Dutch Cuisine? No!!! Foreign Cuisines!
Posted August 23rd, 2008 by Rachel Hanson
While it would be an exaggeration to say that the Dutch do not have a national cuisine, it is absolutely true that the Dutch have nowhere near the cooking skills of their Belgian neighbors. That being said, Dutch pea soup is an absolute delight and pancakes can be a true delight (a tip though: only order a pancake with bacon IN it if you have an iron stomach...if not, try the natural one with butter and powdered sugar). Desserts are great, such as butter cake and apple tart; however, for the vast majority, there is no national cuisine aside from pea soup, some mashed-potato dishes and pancakes. All that being said, Amsterdam has a thriving culture of foreign food!
The Dutch were traders very early on, and this influenced their eating habits greatly. While the Dutch do not consider eating life's greatest pleasure, as the French do, their dinner table makes obvious why this is the case. The Dutch have always been great businessmen; one could say their food culture is 'eat to live' instead of the more French mindset of 'live to eat'. Thankfully, Amsterdam is host to a wide array of foreign cuisines. One of the biggest areas of foreign cuisine is Indian and Indonesian food. Other big areas are Surinamese foods and Turkish bakeries.
One thing you must absolutely give a try is the meal called the Rijsttafel. This meal is a culinary journey to the Far East and while many Italian and French restaurants in Amsterdam do foreign food quite poorly, most rijsttafels are better than the average restaurant meal in Amsterdam. A rijsttafel is a 'rice table'...a selection of different dishes brought right to your table. Most restaurants have different ones to choose from, based on how many meat, poultry and fish dishes you'd like included in the rice table. Steaming hot rice is brought to your table alongside 10-15 small dishes, each with an Indonesian specialty inside. It's a buffet right at your own table!
Of course, some rijsttafels are better than others, so if you're willing to make a good meal of it, with a price tag to match, head to 'Kantjil en de Tijger' on the Spuistraat (not too far up from the Spui--where the American Book Center is). Reservations are recommended at peak times and for larger groups. Dinner for two will cost between 45 to 70 Euros depending on the type of Rijsttafel you order (all are for two people at least) and if you have appetizers or dessert (you won't need either!). The experience is one-of-a-kind and the service at this restaurant is actually decent...not to mention that there are tons of other restaurants where you'll end up shelling out just as much money for a significantly less tasty and authentic meal. Eet smakelijk!! (This is the Dutch version of 'bon appetit'---which quite literally means 'eat tastily' :-)
Don't write off the local cuisine completely
This post brings back memories! But I’m not sure you’re being entirely fair to the merits of Dutch cuisine. I spent a lot of time in the Netherlands twenty years ago and loved the home cooking. Granted, it’s simple fare (“farmer food”, my hosts called it), but the Dutch do have the best vegetables in Europe. Why? Because they keep them and export the rest. It wasn’t called Operation Market Garden for nothing.
You’re right about erwtensoep, or the thicker snert, but let’s not forget the different varieties of stamppot/hutspot. I’ve good reason to be well used to colcannon, but we Irish have never produced a better accompaniment to boerenkool than rookworst. The Americans may think they know all there is to know about burgers, but nothing beats a Dutch balgehakt, bought hot and ready to eat from your local butchers. I mean, what’s with 100% meat burgers – they’re meant to be spicy. If I wanted 100% meat I’d order a steak.
I don’t have a sweet tooth, but you’re absolutely right about Dutch baking. I would murder right now for a slice of appelgebak with cream from the café beside the windmill in Leiden.
However, I do agree with your assessment that when eating out a good rijsttafel is an excellent choice. In fact I had the best Irish coffee of my life in an Indonesian restaurant in Purmerend, once I had convinced them that the first five whiskies they offered me were Scotch!
By the way, there's a great thread of Dutch recipes here.
Great comments on Dutch Food!
It's clear you know Dutch cuisine! And of course hutspot and other big pots of mash and meat have their merits...but having lived in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, my tastebuds, personally, can only go for mash and meat about once every two weeks :-)
The beauty of the Netherlands is that there are so many great cuisines represented that visitors can taste an awesome rookworst (the best one, I maintain, is from the HEMA and not from a fancy butcher!) and some Dutch erwtensoep one night and get their fill of Dutch cuisine. And then the next night you can get Indonesian food, the next night Italian and the next night Thai or even Nepalese...that is what I love about Amsterdam. While I love French and Belgian cuisine, there are few cities in France or Belgium that offer the startling array of foreign cuisines that Amsterdam does.
And I'm no biggee on American food---I don't claim to "know" food based on being American---my own kitchen is vegetarian...but my husband loves rookworst and a few other choice things far too much for me to ever go without them. I'll take a rookworst over an American hamburger anyday...but as an American, I have to say that a choice ribeye on the barbecue with onions, peppers, garlic and mushrooms is what I crave every time I get near an American backyard :-)
And I have to say that my favorite thing when visiting Ireland was a pot of tea and a scone...and the delicious breakfasts each morning at the B&B's we stayed at!
Oh yes, I had some GREAT
Oh yes, I had some GREAT food (Greek, I think) in Amsterdam. Trying to remember where the restaurant was (it was in the inner canal area, but a little ways from Bloemstraat, where my hostel was). There was also surprisingly good sushi.
Whoops!
Sorry about that, the comment about Greek food was from me. Didn't realize I hadn't logged in!
- Maya
ah, sushi!
Yes indeed, I've discovered sushi by virtue of being in Amsterdam! Some of the take-out places are on the pricey side, but the great grocery specialty shops (called 'Toko's) have everything, even pickled ginger to make it at home---which I do quite often :-)
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