Dutch dishes and snacks
Snacks
Speculaas
Speculaas is a kind of cookie which is baked with ‘speculaas herbs’ (speculaaskruiden). It is usually flat, often with an imprint of a windmill or children. Originally people used to eat it during the holidays Sinterklaas and Christmas. However, nowadays it is eaten during every season. Speculaas is eaten alongside of a good cup of tea or coffee. Furthermore, speculaas flavour is added to desserts and drinks too presently, think of ice cream and alcoholic drinks. There are different variations of speculaas, such as 'gevulde speculaas' which is speculaas filled with a sweet substance called 'spijs'.
Kruidnoten
A bit confusing are the terms ‘kruidnoten’and ‘pepernoten’. Many Dutch people often call kruidnoten pepernoten. However, this is wrong! Pepernoten are larger, irregular formed bits which taste a lot like aniseed. Kruidnoten are the small, round cookies in which much speculaas herbs are used. Both are eaten around the 5th of December when Sinterklaas is in the country. The Black Petes usually carry tons of kruidnoten with them to give to the children. There are different variations of kruidnoten, for example the ones which are covered in a layer of chocolate. Kruidnoten are really popular in the Netherlands. They arrive in the supermarkets somewhere around August, which most Dutchies find ridiculous due to that they think it is too early in the year.
Ontbijtkoek
Ontbijtkoek is a genuinely popular snack in the Netherlands, in the year 2007 a hundred million were sold. It is also called ‘peperkoek’, ‘snijkoek’, ‘lekkerkoek’, ‘zoete koek’, ‘honingkoek’, ‘kruidkoek’, ‘hapkoek’ or ‘pondkoek’. Ontbijtkoek is a substance which is like cake, yet it is more firm. The taste is rather cinnamonny and it is usually topped with butter. There are much varieties, such as ginger, apple, nuts, raisins, caramel sea salt etcetera. A brand well-known because of their ontbijtkoek is ‘Peijnenburg B.V.’, second is ‘Bolletje’. In addition, ‘Snelle Jelle’ is a brand which sells packed ontbijtkoek to take with you as a quick snack.
Stroopwafel
Maybe the stroopwafel is the Netherland’s most popular snack around the world. Around 1850 the first stroopwafel was made in the Dutch city Gouda, a syrup factory was placed here in 1853. A stroopwafel is a cookie which is made of two thin waffles glued to each other by a layer of a caramel kind of syrup. Originally the stroopwafel is small, with a diameter of approximately 10 millimetres. However, nowadays stroopwafels with a diameter of 5 to 25 centimetres are sold. Stroopwafels are sold in supermarkets, stores like Hema or Xenos, and usually there is a stroopwafel stand on the local markets. Currently, stores sell stroopwafels in a different range of flavours such as coffee or strawberry, yet most Dutch people dislike the ‘fake’ ones. Stroopwafel is used in many desserts or pastries, think of McFlurry and stroopwafel cake.
Kroket
Although the kroket’s orgin is French, it is seen as a typically Dutch snack. Incipiently the kroket was seen as a pastry and sold at local bakeries, however, nowadays the kroket is put up for sale at the what Dutchies call a ‘snackbar’. This is a place where fries, hamburgers and other fried foodstuff is sold. We know different sorts of the kroket. The original one is the meat kroket, made out of fried meat ragout with a crispy breadcrumbs layer. The shrimp-, vegetables-, chicken-, potato-, cheese-, sate- (for more information about satésaus check ‘random cravings’) and the goulash kroket are also well-known. Kroket is eaten on a bun too, which is called a ‘broodje kroket’.
Jodekoek
A jodekoek is a flat, round sort of cookie with a diameter of approximately 10 centimetres. The cookie has the same texture as shortbread. In Dutch the word ‘Joden’ meand Jews, which has to do something with the origin of this cookie. In the 20th century a Jewish baker in Amsterdam sold these cookies, which is where they got their name from. Nowadays there are all sorts of variations of the Jodekoek, such as a cinnamon or coconut flavour.
Roze koek
Roze koek is a snack most Dutch people love. It is basically a little cupcake covered with a layer of pink fondant. ‘Roze’ means pink and ‘koek’ means cookie. They are also called ‘glacékoeken’ or ‘fondantcakes’. There are different variants of the roze koek, such as the one filled with jam. Furthermore, there are also roze koeken sold which are not pink on special occasions, think of an orange one to celebrate Koningsdag.
Drop
The English translation for drop is liquorice, a type of candy you might know. In the Netherlands, 32 million kilograms of drop are eaten each year! In the Netherlands, 16-50 year olds consume the most drop, an average of 2 a year per person. Drop has a genuinely characteristic taste, which either you hate or you love. Drop is made out of zoethout, which is a kind of twig. This twig is also eaten as a treat. We know many different tastes of drop, for example salty drop or honey drop. Salty drop has a very special taste which most foreigners do not like, yet Dutchies do love the salty taste.
Gevulde koek
A gevulde koek is a round cookie made of puff paste with almond paste inside. It is a very sweet pastry and it is eaten as a snack together with a cup of tea or coffee. In the northern part of the Netherlands people speak of a ‘vulkoek’ and in the southern part of the country they call it a ‘gevuld heertje’. The first almond paste was made in Bruxelles in the year 1510, and we think that the first gevulde koek was also baked in this period. There are two variations of the gevulde koek; the ‘kano’ and the ‘rondo’. A kano is an oblong version of a gevulde koek, and the shape of the rondo is similar to the gevulde koek, yet it is thicker.
Random cravings
Hagelslag
Hagelslag is known in other countries too, yet it is not eaten in the same way as we Dutchies do. Our hagelslag is similar to what others call 'chocolate sprinkles', the tiny bits of chocolate they put on their ice cream. In the Netherlands, we do not eat these sprinkles on ice cream, as we put them on our sandwiches or crackers. As you may know, Dutch people eat many slices of bread; as breakfast, as lunch, sometimes even as a snack. A beloved combination is a slice of bread with butter and hagelslag. Adding butter is essential, due to that the sprinkles will fall off your bread if you don't. There are many variations of hagelslag; of course numerous sorts of chocolate (white, milky, dark or mixed), something we call 'anijshagel' which is made with aniseed, and fruity flavours ('vruchtenhagelslag'). There are even distinctions in the sizes of the pieces of chocolate, as there are sorts called 'XXL hagel'. In the Netherlands the brand seen as leading in the branche of hagelslag is The Ruijter. Something almost similar to hagelslag are 'vlokken', which are bits of chocolate too yet they are somewhat larger than hagelslag.
Haring
Haring is a matter of either you hate it or you love it. Many Dutch people consider this fish to be gross. However, a great number of Dutchies adore it and it's a common thing to eat as a part of the lunch or a snack. Usually it is eaten in combination with a white bun, white onions and some sour pickels. In the Netherlands, you will find countless stands on the corners of streets or at markets selling fish, with haring being the most prominantly sold. Haring is a fish with a long history in this country. 'Hollandse Nieuwe' is the term given to the haring if it is caught during a certain period of the year, otherwise it is called 'Hollandse maatjesharing'. Important to be aware of is that haring is salted after it was caught to keep it fresh, by reason of this the taste might surprise you.
Satésaus
The Dutch have a noteworthy history with Indonesia, as Indonesia was one of the colonies of Holland. This explains the numerous Indonesian restuarants in this country. Most Dutch families eat dishes like bami or nasi regularly, Always accompanied by satésaus. Also fries are eaten with this sauce very often. Satésaus is also known as 'pindasaus' which would be translated to pinda sauce in English. Obviously, it is a sauce conceived of peanuts. You could compare the taste to peanut butter, yet it is not completely the same. An enjoyed dish is 'saté', which is basically just meat or chicken with satésaus. It is served at various Dutch restuarants and both eaten as a main or as a side dish.
Kaas
Kaas is the Dutch word for cheese, and is one of the prominant outings of the Dutch culture. If you see a picture of a stereotyped Dutch citizen, he/she is Always accompanied by cheese. Dutch cheese has a genuinely characteristic taste. There are a large number of different cheeses. It all depends on how long they have been 'resting'; the older the cheese, the more moisture it loses and the firmer the taste becomes. 'Oude kaas' (old cheese) has rested for at least ten weeks, 'jonge kaas' (young cheese) simply needs four weeks. Various herbs are added to some sorts of cheeses, for example the famous 'komijnekaas' which is made with cumminseed. A 'kaasschaaf' is used to slice the cheese, and it is eaten on sandwiches. Dutch cheese is also sold grated, to be added to main dishes at dinner (pasta, vegetables, pizza,). It is not true that Dutch people only eat Dutch cheese, Parmezan, Cheddar, many French cheeses and Mozzarella are also likely to appear on your plate. Dutch cheese is also sold internationally, Edam and Gouda are known at supermarktets from all over the globe. If you are interested in the Dutch cheeses, you must visit the Cheesemarket in Alkmaar on Fridays.
Dishes
AVG
AVG is an abbreviation of 'Aardappels, Groente, Vlees'; potatoes, vegetables, meat. This is the way an original Dutch dinner is structured. Nowadays, Dutch citizens do not eat like this every day anymore, the recepies which are prepared are highly internationalized. However, still multiple Dutch households eat like this at least two times a week. Incipiently, dinner contained boiled potatoes, boiled vegetables and a piece of meat. Regularly eaten vegetables are cauliflower, snap beens, carrots, broccoli, green peas, string peas and beetroot. The meat is usually some kind of processed meat or a small steak. The potatoes are always poured over by gravy.
Kibbeling
Kibbeling is usually not eaten as a single dish during dinner, but in combination with some vegatbles and potatoes/fries. However, as lunch or as a snack Dutch people do eat kibbeling by itself. Factually, kibbeling is just fried fish. It could be compared with the English fish and chips, but then a hundred times more tasteful. Kibbeling is originally made with the leftovers of the codfish catch. The fish is immersed with special kibbeling batter and fried. Essential are the herbs, which make the kibbeling taste as delicious as it does. Kibbeling is not sold in supermarkets (sometimes they do sell frozen kibbeling), but simply on the local market. In the Netherlands there are numerous little fish selling points, which join the market one day a week and are also opened the rest of the week merely to sell fish. Kibbeling is always a seriously loved product at those stands. The seller will ask wether you would like some sauce together with your kibbeling. The traditional sauce to eat with kibbeling is 'ravigottesaus', yet gralic sauce is also appreciated.
Poffertjes
Poffertjes are exclusively eaten in the Netherlands. Their taste is similar to that of pancakes, yet they are smaller and thicker. Poffertjes are usually combined with a scoop of butter and powdered sugar. They are known as lunch, dinner or sometimes a small portion as a snack. Dutch people do (usually) not eat them as breakfast. Poffertjes are sold in the supermarket, yet what is more admired are the 'poffertjessalons', where they sell poffertjes. In addition to that, poffertjes are sold at theme parks very often.
Pannenkoeken
Pannenkoeken are well-known in at least every Western country as pancakes. Yet there is a large difference between for example American or French pancakes and the Dutch pannenkoeken. First of all, Dutch people eat pancakes as dinner. In other cultures pancakes are seen as breakfast, and although through americanization an increasingly amount of Dutch people starts to eat American pancakes as breakfast too, the traditional Dutch pancakes are seen as dinner. The main difference between Dutch, American and French pancakes is the thickness. Dutch pancakes are rather thin, but very large in diameter. They are prepared with bacon, apple, raisins, pineapple, cheese et cetera (not all at the same time). People regularly top them with sugar, syrup, jam and sometimes nutella (not all at the same time as well). French crêpes are thinner than the Dutch pannenkoeken, and they are smaller in diameter. American pancakes are definately thicker, and along with the French they are smaller too.
Stamppot met rookworst
Each Dutchie who you would ask which dish is typically Dutch, would answer stamppot. There are many variations of stamppot; boerenkool, hutspot, andijvie stamppot, hete bliksem, bietenstamppot, zuurkoolstamppot et cetera. The principle of stamppot is mashed potatoes and vegetables. Boerenkool is probably the most famous stamppot, made with cale and potatoes. At all times there is gravy involved too. Stamppot is often eaten together with rookworst, a very salthy sausage of highly processed meat.
Patat met mayo
'Patat' or 'friet' is the Dutch word for fries. Dutch fries are thicker than French fries, yet not as thick as the Vlamish fries. Patat is often eaten together with mayonnaise. The Dutch mayonnaise is different than for example the American mayonnaise. Dutch mayo is a little sour, and also a more dense substance. 'Frietsaus' is a lighter version of mayonnaise, with a more fresh taste. Patat is eaten as lunch, as snack or as dinner. In the Netherlands you will find a 'snackbar' at every corner of the street. At the snackbar you can find fries, but also countless snacks such as the 'kroket' or 'kaassoufflé'. Patat is usually ordered in combination with a snack. Multiple snackbars have an 'automatiek', this is a wall with little valves with snacks behind it. Sauces added to the patat variate between mayonnaise, ketchup, curry, satésaus, and joppiesaus. Often combinations between sauces are made, such as a 'patatje oorlog' (mayonnaise and satésaus) and 'patatje speciaal' (mayonnaise, ketchup/curry and onions). Patat is often served in a 'puntzak'; a cone bag.
Erwtensoep
If it is miso soup, tomato soup or noodle soup; the whole world knows a kind of soup. In the Netherlands, countless variations of soup are known. One soup in particular is typically Dutch; erwtensoep, also known as 'snert'. Erwtensoep is, as the name already suggests, a soup made of peas. Lots of vegetables such as carrot, leeks and onion are added. Besides that, 'rookworst' is a very commonly used ingrediënt. Erwtensoep is a very heavy substance, which is the reason that it is linked to outdoor sports such as ice skating.
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