although I didn't feel that the meat was necessary to make it delicious.

Now for Dutch "candy"... Drops.....the worst candy EVER!  At least in my not-so-humble American opinion.  Maybe it's because I hate licorice more than anything, or the fact that their candy comes in either sweet or salty versions, but I was most definitely not a fan of any of the Dutch candy.  I'd say something positive about drops if I could but.... I just can't seem to find the words.

Stroopwafels!  Now, this is what I'd call a treat!  These thin, cracker-like, sweet wafels are stuck together with a layer of caramel in between and are absolutely delightful!  They are available in any of the grocery stores and could also be purchased, freshly made, with the caramel still dripping from them and the wafel warm, in a stand in the city center of Arnhem.  Definitely a must-have!

Finally, oliebollen.  There is a little stand near the bus stop in the city center that sells these lovely treats around the holidays.  They are similar to donuts in that they are fried dough balls which are then covered in powdered sugar.  Sometimes they are cream filled (which is more German), or covered in chocolate, or both.  However, the best one I ever had was just a plain oliebollen in powdered sugar.  It was quite messy and absolutely delectable!

All in all, Dutch food was pretty great, and really not that far off from what Americans eat.  I couldn't eat these things listed everyday, but neither do the Dutch.  They actually typically stick to plain cheese sandwiches for an everyday packed lunch. 

Eet smakelijk!