Dutch cooking

~patches~ said:

I'm watching a really neat show "Loving Spoonful" about Dutch cooking
but the guest insists that Dutch cooking is very bland. Is that so?

Well, I lived in the Netherlands for 4 years in the early 90s, so have
some experience. Even the Dutch consider the phrase "Dutch cuisine" an
oxymoron.

I found many Dutch "eat to live" not "live to eat". In fact, one of my
cow-orkers chided me once for talking about food too much.

Typical Dutch dishes are things like boerenkool (potatoes mashed with
bacon (unsmoked), kale, onion, and sausage), stampot (various stews),
uitsmijter (fried eggs on toast with ham, cheese, butter), paling
(baby eels), haring (herring served various ways but mostly pickled),
and erwtensoep (pea soup with smoked sausage).

My koe-oerker's (Dutch spelling) typical lunch in the cafeteria was a
roll, butter, 1 slice of ham, 1 slice of cheese and fruit and coffee.
The Dutch sure don't eat much for such large folks.

Since Indonesia was a Dutch colony, the most common ethnic food is the
rijstafel. Although they use various sambals, even the Indonesian food
isn't vary hot to cater to Dutch tastes.

Not to paint with too wide a brush, I think younger Dutch are getting
more adventurous.

Quoted message said:

A few things I liked/noticed - I was amazed at her kitchen! It was
basically a walkthrough hall with cabinets on one side only. It is way
smaller than my kitchen and she had almost no counter space but she did
rely on her kitchen table that I think was outside of the actual
kitchen.

Everything is small in the Netherlands and the Dutch are really,
really tired of hearing about it. ;->

They like it that way.

~patches~ said:

I'm watching a really neat show "Loving Spoonful" about Dutch cooking
but the guest insists that Dutch cooking is very bland. Is that so?
DH's dad (GRHS) came to Canada from Holland when he was 19. I can
recall him eating things I considered strange but because of him there
is a lot of seafood I like. I still can't get into eating Dutch hale on
toast! We still shop at the Dutch market. She did a Finnish dish
consisting of boiled asparagus eated with boiled egges that were
seasoned with nutmeg. Then she did a Maylasian dish. I would have
liked to seen some traditional Dutch cooking.

A few things I liked/noticed - I was amazed at her kitchen! It was
basically a walkthrough hall with cabinets on one side only. It is way
smaller than my kitchen and she had almost no counter space but she did
rely on her kitchen table that I think was outside of the actual
kitchen. It just goes to show you don't need a huge kitchen to cook
good food. One thing I really liked was she used actual cast iron
something few of the cooking shows ever show. Both dishes used a lot of
eggs and she mentioned she shopped daily. They brought in her 92 old
mom which was kind of cool.

I'm Dutch - and a foodie. So are several of my friends. I have no idea
what bald means to you. So can you be more specific? J. Eric's list of
foods does list true classics.

"jake" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I'm Dutch - and a foodie. So are several of my friends. I have no idea
what bald means to you. So can you be more specific? J. Eric's list of
foods does list true classics.

I didn't see anyone say bald, did they? I saw bland.

nancy

What ? You don't think Febo chicken and Stroopwafels are the height of
culinary achievement ? Then maybe a bit of raw herring and a glass of
Genever will fix you. Next you'll be knocking the beer, you heathen.

Also, while Indonesian may be the most renowned ethnic cusine in the
Netherlands, shwarma shops and Indian restaurants are fairly common as
well. You will also have no trouble finding other continental cuisines.

Dean G.
Actually, the Stroopwafels are pretty good, but Febo's really does suck.

jake said:

~patches~ said:

I'm watching a really neat show "Loving Spoonful" about Dutch cooking
but the guest insists that Dutch cooking is very bland. Is that so?
DH's dad (GRHS) came to Canada from Holland when he was 19. I can
recall him eating things I considered strange but because of him there
is a lot of seafood I like. I still can't get into eating Dutch hale
on toast! We still shop at the Dutch market. She did a Finnish dish
consisting of boiled asparagus eated with boiled egges that were
seasoned with nutmeg. Then she did a Maylasian dish. I would have
liked to seen some traditional Dutch cooking.

A few things I liked/noticed - I was amazed at her kitchen! It was
basically a walkthrough hall with cabinets on one side only. It is
way smaller than my kitchen and she had almost no counter space but
she did rely on her kitchen table that I think was outside of the
actual kitchen. It just goes to show you don't need a huge kitchen to
cook good food. One thing I really liked was she used actual cast
iron something few of the cooking shows ever show. Both dishes used a
lot of eggs and she mentioned she shopped daily. They brought in her
92 old mom which was kind of cool.

I'm Dutch - and a foodie. So are several of my friends. I have no idea
what bald means to you. So can you be more specific? J. Eric's list of
foods does list true classics.

Umm, that was bland not bald which means the food has very littl
seasoning as in not spicey. DH's dad ate things like eel, oysters,
sardines, and smoked salmon. Of those I learned to like everything but
the eel. He would never, ever eat potatoes in skins because the sknins
were considered pig food. He wasn't much of a cook either as dMIL was
very much traditional that way but she was Lebonanese so her cooking was
anything but Dutch. DH's aunts are all very good cooks but I don't
recall a dish specific to Holland. I can't really be more specific
other than I would like to make a few traditional Dutch dishes but don't
really know where to look.

jake said:

~patches~ said:

I'm watching a really neat show "Loving Spoonful" about Dutch cooking
but the guest insists that Dutch cooking is very bland. Is that so?
DH's dad (GRHS) came to Canada from Holland when he was 19. I can
recall him eating things I considered strange but because of him there
is a lot of seafood I like. I still can't get into eating Dutch hale
on toast! We still shop at the Dutch market. She did a Finnish dish
consisting of boiled asparagus eated with boiled egges that were
seasoned with nutmeg. Then she did a Maylasian dish. I would have
liked to seen some traditional Dutch cooking.

A few things I liked/noticed - I was amazed at her kitchen! It was
basically a walkthrough hall with cabinets on one side only. It is
way smaller than my kitchen and she had almost no counter space but
she did rely on her kitchen table that I think was outside of the
actual kitchen. It just goes to show you don't need a huge kitchen to
cook good food. One thing I really liked was she used actual cast
iron something few of the cooking shows ever show. Both dishes used a
lot of eggs and she mentioned she shopped daily. They brought in her
92 old mom which was kind of cool.

I'm Dutch - and a foodie. So are several of my friends. I have no idea
what bald means to you. So can you be more specific? J. Eric's list of
foods does list true classics.

Umm, that was bland not bald which means the food has very littl
seasoning as in not spicey. DH's dad ate things like eel, oysters,
sardines, and smoked salmon. Of those I learned to like everything but
the eel. He would never, ever eat potatoes in skins because the sknins
were considered pig food. He wasn't much of a cook either as dMIL was
very much traditional that way but she was Lebonanese so her cooking was
anything but Dutch. DH's aunts are all very good cooks but I don't
recall a dish specific to Holland. I can't really be more specific
other than I would like to make a few traditional Dutch dishes but don't
really know where to look.

Nancy Young said:

"jake" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I'm Dutch - and a foodie. So are several of my friends. I have no idea
what bald means to you. So can you be more specific? J. Eric's list of
foods does list true classics.

I didn't see anyone say bald, did they? I saw bland.

nancy

Oops, a typo.

Nancy Young said:

"jake" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

I'm Dutch - and a foodie. So are several of my friends. I have no idea
what bald means to you. So can you be more specific? J. Eric's list of
foods does list true classics.

I didn't see anyone say bald, did they? I saw bland.

nancy

Oops, a typo.

Dean G. said:

What ? You don't think Febo chicken and Stroopwafels are the height of
culinary achievement ? Then maybe a bit of raw herring and a glass of
Genever will fix you. Next you'll be knocking the beer, you heathen.

Well friends of ours make olie bolies that are to me a lot lit tim bits
but you only make them New Year's eve. I really don't think I'm going
to like raw herring and DH detests beer of any kind. Me I'm kinda
partial to anything with alcohol in it 😉

Quoted message said:

Also, while Indonesian may be the most renowned ethnic cusine in the
Netherlands, shwarma shops and Indian restaurants are fairly common as
well. You will also have no trouble finding other continental cuisines.

Can you please, please share a few names of the continental cuisine
dishes. TIA

Quoted message said:

Dean G.
Actually, the Stroopwafels are pretty good, but Febo's really does suck.

Dean G. said:

What ? You don't think Febo chicken and Stroopwafels are the height of
culinary achievement ? Then maybe a bit of raw herring and a glass of
Genever will fix you. Next you'll be knocking the beer, you heathen.

Well friends of ours make olie bolies that are to me a lot lit tim bits
but you only make them New Year's eve. I really don't think I'm going
to like raw herring and DH detests beer of any kind. Me I'm kinda
partial to anything with alcohol in it 😉

Quoted message said:

Also, while Indonesian may be the most renowned ethnic cusine in the
Netherlands, shwarma shops and Indian restaurants are fairly common as
well. You will also have no trouble finding other continental cuisines.

Can you please, please share a few names of the continental cuisine
dishes. TIA

Quoted message said:

Dean G.
Actually, the Stroopwafels are pretty good, but Febo's really does suck.

~patches~ said:

jake said:

~patches~ said:

I'm watching a really neat show "Loving Spoonful" about Dutch cooking
but the guest insists that Dutch cooking is very bland. Is that so?
DH's dad (GRHS) came to Canada from Holland when he was 19. I can
recall him eating things I considered strange but because of him
there is a lot of seafood I like. I still can't get into eating
Dutch hale on toast! We still shop at the Dutch market. She did a
Finnish dish consisting of boiled asparagus eated with boiled egges
that were seasoned with nutmeg. Then she did a Maylasian dish. I
would have liked to seen some traditional Dutch cooking.

A few things I liked/noticed - I was amazed at her kitchen! It was
basically a walkthrough hall with cabinets on one side only. It is
way smaller than my kitchen and she had almost no counter space but
she did rely on her kitchen table that I think was outside of the
actual kitchen. It just goes to show you don't need a huge kitchen
to cook good food. One thing I really liked was she used actual cast
iron something few of the cooking shows ever show. Both dishes used
a lot of eggs and she mentioned she shopped daily. They brought in
her 92 old mom which was kind of cool.

I'm Dutch - and a foodie. So are several of my friends. I have no idea
what bald means to you. So can you be more specific? J. Eric's list of
foods does list true classics.

Umm, that was bland not bald which means the food has very littl
seasoning as in not spicey.

Then "bland"applies. I asked because I am sure to someone form South
East Asia most western cooking might be bland, and usually not vice
versa. So I was wondering about your perspective.

The climate here doesn't allow for growing spices (but there are soft
green herbs). So traditionally, spices weren't used in cooking. They
started being imported in 17th century but cost a fortune back then. So
they didn't become more used until centuries later.

Staple foods were potatoes and wheat, rye, barley etc, beans and dairy.
Plus fish, beef, pork, cabbages. Not citrus fruits, no tomatoes, no
eggplants,

Dutch appeltaart (apple pie/cake) is the best in the world, in spite of
all the simplicity of Dutch cooking.

DH's dad ate things like eel, oysters,

Quoted message said:

sardines, and smoked salmon. Of those I learned to like everything but
the eel. He would never, ever eat potatoes in skins because the sknins
were considered pig food. He wasn't much of a cook either as dMIL was
very much traditional that way but she was Lebonanese so her cooking was
anything but Dutch. DH's aunts are all very good cooks but I don't
recall a dish specific to Holland. I can't really be more specific
other than I would like to make a few traditional Dutch dishes but don't
really know where to look.

~patches~ said:

jake said:

~patches~ said:

I'm watching a really neat show "Loving Spoonful" about Dutch cooking
but the guest insists that Dutch cooking is very bland. Is that so?
DH's dad (GRHS) came to Canada from Holland when he was 19. I can
recall him eating things I considered strange but because of him
there is a lot of seafood I like. I still can't get into eating
Dutch hale on toast! We still shop at the Dutch market. She did a
Finnish dish consisting of boiled asparagus eated with boiled egges
that were seasoned with nutmeg. Then she did a Maylasian dish. I
would have liked to seen some traditional Dutch cooking.

A few things I liked/noticed - I was amazed at her kitchen! It was
basically a walkthrough hall with cabinets on one side only. It is
way smaller than my kitchen and she had almost no counter space but
she did rely on her kitchen table that I think was outside of the
actual kitchen. It just goes to show you don't need a huge kitchen
to cook good food. One thing I really liked was she used actual cast
iron something few of the cooking shows ever show. Both dishes used
a lot of eggs and she mentioned she shopped daily. They brought in
her 92 old mom which was kind of cool.

I'm Dutch - and a foodie. So are several of my friends. I have no idea
what bald means to you. So can you be more specific? J. Eric's list of
foods does list true classics.

Umm, that was bland not bald which means the food has very littl
seasoning as in not spicey.

Then "bland"applies. I asked because I am sure to someone form South
East Asia most western cooking might be bland, and usually not vice
versa. So I was wondering about your perspective.

The climate here doesn't allow for growing spices (but there are soft
green herbs). So traditionally, spices weren't used in cooking. They
started being imported in 17th century but cost a fortune back then. So
they didn't become more used until centuries later.

Staple foods were potatoes and wheat, rye, barley etc, beans and dairy.
Plus fish, beef, pork, cabbages. Not citrus fruits, no tomatoes, no
eggplants,

Dutch appeltaart (apple pie/cake) is the best in the world, in spite of
all the simplicity of Dutch cooking.

DH's dad ate things like eel, oysters,

Quoted message said:

sardines, and smoked salmon. Of those I learned to like everything but
the eel. He would never, ever eat potatoes in skins because the sknins
were considered pig food. He wasn't much of a cook either as dMIL was
very much traditional that way but she was Lebonanese so her cooking was
anything but Dutch. DH's aunts are all very good cooks but I don't
recall a dish specific to Holland. I can't really be more specific
other than I would like to make a few traditional Dutch dishes but don't
really know where to look.

~patches~ said:

I'm watching a really neat show "Loving Spoonful" about Dutch cooking
but the guest insists that Dutch cooking is very bland. Is that so?

Native Dutch cooking is almost never spicy but it needn't be bland.
Some of the ingredients and the dishes made with them can be superb.
Some of the best herring and smoked eel are to be found in the
Netherlands. Zeeland oysters are legendary. Dutch erwtensoep (split
pea soup) is unmatched anywhere, as far as I'm concerned. 'Stampot'
dishes (coarsely mashed potatoes mixed with some vegetable (such as
endive, savoy cabbage, sauerkraut, or kale) and some meat or sausages
can be very good.

Victor

~patches~ said:

I'm watching a really neat show about Dutch cooking
but the guest insists that Dutch cooking is very bland. Is that so?

There really is no such thing as Dutch cooking... there are just so
many dishes one can prepare with edam, herring, and tulips.

Sheldon

~patches~ said:

I'm watching a really neat show "Loving Spoonful" about Dutch cooking
but the guest insists that Dutch cooking is very bland. Is that so?
DH's dad (GRHS) came to Canada from Holland when he was 19. I can
recall him eating things I considered strange but because of him there
is a lot of seafood I like. I still can't get into eating Dutch hale on
toast! We still shop at the Dutch market. She did a Finnish dish
consisting of boiled asparagus eated with boiled egges that were
seasoned with nutmeg. Then she did a Maylasian dish. I would have
liked to seen some traditional Dutch cooking.

Bland is relative of course. Most of the world considers 'American' food
to be bland too LOL.

Here is a Dutch mussel soup

1 kg mussels, scrubbed and damaged/dead ones discarded.
1 1/2 litre water
1 large onion
2 leeks
1 small knob celery root
40 g butter
small bunch parsley
salt and pepper

Put the cleaned mussels in a pan with the water. Cook for 10 minutes
until the mussels have opened. Remove the mussels and strain the cooking
liquid.
Peel the onion and cut into rings. Wash the leeks and cut into rings.
Peel the celery root and cut into small cubes.
Heat the butter in a deep frying pan and cook all the vegetables in the
hot butter. Add the strained cooking liquid, bring to the boil and
simmer until the vegetables are done.
Wash the parsley, mince and add to the soup. Take the mussels out of the
shells and add to the soup. Season and serve.

On Tue, 27 Sep 2005 23:54:38 +0200, [email hidden] (Victor Sack)

Quoted message said:

~patches~ said:

I'm watching a really neat show "Loving Spoonful" about Dutch cooking
but the guest insists that Dutch cooking is very bland. Is that so?

Native Dutch cooking is almost never spicy but it needn't be bland.
Some of the ingredients and the dishes made with them can be superb.
Some of the best herring and smoked eel are to be found in the
Netherlands. Zeeland oysters are legendary. Dutch erwtensoep (split
pea soup) is unmatched anywhere, as far as I'm concerned. 'Stampot'
dishes (coarsely mashed potatoes mixed with some vegetable (such as
endive, savoy cabbage, sauerkraut, or kale) and some meat or sausages
can be very good.

I think there is an echo in here...

jake said:

Then "bland"applies. I asked because I am sure to someone form South
East Asia most western cooking might be bland, and usually not vice
versa. So I was wondering about your perspective.

The climate here doesn't allow for growing spices (but there are soft
green herbs). So traditionally, spices weren't used in cooking. They
started being imported in 17th century but cost a fortune back then. So
they didn't become more used until centuries later.

Staple foods were potatoes and wheat, rye, barley etc, beans and dairy.
Plus fish, beef, pork, cabbages. Not citrus fruits, no tomatoes, no
eggplants,

Dutch appeltaart (apple pie/cake) is the best in the world, in spite of
all the simplicity of Dutch cooking.

I was only in Holland for a few days and my limited experience was that most
of the things we ate were fairly basic, but quite tasty. They has excellent
breads, cheeses and meats. Dishes were well cooked and presented. They were
so nicely cooked that they did not need to be all gussied up with sauces and
spices.

My father in law was Dutch and my wife follows the same sort of diet that he
did, a lot of eggs, cheese, cold cuts and meat. She doesn't get very fancy
when she cooks vegetables.

I live in an area with a lot of Dutch immigrants. There is a Dutch
delicatessen in the next town and it's got the most limited variety of goods
for sale of any delicatessen I have ever been in. There are only about a half
dozen varieties of cheeses and cold cuts, lots of pickled herring and smoked
eel. A lot of the imported Dutch food is Indonesian spice mixes and prepared
foods.

They have a huge assortment of licorice. I was never much of a fan of those
licorice allsorts, but the stuff they sell in that deli is terrific, but I
never acquired a taste for that salty licorice.

The first time I went to Denmark I read in several travel books that Danish
cooking is very bland, a lot of meat and potatoes. I found out that there was
indeed a lot of meat and potatoes, and fish, but every meal I had there was
excellent. Dairy and meat products and baked goods were the highest quality
imaginable. And if you think that the Dutch appletaart is good, you should
try the real Danish pastry, vienerbrot <sp?>. It is amazing.

"Arri London" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

~patches~ said:

I'm watching a really neat show "Loving Spoonful" about Dutch cooking
but the guest insists that Dutch cooking is very bland. Is that so?
DH's dad (GRHS) came to Canada from Holland when he was 19. I can
recall him eating things I considered strange but because of him there
is a lot of seafood I like. I still can't get into eating Dutch hale on
toast! We still shop at the Dutch market. She did a Finnish dish
consisting of boiled asparagus eated with boiled egges that were
seasoned with nutmeg. Then she did a Maylasian dish. I would have
liked to seen some traditional Dutch cooking.

Bland is relative of course. Most of the world considers 'American' food
to be bland too LOL.

Here is a Dutch mussel soup

1 kg mussels, scrubbed and damaged/dead ones discarded.
1 1/2 litre water
1 large onion
2 leeks
1 small knob celery root
40 g butter
small bunch parsley
salt and pepper

Put the cleaned mussels in a pan with the water. Cook for 10 minutes
until the mussels have opened. Remove the mussels and strain the cooking
liquid.
Peel the onion and cut into rings. Wash the leeks and cut into rings.
Peel the celery root and cut into small cubes.
Heat the butter in a deep frying pan and cook all the vegetables in the
hot butter. Add the strained cooking liquid, bring to the boil and
simmer until the vegetables are done.
Wash the parsley, mince and add to the soup. Take the mussels out of the
shells and add to the soup. Season and serve.

SAVED! Thanks, Arri.

kili

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Also, while Indonesian may be the most renowned ethnic cusine in the
Netherlands, shwarma shops and Indian restaurants are fairly common as
well. You will also have no trouble finding other continental cuisines.

Can you please, please share a few names of the continental cuisine
dishes. TIA

Quoted message said:

What I meant by that was that it is not difficult to find French,
German, Italian, Spanish, and Belgian food there.

Dean G.