Dutch cuisine is shaped by the practice of farming, including the cultivation of the soil for raising crops and the raising of domesticated animals and the
historyThe historical period sets in with the Roman Empire, as the parts south of the Rhine were included in the province of Gallia Belgica, and later of Germania Inferior. The country was inhabited at the time by various Germanic tribes, and the south was inhabited by Gauls, who merged with newcomers...
of the
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
.
The
NetherlandsThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
is renowned for its varieties of cheese and is where
Dutch process chocolateDutch process chocolate, or Dutched chocolate, is chocolate that has been treated with an alkalizing agent to modify its color and give it a milder flavor compared to "natural cocoa" extracted with the Broma process...
originated. Dutch cuisine is somewhat limited in its diversity of dishes (like many Northern European cuisines) and includes a high consumption of vegetables compared to the consumption of meat.
History
The modest and plain look of what is nowadays considered the traditional Dutch cuisine appears to be the result of a fairly recent development. From the 17th century onward, the dishes of the wealthy consisted of a rich variety of fruits, cheeses, meat, wine, and nuts. The national cuisine became greatly impoverished at the turn of the 20th century, when a great number of girls were sent to a new school type, the
Huishoudschool (household school), where young women were trained to become domestic servants and where lessons in cooking cheap and simple meals were a major part of the curriculum.
Agriculture
Dutch agriculture roughly consists of five sectors:
fisheryGenerally, a fishery is an entity engaged in raising and/or harvesting fish, which is determined by some authority to be a fishery. According to the FAO, a fishery is typically defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of...
,
animal husbandryAnimal husbandry, also called animal science, stockbreeding or simple husbandry, is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock. It has been practiced for thousands of years, since the first domestication of animals....
, and
tillageTillage is the agricultural preparation of the soil by ploughing, ripping, or turning it. Tillage can also mean the land that is tilled. There are two types of tillage: primary and secondary tillage.-Intensive tillage:...
-based, fruit-based, and
greenhouseA greenhouse is a building where plants are cultivated.A greenhouse is a structure with a glass or plastic roof and frequently glass or plastic walls; it heats up because incoming solar radiation from the sun warms plants, soil, and other things inside the building faster than heat can escape the...
-based agriculture. The last has had little or no influence on traditional Dutch eating habits.
- Tillage-based crops include potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species. Potatoes are the world's fourth largest food...
es, kaleKale or borecole is a form of cabbage , green or purple, in which the central leaves do not form a head. It is considered to be closer to wild cabbage than most domesticated forms. The species Brassica oleracea contains a wide array of vegetables including broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, and...
, beetrootThe beetroot , also known as the table beet, garden beet, red beet or informally simply as beet, is one of the many cultivated varieties of beets and arguably the most commonly encountered variety in North America and Britain.-As a root vegetable:The usually deep-red roots of beetroot...
, green beanGreen beans , French beans or runner beans are the unripe fruit of any kind of bean, including the yardlong bean, the hyacinth bean, the winged bean, and especially the common bean , whose pods are also usually called string beans in the northeastern United States, but can also go by snap beans...
s, carrotThe carrot is a root vegetable, usually orange, purple, red, white, or yellow in colour, with a crisp texture when fresh. The edible part of a carrot is a taproot...
s, celeriacCeleriac is also known as 'celery root,' 'turnip-rooted celery' or 'knob celery'. It is a kind of celery, grown as a root vegetable for its large and bulbous hypocotyl rather than for its stem and leaves. The swollen hypocotyl is typically used when it is about 10–12 cm in diameter;...
, onionOnion is a term used for many plants in the genus Allium. They are known by the common name "onion" but, used without qualifiers, it usually refers to Allium cepa. Allium cepa is also known as the "garden onion" or "bulb" onion...
s, all kind of cabbageThe cabbage is a popular cultivar of the species Brassica oleracea Linne of the Family Brassicaceae , and is used as a leafy green vegetable...
s, Brussels sprouts, cauliflowerCauliflower is one of several vegetables in the species Brassica oleracea, in the family Brassicaceae. It is an annual plant that reproduces by seed. Typically, only the head is eaten while the stalk and surrounding thick, green leaves are used in vegetable broth or discarded...
, endiveEndive , Cichorium endivia is a leaf vegetable belonging to the daisy family. Endive can be cooked or used raw in salads.Endive is also a common name for some types of chicory . There is considerable confusion between Cichorium endivia and Cichorium intybus...
, spinachSpinach is an edible flowering plant in the family of Amaranthaceae. It is native to central and southwestern Asia. It is an annual plant , which grows to a height of up to 30 cm. Spinach may survive over winter in temperate regions...
, Belgian endive, asparagusAsparagus officinalis is a flowering plant species in the genus Asparagus from which the vegetable known as asparagus is obtained. It is native to most of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia...
and lettuceLettuce is a temperate annual or biennial plant of the daisy family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable. In many countries, it is typically eaten cold, raw, in salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, tacos, and in many other dishes...
. Recently some initiatives have been started to encourage interest in such "forgotten" vegetables as common purslanePortulaca oleracea , is an annual succulent in the family Portulacaceae, which can reach 40 cm in height....
, medlarMedlar is a genus of two species of flowering plants in the subfamily Maloideae of the family Rosaceae. One, Common Medlar Mespilus germanica, is a long-known native of southwest Asia and possibly also southeastern Europe, and the other, Stern's Medlar Mespilus canescens, was recently discovered...
s, parsnipThe parsnip is a root vegetable related to the carrot. Parsnips resemble carrots, but are paler than most of them and have a stronger flavor. Like carrots, parsnips are native to Eurasia and have been eaten there since ancient times...
s, and black salsifyScorzonera hispanica, black salsify or Spanish salsify, also known as black oyster plant, serpent root, viper's herb, viper's grass or simply Scorzonera, is a perennial member of the sunflower family , cultivated as a root vegetable in the same way as some of the members of the salsify genus...
.
- Greenhouses are used to produce tomato
The tomato is a herbaceous, usually sprawling plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family that is typically cultivated for the purpose of harvesting its fruit for human consumption...
es, lettuceLettuce is a temperate annual or biennial plant of the daisy family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable. In many countries, it is typically eaten cold, raw, in salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, tacos, and in many other dishes...
, cucumberThe cucumber is a widely cultivated plant in the gourd family Cucurbitaceae, which includes squash, and in the same genus as the muskmelon.- Botany :...
s, and sweet peppers.
- Fruits include apple
The apple is the pomaceous fruit of the apple tree, species Malus domestica in the rose family Rosaceae. It is one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits...
s, pearThe pear is a tree of genus Pyrus and also the name of the tree's edible pomaceous fruit. The pear is classified within Maloideae, a subfamily within Rosaceae...
s, cherriesThe cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus Prunus. It is a fleshy fruit that contains a single stony seed. The cherry fruits of commerce are usually obtained from a limited number of species, including especially cultivars of the wild cherry, Prunus avium.The name 'cherry', often as the...
, berrieBerrie was the original band name of The Mad Capsule Markets. The Markets first performance occurred during their senior year at a school festival. The Markets also released one Demo entitled POISON REVOLUTION...
s, and plumA plum or gage is a stone fruit tree in the genus Prunus, subgenus Prunus. The subgenus is distinguished from other subgenera in the shoots having a terminal bud and the side buds solitary , the flowers being grouped 1-5 together on short stems, and the fruit having a groove running down one side,...
s.
- The Dutch keep cows both for milk and for their meat, chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other bird...
s for their eggs and for meat, pigPigs are a genus of even-toed ungulates within the family Suidae. The name hog most commonly refers to the domestic pig in everyday parlance, but technically encompasses several distinct species, including the wild boar...
s for their meat and sheep for their woolWool is a fibrous protein derived from the specialized skin cells called follicles. The wool is taken from animals in the Caprinae family, principally sheep, but the hair of certain species of other mammals including: goats, llamas, and rabbits may also be called wool...
and meat. Traditionally horseThe horse is a hoofed mammal, a subspecies of one of seven extant species of the family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
meat was a common dish (steak and sausage), but horsemeat is seldomly eaten nowadays.
- The fishery sector lands cod
Cod is the common name for the genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
, herringHerring are relatively small oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Two species of Clupea are currently recognized, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring , each of which may be...
, plaiceEuropean plaice, Pleuronectes platessa, are a commercially important flatfish occurring on the sandy bottoms of the European shelf. Its geographical range is from the Barents Sea to the Mediterranean...
, soleThe true soles are a family, Soleidae, of flatfishes, and include species that live in salt water and fresh water. They are bottom-dwelling fishes feeding on small crustaceans and other invertebrates. Other flatfishes are also known as soles....
, mackerelMackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of fish, mostly, but not exclusively, from the family Scombridae. They may be found in all tropical and temperate seas. Most live offshore in the oceanic environment but a few, like the Spanish mackerel , enter bays and can be...
, eelTrue eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 19 families, 110 genera and approximately 600 species. Most eels are predators...
s, tunaTuna are ocean-dwelling carnivorous fish in the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers—they have been clocked at —and include several warm-blooded species...
, salmonSalmon is the common name for several species of fish of the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the family are called trout; the difference is often attributed to the migratory life of the salmon as compared to the residential behaviour of trout, a distinction that holds true for the Salmo...
, troutTrout are a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the Salmonidae family. Salmon belong to some of the same genera as trout but, unlike most trout, most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
, oysters, mussels, shrimpShrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...
, and sardineSardines, or pilchards, are a group of several types of small, oily fish related to herrings, family Clupeidae. Sardines were named after the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, where they were once in abundance....
s. The Dutch are famous for their smoked eel and soused herringThe term soused herring usually refers to a cooked herring. The herring can be baked in the marinade or fried and then soaked in it. It is served cold...
, that is eaten raw.
Bread and cheese
The Dutch are famous for their dairy products and especially for their (cow's milk)
cheeseCheese is a food consisting of proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. It is produced by coagulation of the milk protein casein. Typically, the milk is acidified and addition of the enzyme rennet causes coagulation. The solids are separated and pressed into...
s. The vast majority of Dutch cheeses are semi-hard or hard cheeses. Famous Dutch cheeses include Gouda, Edam, and
LeydenLeyden cheese, known as komijnekaas or Leidse kaas in Dutch, is a spiced cheese made in the Netherlands from partly skimmed cow's milk.It is made both in factories and on farms, historically in the Leiden area....
. A typically Dutch way of making cheese is to blend in herbs or spices during the first stages of the production process. Famous examples of this are cheeses with cloves (usually the
FrisiaFrisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight...
n nagelkaas),
cuminCumin is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native from the east Mediterranean to East India.-Etymology:...
and
carawayCaraway also known as Meridian Fennel or Persian cumin is a biennial plant in the family Apiaceae, native to western Asia, Europe and Northern Africa....
(most famously
Leyden cheeseLeyden cheese, known as komijnekaas or Leidse kaas in Dutch, is a spiced cheese made in the Netherlands from partly skimmed cow's milk.It is made both in factories and on farms, historically in the Leiden area....
), or
nettleNettle is the common name for between 30-45 species of flowering plants of the genus Urtica in the family Urticaceae, with a cosmopolitan though mainly temperate distribution...
s.
Dutch bread is eaten for breakfast. The Dutch bread tends to be very airy, as it is made from yeast dough. From the 1970s onward Dutch bread became predominantly
whole grainWholegrains are cereal grains that contain bran and germ as well as the endosperm, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm. Wholegrains can generally be sprouted while processed grains generally will not sprout...
, with additional seeds such as sunflower or pumpkin seeds often mixed with the dough for taste.
RyeRye is a grass grown extensively as a grain and as a forage crop. It is a member of the wheat tribe and is closely related to barley and wheat. Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye beer, some whiskies, some vodkas, and animal fodder...
bread is one of the few dense breads of the Netherlands.
White breadWhite bread is bread made from wheat flour from which the bran and often the germ have been removed, in contrast to whole wheat bread made from whole wheat flour, in which these parts are retained and contribute a brownish color...
used to be the luxury bread, often made with milk as well as water. A
FrisiaFrisia is a coastal region along the southeastern corner of the North Sea, i.e. the German Bight...
n luxury version of white bread is sugarbread, white bread with large lumps of
sugarSugar is a class of edible crystalline substances, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose. Human taste buds interpret its flavor as sweet. Sugar as a basic food carbohydrate primarily comes from sugar cane and from sugar beet, but also appears in fruit, honey, sorghum, sugar maple , and in many...
mixed with the dough.
KerststolKerststol is a traditional Dutch oval-shaped fruited Christmas bread loaf.-The pastry:The pastry is made of yeast-bread dough with dried fruits, raisins and currants, lemon and orange zest, water, milk, butter, sugar, vanilla, brandy and cinamon....
is a traditional Dutch Christmas bread made of bread dough with sugar, dried fruits, raisins and currants and lemon and orange zest, eaten sliced, spread with butter.
The Dutch use meat products and a variety of different cheeses, as well as sweet spreads on their
open sandwichAn open sandwich, also known as an open face sandwich, Ulrich Sandwich,open faced sandwich or tartine, consists of one single slice of bread with one or more food items on top of it...
es, like sweet chocolate spreads,
treacleMolasses is a viscous byproduct of the processing of sugar cane or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melaço, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey". The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet, the...
, (a thick, dark brown sugar syrup called
stroop), and
peanut butterPeanut butter is a food paste made from ground dry roasted peanuts. Major consumer brand peanut butter contains hydrogenated vegetable oil to stabilize it and prevent oil separation, salt to prevent spoilage, and dextrose and other sweeteners to enhance taste. Peanut butter marketed as Natural, or...
(called
pindakaas). Sweet spreads are topped with
sprinklesSprinkles are very small pieces of confectionery used as a decoration or to add texture to desserts – typically cupcakes, cookies, doughnuts, ice cream, and some puddings...
, very small pieces of confectionery used as a decoration or to add texture to desserts (called
hagelslag, lit. hail stones) and chocolate flakes,
chocoladevlokken (both typically Dutch sandwich toppings).
Regionally popular cold cuts include
blood sausageBlack pudding or blood pudding is a type of sausage made by cooking blood with a filler until it is thick enough to congeal when cooled. It is also called blood sausage...
(
bloedworst), dried sausage, and
uierboord, made from cows' udders.
Coffee and tea
Dutch people invite friends over for "koffietijd" (coffee time), which consists of coffee and cake or a biscuit, served between 10 and 11 a.m. (before lunch) and/or between 7 and 8 pm (after dinner)
The Dutch drink
coffeeCoffee is a brewed beverage prepared from roasted seeds, commonly called coffee beans, of the coffee plant. They are seeds of "coffee cherries" that grow on trees in over 70 countries. It has been said that green coffee is the second most traded commodity in the world behind crude oil. Due to its...
and
teaTea is the agricultural product of the leaves, leaf buds, and internodes of the Camellia sinensis plant, prepared and cured by various methods...
throughout the day, often served with a single biscuit. Dutch thrift led to the famous standard rule of only one cookie with each cup of coffee. It has been suggested that the reasons for this can be found in the Protestant mentality and upbringing in the northern Netherlands.
The traditionally Catholic south does not share this tradition (in Limburg a
vlaaiVlaai is a pie or tart consisting of a pastry and filling. Originally Vlaai was created in Weert, Limburg and is therefore also known as Weertervlaai. It is a typical product from the southern regions of the Netherlands, but nowadays generally available all through the country and in parts of...
(sweet pie or pastry with filling), cut in eight pieces, is traditionally served when visitors are expected).
A popular Dutch story (never confirmed) says that in the late 1940s the wife of the then
Prime ministerA prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. The position is usually held by, but need not always be held by, a politician. In many systems, the prime minister selects and can dismiss other members of the cabinet, and...
,
Willem DreesWillem Drees was a Dutch politician of the Dutch Labour Party and Prime Minister of the Netherlands from August 7 1948 until December 22 1958. He is praised by many as the most important Dutch politician after World War II for his important contributions and social reforms laws...
, served coffee and one biscuit to a visiting
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
diplomatDiplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-making, trade, war,...
, who then became convinced that the money from the
Marshall PlanThe Marshall Plan was the primary plan of the United States for rebuilding and creating a stronger foundation for the countries of Western Europe, and repelling communism after World War II...
(European Recovery Program, the primary plan of the United States for rebuilding and creating a stronger foundation for the countries of Western Europe, after World War II) was being well-spent.
Café au laitCafé au lait is a French coffee drink.In Europe, "café au lait" stems from the same continental tradition as "caffè latte" in Italy, "café con leche" in Spain, "kawa biała" in Poland, "Milchkaffee" in Germany, "koffie verkeerd" in Netherlands, and "café com leite" in Portugal, simply "coffee...
is also very common. It is called
koffie verkeerd (literally "wrong-way-round-coffee") and consists of equal parts black coffee and hot milk. The Dutch drink tea without milk and the tea is quite a lot weaker than the typical English types of tea which are taken with milk. Other hot drinks used to include warm
lemonadeLemonade is a lemon-flavored drink, typically made from lemons, water and sucrose. Due to the contrast of sweet and sour, the resulting flavor can be very agreeable to the taste buds.The term can refer to three different types of beverage:...
, called
kwast (hot water with
lemonThe lemon is a small evergreen tree originally native to Asia, and is also the name of the tree's oval yellow fruit. The fruit is used for culinary and nonculinary purposes throughout the world – primarily for its juice, though the pulp and rind are also used, mainly in cooking and baking...
juice), and
anijsmelk (hot milk with
aniseis a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and southwest Asia known for its flavor that resembles liquorice, fennel, and tarragon.- Biology :Anise is an herbaceous annual plant growing to tall...
ed). In the autumn and winter the very popular
hot chocolateHot chocolate is a heated beverage that typically consists of shaved chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and sugar...
or
chocolate milkChocolate milk is a sweetened, cocoa-flavored milk drink. It can be purchased pre-mixed or made at home with either cocoa powder and a sweetener , or with melted chocolate, chocolate syrup, or chocolate milk mix. Other ingredients, such as starch, salt, carrageenan, vanilla, or artificial flavoring...
is drunk. Both
anijsmelk and
kwast are hardly drunk anymore and have lost their popularity.
Dinner
Dinner, traditionally served early by international standards, starts at about 6 o'clock in the evening. The old-fashioned Dutch dinner consists of one simple course: beans or potatoes, meat and vegetables. Traditionally potatoes with a large portion of vegetables and a small portion of meat with gravy, or a potato and vegetable stew. A typical traditional Dutch dinner would include
stamppotStamppot is a traditional Dutch dish made from a combination of potatoes mashed with one or several other vegetables, sometimes also with bacon. These vegetable pairings traditionally include sauerkraut, endive, kale, or carrot and onion . It is usually served with sausage or stewed meat...
(Dutch mashed potato mixed with other mashed vegetables) and
pea soupPea soup is soup made, typically, from dried peas. It is, with variations, a part of the cuisine of many cultures. It is greyish-green or yellow in color depending on the regional variety of peas used; all are cultivars of Pisum sativum....
. Vegetable stews served as side dishes are for example
rode kool met appeltjes (red cabbage with apples), or
rode bieten (red beets). Regular spices used in stews of this kind may be
bayleavesBay leaf refers to the aromatic leaf of the Bay Laurel . Fresh or dried bay leaves are used in cooking for their distinctive flavor and fragrance in Mexican food, one example is Red Snapper Veracruzana. The leaves are often used to flavor soups, stews, braises and pâtés in Mediterranean Cuisine...
,
juniperJunipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the...
berries,
cloveCloves are the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae. Cloves are native to Indonesia and India and used as a spice in cuisine all over the world...
s, and vinegar. Stews are often served with
mixed pickleMixed pickles are pickles made from a variety of vegetables mixed together in the same pickling process. Mixed pickles are eaten much like other pickles: in small amounts to add flavor and to accent a meal.Mixed pickles occur in many different world cuisines....
s, including
zure zult (
head cheeseHead cheese or Brawn is a cold cut originating from Europe. Head cheese is in fact not a cheese, but meat pieces from the head of a calf or pig , in aspic, with onion, black pepper, allspice, bayleaf, salt and/or vinegar. It may also include meat from the feet, tongue and heart...
) or stewed pears (
stoofperen). Due to the influx of other countries traditional meals have lost some popularity. Stamppot is traditionally eaten in winter.
If there is a
starterAn entrée is one of several savoury courses in a Western-style formal meal service, specifically a smaller course that precedes the main course...
, it is usually soup. The final course is a sweet dessert, traditionally
yoghurtYoghurt or yogurt is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. Fermentation of lactose produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yoghurt its texture and its characteristic tang...
with some sugar or
vlaVla is the name of two Dutch food products. One is a pie, called vla in the south, whence it originates, but more commonly known as vlaai. The other is a type of custard .-Vla custard:...
, thin milk pudding (cooked milk with custard).
The below listed meals have historic origins as meals for common laborers. In the 17th to 19th century workers worked 10 to 16 hours on farms or in factories in unheated rooms, hence these meals are very heavy on calories and fat and were meant to replenish a laborer's energy. Nowadays meals like
Hutspot and
Stamppot, while considered a bit oldfashioned, are still often enjoyed by the Dutch.
Well-known Dutch dishes are:
- Hutspot
Hotchpotch is a dish of boiled and mashed potatoes, carrots and onions with a long history in traditional Dutch cuisine.-History of the dish:...
, made with potatoes, carrots, and onions served with meats like rookworstRookworst is a type of Dutch sausage in which ground meat is mixed with spices and salt and stuffed into a casing. Originally the casing used was a natural intestine, but these days the casing is usually made of bovine collagen. Rookworst is a traditional ingredient in stamppot.Contrary to what...
(smoked sausage), slow-cooked meat, or baconBacon is a cured meat prepared from a pig. It is first cured in a brine or in a dry packing, both consisting largely of salt; the result is fresh bacon . Fresh bacon may then be further dried for weeks or months , boiled, or smoked. Fresh and dried bacon must be cooked before eating...
. This is a legacy of the Spanish invaders, who, according to legend, left a pot of this stew behind in their abandoned trenches when the town of LeidenLeiden is a city and municipality in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands and has 118,000 inhabitants. It forms a single urban area with Oegstgeest, Leiderdorp, Voorschoten, Valkenburg, Rijnsburg and Katwijk, with 254,000 inhabitants. It is located on the Old Rhine, close to the cities...
, which they had been besiegingThe Siege of Leiden occurred during the Eighty Years' War in 1573 and 1574, when the Spanish attempted to capture the rebellious city but ultimately failed.- Background :...
, was liberated in 1574 – so this hutspot was one of the first foods its starving inhabitants found. Before potatoes were introduced in Europe hutspot was made from parsnipThe parsnip is a root vegetable related to the carrot. Parsnips resemble carrots, but are paler than most of them and have a stronger flavor. Like carrots, parsnips are native to Eurasia and have been eaten there since ancient times...
s, carrots, and onions.
- Stamppot rauwe andijvie, raw endive
Endive , Cichorium endivia is a leaf vegetable belonging to the daisy family. Endive can be cooked or used raw in salads.Endive is also a common name for some types of chicory . There is considerable confusion between Cichorium endivia and Cichorium intybus...
mashed with hot potatoes, served with diced fried speckSpeck is a distinctively juniper-flavored ham originally from Tyrol, a historical region that since 1918 partially lies in Austria and partially in Italy...
(a kind of bacon).
- Hete bliksem (literally Hot Lightning), boiled potatoes and green apples, served with "stroop" (syrup
In cooking, a syrup is a thick, viscous liquid, containing a large amount of dissolved sugars, but showing little tendency to deposit crystals. The viscosity arises from the multiple hydrogen bonds between the dissolved sugar, which has many hydroxyl groups, and the water...
) or tossed with diced speck
- Zuurkoolstamppot, sauerkraut
Sauerkraut is finely shredded cabbage that has been fermented by various lactic acid bacteria, including Leuconostoc, Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus. It has a long shelf-life and a distinctive sour flavor, both of which result from the lactic acid that forms when the bacteria ferment the sugars in...
mashed with potatoes. Served with fried bacon or a sausage. Sometimes curryCurry is a generic description used throughout European and American culture to describe a general variety of spiced dishes, best known in Asian cuisines, especially South Asian cuisine...
powder, raisins or slices of pineapple are used to give a stamppot an exotic touch.
- Boerenkoolstamppot, curly kale
Kale or borecole is a form of cabbage , green or purple, in which the central leaves do not form a head. It is considered to be closer to wild cabbage than most domesticated forms. The species Brassica oleracea contains a wide array of vegetables including broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, and...
mixed with potatoes, served with gravy, mustard, and rookworstRookworst is a type of Dutch sausage in which ground meat is mixed with spices and salt and stuffed into a casing. Originally the casing used was a natural intestine, but these days the casing is usually made of bovine collagen. Rookworst is a traditional ingredient in stamppot.Contrary to what...
sausage. This dish, boerenkool met rookworst, (which could be translated literally as farmers cabbage with smoked sausage), is made of mashed potatoes mixed with cabbage and it is usually eaten with smoked sausage. 'Boerenkool met worst' is one of the oldest and most popular Dutch dishes. Boerenkool was mentioned in cookbooks from the year 1661. 1661 mashed potatoes were not used in this dish yet, although the sausage was already served with the cabbage in this dish. The dish became popular after a few bad corn-seasons when potatoes became popular as food.. Boerenkool contains a lot of carbohydrates, which makes it a popular meal for cold winter days.
Another dish served at the dinner table is a very thick pea soup, called
snert and it can be served either as a main dish or as an appetizer.
SnertSnert can refer to:*Hägar the Horrible's dog, Snert*Dutch pea soup...
is a popular nickname for what in Dutch is really called
erwtensoep. Traditionally eaten in wintertime.
ErwtensoepPea soup is soup made, typically, from dried peas. It is, with variations, a part of the cuisine of many cultures. It is greyish-green or yellow in color depending on the regional variety of peas used; all are cultivars of Pisum sativum....
has a very thick consistency and often includes pieces of pork and sausage, and is almost a stew rather than a soup. A Dutch saying about
erwtensoep says: "You should be able to stand a spoon upright in a good pea soup”. It is customarily served with
roggebrood (rye bread) spread with butter and topped with cheese slices. The meat may also be put on the rye bread and eaten with mustard.
Meat dishes include
gehaktballen meatballA meatball is a ball of ground meat where the meat is rolled into a ball along with other ingredients, such as bread or breadcrumbs, minced onion, various spices, and possibly eggs, rolled together by hand, and cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce.There are many kinds of...
s,
slavinkSlavink is a Dutch meat dish consisting usually of ground meat called "half and half" wrapped in bacon , and cooked in butter or vegetable oil for about 15 minutes. A variation of the dish called blinde vink is made by wrapping ground veal in a thin veal cutlet...
, minced meat wrapped in bacon,
balkenbrijBalkenbrij is a traditional Dutch cuisine. It is made of stock left over from the making of sausages like liverwurst, boiled with flour and bacon and mainly other various cuts of the animal like liver, kidney and lungs, all of which are cooked, ground, then cooked again with flour or...
, a type of
liverwurstLiverwurst, is an anglicisation of the German Leberwurst , literally meaning "liver sausage"...
and
meatloafMeatloaf is a meat dish consisting of ground meat , which is formed into a loaf shape and baked or smoked...
. The
gravyGravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. The gravy may be further coloured and flavoured with gravy salt or gravy browning or ready-made cubes and powders can be used as a substitute for natural meat or vegetable extracts...
in which the meat is cooked is also served. A variant of this, eaten around the
IJsselmeerIJsselmeer is a shallow lake of 1100 km² in the central Netherlands bordering the provinces of Flevoland, North Holland and Friesland, with an average depth of 5 to 6 m. It is named after the IJssel river that drains into it via a smaller lake, the Ketelmeer...
(a shallow lake in the central Netherlands), is
butter en eek, where
vinegarVinegar is an acidic liquid processed from the fermentation of ethanol in a process that yields its key ingredient, acetic acid. It also may come in a diluted form. The acetic acid concentration typically ranges from 4 to 8 percent by volume for table vinegar and higher concentrations for pickling...
is added to the gravy.
Another Dutch dinner dish is
pannenkoeken (a Dutch variant of pancakes), which come in several varieties including
poffertjesPoffertjes are a traditional Dutch batter treat. Poffertjes look like fluffy pancake pillows, but they are often made with a raising agent and the batter is usually of a more runny consistancy. In contrast with pancakes, poffertjes are small yet much thicker and have a light, spongey texture....
(miniature pancakes) and
spekdik (a Northern variant with
baconBacon is a cured meat prepared from a pig. It is first cured in a brine or in a dry packing, both consisting largely of salt; the result is fresh bacon . Fresh bacon may then be further dried for weeks or months , boiled, or smoked. Fresh and dried bacon must be cooked before eating...
).
Wentelteefjes (
French toastFrench toast is a breakfast food in North America, Europe, Bermuda, and a Christmastime dessert in Brazil. Typical French toast is made with bread and eggs. Milk or sugar is commonly added. According to what is popular in local cuisine, many of the spices that are added to bread or egg dishes are...
) are similar.
Broeder, a type of cake, is also eaten for dinner, mainly in
West FrieslandWest Friesland is a contemporary region in the northwestern Netherlands, in the province of North Holland.The region covers an area of about 800 km², delineated by the Westfriese Omringdijk...
.
In season,
Mosselen (
musselThe common name mussel is used for members of several families of clams or bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, which are often more or less rounded or oval.The...
s) are quite populair and commonly served with
Friet / patat (chips).
Desserts often include
vlaVla is the name of two Dutch food products. One is a pie, called vla in the south, whence it originates, but more commonly known as vlaai. The other is a type of custard .-Vla custard:...
(milk pudding).,
puddingPudding most often refers to a dessert, but can also refer to a savory dish in some dialects.In the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth countries, pudding refers to rich, fairly homogeneous starch- or dairy-based desserts , or, informally, is used to refer to any dessert...
, or
yoghurtYoghurt or yogurt is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. Fermentation of lactose produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yoghurt its texture and its characteristic tang...
. Regional variants include
broodpap, breadpudding made from old bread, milk, butter and sugar.
Other puddings are
griesmeelpudding,
grutjespap,
Haagse bluf,
Hangop,
Jan in de zak,
Karnemelksepap,
Rijstebrij (
rice puddingRice pudding is a dish made from rice mixed with water or milk and sometimes other ingredients. Different variants are used for either desserts or dinners. When used as a dessert, it is commonly combined with a sweetener.-History:...
),
KrentjebrijKrentjebrij is a Groningan / North-Drenthe name for a traditional soup or porridge-like dessert with berries that is generally eaten cold. It is also known as watergruel or krintsjebrij in Friesland...
and
Watergruwel.
Today Dutch dinners and the Dutch cuisine is often heavily influenced by foreign cuisines. Dishes such as Italian pastas, Indonesian meat and rice dishes, Mexican enchiladas, and Swiss cheese fondue are commonly encountered on the Dutch dinner table and on the menus of local restaurants. The Indian and Japanese cuisine seem to be rising in popularity.
Special occasions
On special occasions, usually different types of pastries are eaten.
When a baby is born in a family, the young parents traditionally serve their guests
beschuit met muisjesBeschuit met muisjes is the traditional food served to celebrate the birth of a baby in the Netherlands, though they also are eaten regularly outside of birth celebrations....
(Dutch
ruskA rusk is a rectangular, hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread . It is sometimes used as a baby weaning food. In the UK, the name also refers to a food additive...
covered with sugared aniseed).
The Dutch festival of
Sinterklaas||-||-||-||-||-||-||}Sinterklaas and Saint Nicolas in French) is a traditional Winter holiday figure in the Netherlands, Aruba, Netherlands Antilles and Belgium, celebrated every year on Saint Nicholas' eve or, in Belgium, on the morning of December 6...
(dedicated to
Saint NicholasSaint Nicholas is the common name for Nicholas of Myra, a saint and Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nicholas the Wonderworker...
, celebrating his name day) is held on the 5 December. Saint Nicholas, leaves gifts in the children’s shoes. On this occasion, the Dutch drink hot chocolate milk and eat spice cookies, like
speculaasSpeculaas is a type of shortcrust biscuit , traditionally baked for consumption on St Nicholas' Eve in the Netherlands and Belgium . In recent years it has become available all year round...
. These special pastries are said to be distributed by Saint Nicholas aide
Zwarte PietIn the folklore and legends of the Netherlands and Flanders, Zwarte Piet is a companion of Saint Nicholas whose yearly feast in the Netherlands is usually on the evening of 5 December In the folklore and legends of the Netherlands and Flanders, Zwarte Piet (meaning Black Pete) is a companion...
; and they include
pepernotenthumb|right|Pepernoten Pepernoten are a cookie-like kind of candy, traditionally associated with the Sinterklaas holiday in the Netherlands and Belgium....
(gingernut-like biscuits but made with cinnamon, pepper, cloves and nutmeg mix of spices),
boterletter (a baked pastry crust filled with an sugared
almond pasteAlmond paste is made from ground almonds or almond meal and sugar, typically 50-55%, with a small amount of cooking oil, beaten eggs, heavy cream or corn syrup added to bind the two ingredients...
filling and shaped into a letter), letters made from chocolate,
marzipanMarzipan is a confection consisting primarily of sugar and almond meal.It derives its characteristic flavor from bitter almonds, which constitute 4% to 6% of the total almond content by weight. Some marzipan is also flavored with rosewater...
,
borstplaat (discs of
fondantPoured fondant is a cream confection used as a filling or coating for cakes, pastries, and candies or sweets. In its simplest form, it is sugar and water cooked to the soft-ball stage, cooled slightly, and stirred or beaten until it is an opaque mass of creamy consistency. Sometimes lemon is added...
); and several other types of spiced cookies:
taai-taai and
kruidnoten and
banketstaaf made from
almond mealAlmond meal or almond flour is made from ground sweet almonds. Almond flour is usually made with blanched almonds , whereas almond meal can be made both with whole or blanched almonds...
.
Christmas in the Netherlands is a typical family holiday. Traditionally there is family brunch with "
KerststolKerststol is a traditional Dutch oval-shaped fruited Christmas bread loaf.-The pastry:The pastry is made of yeast-bread dough with dried fruits, raisins and currants, lemon and orange zest, water, milk, butter, sugar, vanilla, brandy and cinamon....
" (fruited raisinbread; often filled with
almond pasteAlmond paste is made from ground almonds or almond meal and sugar, typically 50-55%, with a small amount of cooking oil, beaten eggs, heavy cream or corn syrup added to bind the two ingredients...
). Christmas dinner is also a family occasion where roast pork, game or other luxury meat may be served. An alternative typical Dutch tradition for Christmas meals is 'gourmet', when people sit together around a gourmet-set (small table top methanol burner with miniature frying pans) and use their own small frying pans to cook different types of meats,
fishA fish is any aquatic vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins...
prawns/shrimps and finely chopped vegetables accompanied by salads, fruits and sauces.
On New Year's Eve, Dutch houses smell of the piping hot oil used to prepare
oliebollen,
appelflappen and
appelbeignets (battered apple rings) in deep-fat fryers. These yeast dough balls, either plain or filled with glacé fruits, pieces of apple and raisins and
sultanasThe sultana is a type of white, seedless grape of Turkish, Greek or Iranian origin. In some countries, especially Commonwealth countries, it is also the name given to the raisin made from it; such sultana raisins are often called simply sultanas or sultanis. These are typically larger than the...
, are served with powdered sugar and are a special treat for New Year's Eve. The Dutch also took their oliebollen to America, where they are now known in a slightly different form as
doughnutA doughnut is a sweet, deep-fried piece of dough or batter. The two most common types are the torus-shaped ring doughnut and the filled doughnut, a flattened sphere injected with jam, jelly, cream, custard, or other sweet filling. A small spherical piece of dough may be cooked as a doughnut hole...
s. In Limburg nonnevotte are sometimes served during New Year's Eve, although it is mostly eaten during Carnaval
On birthdays all kinds of cakes and cookies are eaten, including appeltaart (
apple pieAn apple pie is a fruit pie in which the principal filling ingredient is apples. It is sometimes served with whipped cream on top...
), Bossche bol, dikke koek, cream cake, Fryske dumkes, gevulde koek (cookies filled with almond meal), Groninger koek, Janhagel, Ketelkoek, Kindermanstik, Knieperties, Krakeling, Krentenwegge, Kruidkoek, Limburgse vlaai, Ouwewijvenkoek, peperkoek (
gingerbreadGingerbread is a sweet that can take the form of a cake or a cookie in which the predominant flavors are ginger and raw sugar.-History:Gingerbread was brought to Europe by the Crusaders....
), Rijstekoek,
SpekkoekSpekkoek is a Dutch-Indonesian layered cake. It was developed during colonial times in the Dutch East Indies and may have been based on Dutch cake recipes using local ingredients....
(from Indonesia), Sprits, Tompouce, Trommelkoek, Bitterkoekjes, Kletskop and
StroopwafelStroopwafels are thin Dutch waffles with a syrup filling. They were first made in Gouda in the Netherlands, in 1784...
.
Poffertjes are tiny puffed pancakes served on special occasions, served warm with melting butter and
powdered sugarPowdered sugar, also known as confectioner's sugar or icing sugar, is very fine powdered sugar. When intended for home use, it typically contains a small amount of anti-caking agent....
on top. They are mostly combined with a drink: milk, chocolate milk or yoghurt drink. Cafeterias all around Holland sell poffertjes. Dutch people call such a restaurant a poffertjeskraam. Poffertjes can be eaten as a dessert after dinner or as a sweet lunch.
Sweets
A famous Dutch sweet is
zoute drop, salty liquorice and liquorice sweets. These sweets are small, black and look much like gums. The four types of
drop are soft sweet, soft salt, hard sweet and hard salt drop.
Drop can be bought in shops and pharmacies and has a medical function as it helps to cure throat and stomach aches. Dutch
drop is sold in a large variety of shapes and forms.
Drop can be either sweet or salty (or very salty). It is sometimes flavoured with coconut fondant (
Engelse drop or English
drop ), honey (
honingdrop ), mint (
muntdrop ), salmiak (
salmiakdropSalty liquorice, salmiak or salmiakki is a variety of liquorice that contains a relatively large amount of ammonium chloride in addition to the liquorice root extract, sugar, and starch or gum arabic that constitute normal liquorice...
), or laurel (
laurierdrop). Typical shapes are diamonds, ovals, oblongs and coins. Honeycomb shape for honeydrop are also familiar. Some manufacturers have introduced speciality ranges where the
drop is made in thematic shapes, such as cars (
autodrop), farm animals and farm machines, rys (
boerderijdrop), etc.
Another popular Dutch sweet is the
StroopwafelStroopwafels are thin Dutch waffles with a syrup filling. They were first made in Gouda in the Netherlands, in 1784...
("stroop" meaning syrup). A thin wafer made typically in a pizelle pan is sliced horizontally and sandwiched with a light caramel syrup, the stroop. Occasionally crushed hazelnuts will be mixed with the stroop, and the wafers may be spiced with cinnamon.
Chocolate
In 1828, Coenraad Johannes van Houten developed the first cocoa powder producing machine in the Netherlands. When he returned to England, he brought the recipe with him, introducing milk chocolate to Europe. The powder much like the instant cocoa powder used today was easier to stir into milk and water, and led to another very important discovery: solid chocolate. and making powdered cocoa and cocoa butter. Van Houten also developed the so-called Dutch process of treating chocolate with alkali to remove the bitter taste. By using cocoa powder and low amounts of cocoa butter, bar chocolate was then possible to manufacture.
Droste is today one of the main Dutch chocolate brands.
Alcoholic drinks
Wine plays only a modest role in Dutch cuisine, but there are many brands of
beerBeer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cereal grains—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize , and rice are widely...
(mainly
lagerLager is a type of beer that is stored for at least three weeks before being served. It is a general term that includes several variations or styles, such as Pilsener, Export and Märzen.-History of lager brewing:...
) and strong alcoholic liquor. The most famous
Dutch beerBeer in the Netherlands is known for the pale lagers, especially Heineken and Grolsch, which are exported globally. Grolsch is the leading import lager in the United Kingdom...
producers are Heineken in the west and Grolsch in the east. Traditionally Noord-Brabant and Limburg had a strong beer tradition, with many different types of beer (not unlike Belgium). However in the 20th century big brewers took over many of the small time breweries or offered them a license to sell their beer brand, while stopping their own production. Also a variety of bitters where
BeerenburgBeerenburg is a Frisian alcoholic drink, made by adding herbs to jenever. It has an alcohol percentage of around 30%. The original Beerenburg was made halfway through the 19th century with a secret mixture of spices of the Amsterdam spice merchant Hendrik Beerenburg, to whom it owes its name.Soon...
is the most famous. Strong liquors include
JeneverJenever , is the juniper-flavored and strongly alcoholic traditional liquor of the Netherlands, Belgium and Northern France , from which gin evolved...
(gin) and Brandewijn (
brandyBrandy is a spirit produced by distilling wine, the wine having first been produced by fermenting grapes. Brandy generally contains 36%–60% alcohol by volume and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink...
), but also kandeel (made from white wine), Kraamanijs (a liquor made from aniseed), Oranjebitter (a type of orange brandy, which is served on festivities surrounding the royal family),
advocaatAdvocaat is a rich and creamy liqueur made from eggs, sugar and brandy. It has a smooth, custard-like flavor. In English-speaking countries it generally contains 15% alcohol , but in Continental Europe the typical alcohol content differs from country to country and is generally somewhere between...
, Boerenjongens,
raisinRaisins are dried grapes. They are produced in many regions of the world, such as Armenia, the United States, Australia, Chile, Argentina, Macedonia, Mexico, Greece, Syria, Turkey, India, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, China, Afghanistan, Togo, and Jamaica, as well as South Africa and Southern and...
s in brandewijn, Boerenmeisjes,
apricotThe Apricot is a species of Prunus, classified with the plum in the subgenus Prunus...
s in brandewijn.
Fast food
The Dutch have their own types of
fast foodFast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly. While any meal with low preparation time can be considered to be fast food, typically the term refers to food sold in a restaurant or store with low quality preparation and served to the customer in a packaged form...
. A Dutch fast-food meal often consists of a portion of
french friesFrench fries , fries, or french-fried potatoes are thin strips of deep-fried potato...
(called friet or patat) with a sauce and a meat product. The most common sauce to accompany French fries is
mayonnaiseMayonnaise is a thick condiment. White or yellowish-white in color, it is a stable emulsion of oil, salt and vinegar, or lemon juice which uses egg yolks as an emulsifier...
, while others can be
ketchupKetchup , also known as tomato ketchup, tomato sauce, red sauce, Tommy sauce, Tommy K, or dead horse, is a condiment, usually made from tomatoes...
or spiced ketchup,
peanut saucePeanut sauce, satay sauce, bumbu kacang, or sambal kacang is a sauce widely used in Indonesian cuisine, Malaysian cuisine, Thai cuisine, Vietnamese cuisine, and Chinese cuisine...
or a pickle relish of chopped vegetables and spices, like
piccalilliPiccalilli is a relish of chopped pickled vegetables and spices; regional recipes vary considerably.-British piccalilli:British piccalilli contains various vegetables— invariably cauliflower and vegetable marrow —and seasonings of mustard and turmeric. It is used as an accompaniment to...
. Sometimes the French fries are served with a combinations of different sauces, most famously
speciaal (special): mayonnaise with spiced ketchup and chopped onions; and
oorlog (literally "war"): mayonnaise and peanut sauce with chopped onions.
The meat is usually deep fried; this includes the
frikandelA frikandel is a Dutch snack, a sort of minced-meat hot dog,
(a deep fried skinless minced meat sausage), and the kroket (deep fried meat ragout covered in breadcrumbs).
A smaller version of the kroket, the
bitterbalBitterballen are a savoury Dutch meat-based snack, typically containing a mixture of beef , beef broth, flour and butter for thickening, parsley, salt and pepper. This is also called ragout. Some recipes also include nutmeg and/or curry powder. The ingredients are combined and cooked, then...
, is often served with mustard as a snack in bars and at official receptions. Regional snacks include eierbal (a combination of egg and
ragoutThe term ragout refers to a main-dish stew. The basic method of preparation involves slow cooking over a low heat...
) in the North and East, and Brabants
worstenbrood, a sausage baked in bread (similar to the English
pigs in a blanketPigs in a blanket refers to a few different sausage-based foods in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Russia, Canada and Japan...
.
Other snacks are the Indonesian-inspired bamihap (deep-fried
mee gorengMee goreng is a dish famous in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. It is made with thin yellow noodles fried with onion, fried tofu, chili, vegetables, tomatoes, and egg. It is commonly available at mamak stalls in Singapore & Malaysia and is often spicy.-External links:* *...
in breadcrumbs) and nasibal (deep-fried
nasi gorengNasi goreng, literally meaning "fried rice" in Indonesian and Malay, can refer simply to fried pre-cooked rice, to a meal including fried rice accompanied with other items, or to a more complicated fried rice, typically spiced with tamarind and chilli and including other ingredients, particularly...
in breadcrumbs). In Limburg French fries are sometimes ordered with the traditional Limburgian dish
Zuurvlees, a type of sour meat (traditionally horse meat, now often cow meat), this is called
frietje zuurvlees.
Another kind of fast food is fish. This includes raw
herringHerring are relatively small oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Two species of Clupea are currently recognized, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring , each of which may be...
, which is sold in markets and eaten (often with chopped onions and
gherkinThe gherkin is a fruit similar in form and nutritional value to a cucumber. Gherkins and cucumbers belong to the same species , but are different cultivar groups....
), by lifting the herring high in the air by its tail, and eating it upwards, or (less messily) on a bun. Other regular fish snack are Kibbeling (deep-fried nugget-sized chunks of
codThe Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua, is a well-known demersal food fish belonging to the family Gadidae. It is also commercially known as Cod, Codling or Haberdine ....
), Lekkerbek (deep-fried cod, similar to the British
Fish and chipsFish and chips is a popular take-away food which originated in the United Kingdom. It consists of deep-fried fish in batter or breadcrumbs with deep-fried chipped potatoes.Popular tradition associates the dish with the United Kingdom; and fish and chips remains very popular in the UK and in...
), smoked
eelTrue eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 19 families, 110 genera and approximately 600 species. Most eels are predators...
, and
rollmopsThe word rollmops refers to a pickled herring fillet rolled into a cylindrical shape around a piece of pickled gherkin or an onion. The rollmops is held together with one or two small wooden skewers....
.
Regional cuisines
Although the Dutch cuisine is quite unified at present, typical regional specialities still exist:
Groningen
GroningenGroningen is the northeasternmost province of the Netherlands. In the east it borders the German state of Niedersachsen , in the south Drenthe, in the west Friesland and in the north the Wadden Sea...
is the northernmost province of the Netherlands and borders the
Wadden SeaThe Wadden Sea is an intertidal zone in the southeastern part of the North Sea. It lies between the coast of northwestern continental Europe and the range of Frisian Islands, forming a shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands. It is rich in biological diversity...
. In the coastal region, especially around the Lauwersmeer area, they use a lot of
fishA fish is any aquatic vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scales, and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins...
and shrimps. The village of
ZoutkampZoutkamp is a town in De Marne, Groningen in the Netherlands. It is the site of a ground station of the Dutch Nationale SIGINT Organisatie , which intercepts satellite communications much like the U.S. National Security Agency....
is the largest shrimp "producer" in Europe. Since, too, Groningen has a small colonial history, cloves are very common in the Groningan cuisine. Groningan
meatballA meatball is a ball of ground meat where the meat is rolled into a ball along with other ingredients, such as bread or breadcrumbs, minced onion, various spices, and possibly eggs, rolled together by hand, and cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce.There are many kinds of...
s, beef dishes and the typical
metworst are all seasoned with cloves.
The greater part of Groningen is rural, which makes potatoes and meat the main food of the province. Even though potatoes are seen as the main food in the Netherlands, in Groningen meat is more prominent. Dishes without potatoes are more common than dishes without meat. Typical Groningan dishes use
Groninger mosterd (Groningan Mustard) as
stip (
gravyGravy is a sauce made often from the juices that run naturally from meat or vegetables during cooking. The gravy may be further coloured and flavoured with gravy salt or gravy browning or ready-made cubes and powders can be used as a substitute for natural meat or vegetable extracts...
). Groningan mustard can also be found in a regional mustard soup. Most common vegetables are
beansThe common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, is an herbaceous annual plant domesticated independently in ancient Mesoamerica and the Andes, and now grown worldwide for its edible bean, popular both dry and as a green bean. The leaf is occasionally used as a leaf vegetable, and the straw is used for fodder....
, black beans,
kaleKale or borecole is a form of cabbage , green or purple, in which the central leaves do not form a head. It is considered to be closer to wild cabbage than most domesticated forms. The species Brassica oleracea contains a wide array of vegetables including broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, and...
(Gronings:
mous) and
peasP.E.A.S. is an acronym in artificial intelligence that stands for Performance, Environment, Actuators, Sensors.-Environment:The environment in which the agent operates. They are the described with the following main properties:...
which are also included in the most famous Dutch soup with a Groningan variation,
snert (pea soup).
Bakery is one of Groningen's specialities. The typical
Groninger koek (Groningan cake) is known in the entire country. One of the most famous of the cakes is the
oalwievenkouk (old lady's cake). Other famous dishes are
poffert (the Groningan variation of
GugelhupfA Gugelhupf or Kugelhupf is a southern German, Austrian, Swiss and Alsatian term for a type of cake. As with the Jewish dish kugel, the name "Gugelhupf" is related to the Middle High German word Kugel meaning "ball" or "globe"...
),
spekdikken (rye pancakes with
speckSpeck is a distinctively juniper-flavored ham originally from Tyrol, a historical region that since 1918 partially lies in Austria and partially in Italy...
and
metworst) and
nijjoarsrollechies (rolls of the new year) which are sweet rolled cookies which are called
kniepertjes and which also can be found in
DrentheDrenthe is a province of the Netherlands, located in the north-east of the country. The capital city is Assen. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and Germany to the east.-History:Drenthe, unlike many other parts of the Netherlands, has been a...
and
OverijsselOverijssel is a province of the Netherlands in the central eastern part of the country. The region has a NUTS classification of NL21. The province's name means "Lands across river IJssel". The capital city of Overijssel is Zwolle and the largest city is Enschede...
. Groningen is also known for its
rye breadPumpernickel is a type of very heavy, slightly sweet rye bread traditionally made with coarsely ground rye. It is now often made with a combination of rye flour and whole rye berries. It has been long associated with the Westphalia region of Germany. The first written mention of the black bread of...
(
brood in
GroningsGronings, in the language itself called Grunnegs or Grönnegs, is a collective name for some Friso-Saxon dialects spoken in the province of Groningen and around the Groningen border in Drenthe and Friesland. Gronings and the strongly related varieties in East-Frisia have a strong Frisian influence...
; while regular (wheat) bread is called
(waaite) stoede). Until the 19th century rye bread was the main food in the province.
The city of Groningen knows a speciality called
mollebonen which are salted fried beans. In the late Middle Ages this was one of the Hanze specialities of the city and in the surrounding areas the citizens of Groningen had
mollebonen as their nickname because they used the beans as voting materials in the council.
Groningen is also called
land of jeneverJenever , is the juniper-flavored and strongly alcoholic traditional liquor of the Netherlands, Belgium and Northern France , from which gin evolved...
, which is the "national" beverage of the province.
Friesland
Just like Groningen,
FrieslandFriesland is a province in the north of the Netherlands and part of the bigger region known as Frisia. In order to distinguish it from the other Frisian regions, it is commonly specified as Westerlauwer Frisia, Westerlauwer Friesland, West Frisia or West Friesland...
(or
Fryslân) is a coastal province with a lot of rural areas.
PotatoThe potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species. Potatoes are the world's fourth largest food...
dishes are most common, as well as fish being a coastal areas. The landscape of Friesland consists primarily of grass lands with grazing cows. The production of
dairy productDairy products are generally defined as foodstuffs produced from milk. They are usually high-energy-yielding food products. A production plant for such processing is called a dairy or a dairy factory. Raw milk for processing generally comes from cows, but occasionally from other mammals such as...
s is one of the largest industries of Friesland. The dairy brand
Friesche Vlag (English:
Frisian Flag) is one of the most prominent dairy brands in the Netherlands. Beside
milkMilk is an opaque white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It provides the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. The early lactation milk is known as colostrum, and carries the mother's antibodies to the baby. It can reduce...
,
flanCream Caramel, flan, or caramel custard is a rich custard dessert with a layer of soft caramel on top, as opposed to crème brûlée, which is custard with a hard caramel top....
and
yoghurtYoghurt or yogurt is a dairy product produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. Fermentation of lactose produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to give yoghurt its texture and its characteristic tang...
, cheese also has Frisian varieties, like
nagelkaas, cheese seasoned with
cloveCloves are the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae. Cloves are native to Indonesia and India and used as a spice in cuisine all over the world...
, sometimes including carraway.
Friesland and Groningen have once been one single region, which causes many resemblances between both provinces. One of these culinary resemblances are cakes. Goningen has its
Groninger koek, Friesland has
Friese kruidkoek (Frisian ginger cake) and the
Friese fruitkoek (Frisian fruits cake) are the typical cakes of Friesland. Also
oranjekoeke (orange cake),
Fryske dúmkes (Frisian thumbs) and
sûkerbôle (sugar bread) are quite famous in the entire country. Just like in Groningen,
rye breadPumpernickel is a type of very heavy, slightly sweet rye bread traditionally made with coarsely ground rye. It is now often made with a combination of rye flour and whole rye berries. It has been long associated with the Westphalia region of Germany. The first written mention of the black bread of...
was the main food until the 19th century. Nowadays Frisian rye bread is seen as the regular rye bread. A popular snack in the north of the Netherlands is small pieces of rye bread with a piece of
herringHerring are relatively small oily fish of the genus Clupea found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Two species of Clupea are currently recognized, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring , each of which may be...
.
The most famous alcoholic drink of Friesland is
BeerenburgBeerenburg is a Frisian alcoholic drink, made by adding herbs to jenever. It has an alcohol percentage of around 30%. The original Beerenburg was made halfway through the 19th century with a secret mixture of spices of the Amsterdam spice merchant Hendrik Beerenburg, to whom it owes its name.Soon...
. In Friesland there are 11 historical cities. Every city has its own alcoholic speciality. During the
ElfstedentochtThe Elfstedentocht is a speed skating competition and leisure skating tour held irregularly in the province of Friesland, Netherlands....
(
journey of eleven cities), some people who skate from city to city want to obtain all of those alcoholic specialities when they are in the specific city.
Drenthe, Overijssel and Gelderland
The provinces
DrentheDrenthe is a province of the Netherlands, located in the north-east of the country. The capital city is Assen. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen to the north, and Germany to the east.-History:Drenthe, unlike many other parts of the Netherlands, has been a...
,
OverijsselOverijssel is a province of the Netherlands in the central eastern part of the country. The region has a NUTS classification of NL21. The province's name means "Lands across river IJssel". The capital city of Overijssel is Zwolle and the largest city is Enschede...
and
GelderlandGelderland is a province of the Netherlands, located in the central eastern part of the country. The capital city is Arnhem. The two other major cities, Nijmegen and Apeldoorn have more inhabitants. Other major regional centers in Gelderland are Wageningen, Ede, Zutphen, Doetinchem, Harderwijk,...
are part of the Saxon cultural area. Gelderland south of the
RhineThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
, the
BetuweBetuwe is an area in the Netherlands in the province of Gelderland. Tacitus knew it as Insula Batavorum and indeed it could be considered a large river island, but nowadays it hardly ever is viewed as such Betuwe is an area in the Netherlands in the province of Gelderland. Tacitus knew it as...
, does not belong to this area. The area is known for its agricultural character and ridges of hills like the
VeluweThe Veluwe is a forest-rich ridge of hills in the province of Gelderland in the Netherlands. The Veluwe features many different landscapes including woodland, heath, some small lakes and Europe's largest sand drifts....
crossing the land. In these regions lamb is very popular. In the other areas
beefBeef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle . Beef is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of Australia, Europe and America, and is also important in Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia...
and
porkPork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig . The word pork often denotes specifically the fresh meat of the pig, but can be used as an all-inclusive term which includes cured, smoked, or processed meats It is one of the most-commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig...
are the most used types of meat.
A typical type of dish from this part of the Netherlands is
stamppotStamppot is a traditional Dutch dish made from a combination of potatoes mashed with one or several other vegetables, sometimes also with bacon. These vegetable pairings traditionally include sauerkraut, endive, kale, or carrot and onion . It is usually served with sausage or stewed meat...
. This a mix of potatoes, a type of vegetable, for example
kaleKale or borecole is a form of cabbage , green or purple, in which the central leaves do not form a head. It is considered to be closer to wild cabbage than most domesticated forms. The species Brassica oleracea contains a wide array of vegetables including broccoli, cauliflower, collard greens, and...
(
moos or
moes) and a type of sausage, which is mostly eaten during winter time. Typical sausages from this area are
rookworstRookworst is a type of Dutch sausage in which ground meat is mixed with spices and salt and stuffed into a casing. Originally the casing used was a natural intestine, but these days the casing is usually made of bovine collagen. Rookworst is a traditional ingredient in stamppot.Contrary to what...
(smoked sausage) and
Drentse kosterworst. Stamppot became well known in the entire Netherlands, that some people see it as the national dish of the entire country.
The center of this area, called
SallandSalland is a historical region in the west and north of the present Dutch province of Overijssel. It is probably named after the Salian Franks, who are thought to originate from Salland.-History:...
, is known for the production of
cold cutCold cuts is a term that refers to cheeses or precooked or cured meat, often sausages or meat loaves, that are sliced and usually served cold on sandwiches or on party trays. They can be bought pre-sliced in vacuum packs at a supermarket or grocery store, or they can be purchased at a delicatessen...
, such as
hamHam is the thigh and rump of pork, cut from the haunch of a pig or boar. Although it may be cooked and served fresh, most ham is cured in some fashion. Cuts referred to as ham in the U.S. are also called gammon in the U.K. and Ireland.-China:...
and
boterhamworst. In the east, a region called
TwenteTwente is a non-administrative region in the eastern Netherlands, probably named after the Tuihanti, a tribe that settled in that region in the beginning of our era.Twente contains the most urbanised and easterly part of the province of Overijssel...
,
neagelhoolt is a speciality. This is specially seasoned and saltened (originally done to conserve it) beef which people hang next to a fire place to dry.
A speciality from the whole area is
ZwiebackZwieback is a type of crispy, sweetened bread, made with eggs and baked twice. It is sliced before it is baked a second time, which produces crispy, brittle slices that closely resemble melba toast....
,
beschuit in Dutch and
twiebak in
Low SaxonLow Saxon may refer to:*In political of territorial respect:**Of or relating to Lower Saxony**Of or relating to Saxe-Lauenburg**Of or relating to Lower Saxon Circle*In linguistic respect:**Any West Low German speech variety...
. This is twice baked bread with a round or butterbrot shape. Also
krentenbrood, breads or rolls with
currantsThe Zante currant is a variety of small, sweet, seedless grape named after Corinth and the Ionian island of Zakynthos and not to be confused with the original currants which are berries of shrubs in the Ribes genus and are in a different family altogether...
, are popular in this area, as well as
Oberländer and Twentish rye bread.
North Holland, South Holland, Utrecht and Betuwe
The provinces of
North HollandNorth Holland is a province situated on the North Sea in the northwest part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is Haarlem and its largest city is Amsterdam.-Geography:...
,
South HollandSouth Holland is a province situated on the North Sea in the western part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is The Hague and its largest city is Rotterdam.-History:...
,
UtrechtUtrecht is the smallest province of the Netherlands, and is located in the center of the country. It is bordered by the Eemmeer in the north, Gelderland in the east, the river Rhine in the south, South Holland in the west, and North Holland in the northwest...
and the Gelderlandic region of
BetuweBetuwe is an area in the Netherlands in the province of Gelderland. Tacitus knew it as Insula Batavorum and indeed it could be considered a large river island, but nowadays it hardly ever is viewed as such Betuwe is an area in the Netherlands in the province of Gelderland. Tacitus knew it as...
are the parts of the Netherlands which regional identity has spread to become a stereotype of the whole Dutch cuisine. A reason for this could be that it is the central part of the country. This results in the fact that most foreigner see the regional products from this part of the country as typically
DutchThe Netherlands is a country in Northwestern Europe, constituting the major portion of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east...
, while the Dutch themselves see them as
HollandRotterdam
The Hague
Haarlem
Dordrecht |} Holland is a name in common usage given to a region in the western part of the Netherlands. The name 'Holland' is also often informally used to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands...
ic. The central role of this area causes national acceptance of the products from this area.
The most famous product from Holland is the
Hollandse nieuwe (Hollandic new one or
soused herringThe term soused herring usually refers to a cooked herring. The herring can be baked in the marinade or fried and then soaked in it. It is served cold...
), which is caught in the north of region. It is eaten with the hands while holding at the tail, above your mouth and eat it from the bottom to the tail. Usually small pieces of onions are served with it. The west and the south of the region also border the sea, which are famous of their
musselsThe blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, is a medium-sized edible marine bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae.-Distribution:Blue mussels are found on the North Atlantic coast of North America, Europe, and in other temperate and polar waters around the world....
. The center and the east is known for its flat grass lands. Just like in Friesland, a lot of dairy products are made there, but the most famous products are the semi-hard cow milk cheeses. Among the most prominent cheeses are
GoudaGouda is a yellow cheese made from cow's milk. The cheese is named after the city of Gouda in the Netherlands, but its name is not protected. Gouda cheese is made and sold all around the world.-Production:...
(from the region near the city of Gouda, and not to be confused with foreign copies),
Leidse opleggerLeyden cheese, known as komijnekaas or Leidse kaas in Dutch, is a spiced cheese made in the Netherlands from partly skimmed cow's milk.It is made both in factories and on farms, historically in the Leiden area....
(spiced cheese with caramin, cumin or cloves), Edam (parafin coated small spheres) as well as more recent high quality cheeses such as
LeerdammerLeerdammer is a Dutch semi-hard cheese made from cow's milk. It has an aging time of around 3–12 months.It has a creamy white texture and was made to be similar in appearance and flavor to Emmental, but it is rounder in taste. It has a sweet and somewhat nutty flavour that becomes more pronounced...
and
BeemsterBeemster is a municipality in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Also, the Beemster is the first so-called polder in the Netherlands that was reclaimed from a lake, the water being extracted out of the lake by windmills. The Beemster Polder was dried during the period 1609 through...
.
The Zaanstreek in
North HollandNorth Holland is a province situated on the North Sea in the northwest part of the Netherlands. The provincial capital is Haarlem and its largest city is Amsterdam.-Geography:...
is known for its mayonaise and mustard, while West Friesland, the region north of the Zaanstreek, is known for its
Jodenkoek (Jewcookie). The Betuwe, the region around the large rivers in Gelderland, is known for its fruits and
marmeladeMarmelade is a town and former duchy in the Artibonite Department of Haïti. It is the chief town of the Marmelade Arrondissement, which also includes the commune of Saint Michel de l'Attalaye.Marmelade is the home town of Président René Préval...
s.
Zeeland
The name
ZeelandZeeland , also called Zealand in English and Zeelandic, is a province of the Netherlands. The province, located in the south-west of the country, consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg...
(Dutch:
Zeeland) means
land of the sea, which explains the regional speciality: sea food. In the Netherlands, Zeeland is known for its
musselsThe blue mussel, Mytilus edulis, is a medium-sized edible marine bivalve mollusc in the family Mytilidae.-Distribution:Blue mussels are found on the North Atlantic coast of North America, Europe, and in other temperate and polar waters around the world....
,
eelsThe European eel, Anguilla anguilla, is a species of eel, a snake-like, facultatively catadromous fish. They can reach in exceptional cases a length of 1½ m, but is normally much smaller, about 60–80 cm, and rarely more than 1 m....
,
oysterThe word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....
s and shrimps. Most restaurants in Zeeland serve freshly caught fish. Typical Zeelandic dishes in restaurants are
filled lobster and
mussel soup.
Popular vegetables in Zeeland are
leekThe leek, Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum , also sometimes known as Allium porrum, is a vegetable which belongs, along with the onion and garlic, to the Alliaceae family...
s and
beansThe common bean, Phaseolus vulgaris, is an herbaceous annual plant domesticated independently in ancient Mesoamerica and the Andes, and now grown worldwide for its edible bean, popular both dry and as a green bean. The leaf is occasionally used as a leaf vegetable, and the straw is used for fodder....
. Another popular vegetable was
zeekraal until picking them was forbidden late 20th century because it menaced to become extinct.
The producer
Zeeuws Meisje (Zeelandic girl) is the most famous producer of
butterButter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications such as baking, sauce making, and frying...
producs in the Netherlands. This is one of the specialties of the province. Other Zeelandic specialities are Zeelandic butter cookie (
Zeêuwse rondjes), and
bolus, which actually originates from Jewish bakers on the islands of Zeeland.
North Brabant
North BrabantNorth Brabant is a province of the Netherlands, located in the south of the country, bordered by Belgium in the south, the Meuse River in the north, Limburg in the east and Zeeland in the west.- History :...
is the Dutch part of the medieval
duchy of BrabantThe Duchy of Brabant was a historical region in the Low Countries. It consisted of not only the three modern-day Belgian provinces of Flemish Brabant, Walloon Brabant and Antwerp as well as the Brussels-Capital Region, but also the present-day Dutch province of North Brabant.In Roman times, Brabant...
. The other part is
BelgianThe Kingdom of Belgium is a country in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts its headquarters, as well as those of other major international organizations, including NATO...
. Both Dutch part and Belgian part still share their culture and cuisine. A typical Brabantian dish is
HacheeHachee is a traditional Dutch stew based on diced meat, fish or bird, and vegetables. Hachee based on beef, onions and acid is a typical example of traditional Dutch cuisine and particularly of Brabantish cuisine. Clove and bay leaves are added to the thick gravy...
,a stew of onions,
beefBeef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle . Beef is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of Australia, Europe and America, and is also important in Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia...
and a thick gravy, usually served with potatoes or rice and
red cabbageThe red cabbage is a sort of cabbage, also known as Red Kraut or Blue Kraut after preparation....
. Although hachee is a famous beef dish,
porkPork is the culinary name for meat from the domestic pig . The word pork often denotes specifically the fresh meat of the pig, but can be used as an all-inclusive term which includes cured, smoked, or processed meats It is one of the most-commonly consumed meats worldwide, with evidence of pig...
is most used in Brabant. Brabant is famous for its breeding of pigs and the fields of
cornMaize , is a herbaceous plant domesticated in Mesoamerica and subsequently spread throughout the American continents...
.
LeekThe leek, Allium ampeloprasum var. porrum , also sometimes known as Allium porrum, is a vegetable which belongs, along with the onion and garlic, to the Alliaceae family...
is another popular vegetable in Brabant.
The most famous Brabantian bakery is the Bossche bol, a cakelike ball filled with cream and a coating of chocolate. It is a very popular pastery in cafes in the cities (
's-Hertogenbosch's-Hertogenbosch — translated in French as Bois-le-Duc, in German as Herzogenbusch, in Spanish as Bolduque and in Italian as Boscoducale — is a municipality in the Netherlands, and also the capital of the province of North Brabant...
,
EindhovenEindhoven is a municipality and a city located in the province of Noord-Brabant in the south of the Netherlands, originally at the confluence of the Dommel and Gender streams...
,
BredaBreda is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The name Breda derived from brede Aa and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. As a fortified city, the city was a strategic military and political significance...
,
TilburgTilburg is a landlocked municipality and a city in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of Noord-Brabant.Tilburg municipality also includes the villages of Berkel-Enschot and Udenhout....
).
The people from Brabant consider the Brabantian
hotdogHotDog is the name of the HTML web editing tool developed by Sausage Software in the mid-1990s. At the time of its development, there were only a small number of HTML editors available on the market and HotDog gathered significant interest from web users due to its ease of use and "What you see...
, a roll with a sausage of
ground beefBeef mince, ground beef or hamburger meat , or mince meat is a ground meat product, made of beef finely chopped by a meat grinder. It is used in many recipes including hamburgers and cottage pie.-Contents:In many countries, food laws define specific categories of ground beef and what they can...
, as the typical Brabantian speciality. In the provincial capital of
's-Hertogenbosch's-Hertogenbosch — translated in French as Bois-le-Duc, in German as Herzogenbusch, in Spanish as Bolduque and in Italian as Boscoducale — is a municipality in the Netherlands, and also the capital of the province of North Brabant...
every year there is a battle of who can make the best
Brabants worstenbroodje.
Limburg
Limburg-Low countries:Limburg is a region of Europe that straddles the border between Belgium and The Netherlands. It has a history dating back to Roman times...
is a little different compared to the rest of the Dutch provinces. The landscape is hilly (while the rest of the Dutch landscape is cultivated and flat) and the locally spoken language could be said to be a separate language rather than a dialect of Dutch.
This different landscape provides the Limburgish cuisine with a lot of
gameA game is a structured activity, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more concerned with the expression of ideas...
meat, especially in the hunting season.
Only the north of the province is quite flat and is the largest
asparagusAsparagus officinalis is a flowering plant species in the genus Asparagus from which the vegetable known as asparagus is obtained. It is native to most of Europe, northern Africa and western Asia...
producing area of the Netherlands. In Limburg the asparagus is so popular in the spring season that it is also called
queen of vegetables. Asparagus are traditionally eaten with
hamHam is the thigh and rump of pork, cut from the haunch of a pig or boar. Although it may be cooked and served fresh, most ham is cured in some fashion. Cuts referred to as ham in the U.S. are also called gammon in the U.K. and Ireland.-China:...
, hard boiled
eggsAn egg is a round or oval body laid by the female of any number of different species, consisting of an ovum surrounded by layers of membranes and an outer casing, which acts to nourish and protect a developing embryo and its nutrient reserves...
, boiled potatoes and butter sauce.
BeefBeef is the culinary name for meat from bovines, especially domestic cattle . Beef is one of the principal meats used in the cuisine of Australia, Europe and America, and is also important in Africa, East Asia, and Southeast Asia...
is the most used meat in Limburg. A popular Limburgish beef dish is
Tête de veaux, beef with mushrooms and a tomato based sauce.
The most famous dish from Limburg is
vlaaiVlaai is a pie or tart consisting of a pastry and filling. Originally Vlaai was created in Weert, Limburg and is therefore also known as Weertervlaai. It is a typical product from the southern regions of the Netherlands, but nowadays generally available all through the country and in parts of...
, a large round pie, filled with marmalade. It is so characteristic for the province that the common name for
vlaai is
Limburgse vlaai.
Limburg also has a lot of
beerBeer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cereal grains—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize , and rice are widely...
brands. Some breweries in Limburg are Lindeboom, Brand, Gulpener, Christoffel, Leeuw, Hertog Jan and Alfa. Many of these breweries use water from the
Meuse RiverThe Meuse , is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...
, which flows through the entire length of the province.
Vegetarianism
VegetarianismVegetarianism is the practice of following a diet based on plant-based foods including fruits, vegetables, cereal grains, nuts, and seeds, with or without dairy products and eggs. Vegetarians do not eat meat, game, poultry, fish, crustacea, shellfish, or products of animal slaughter such as...
is fairly common in The Netherlands, with about 5 percent of the Dutch population not eating any meat or fish. Around 22 percent of the Dutch call themselves 'part-time vegetarians' and abstain from eating fish or meat a few days a week. As a result meat substitutes are popular, with an annual growth of around 25%.
VeganismVeganism is a diet and lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Vegans endeavor not to use or consume animal products of any kind. The most common reasons for becoming a vegan are ethical commitment or moral conviction concerning animal rights,...
is uncommon in the Netherlands.
External links