|
The first things you think about when you hear about The Netherlands ( also called Holland) are Tulips, Windmills, Cheese and Wooden Shoes. So let's talk about food. A New Years treat in Holland, oliebollen are basically deep fried balls of dough full with raisins and covered with powdered sugar. Very rich but good! Then there are the ever present Patates Frites. OK, in America we have french fries too. But not as good as the Dutch variety. You can buy them from stalls along the road (friet kraampjes). They come plain or with a variety of condiments, like mayonaise, relish, tomato ketchup. Try a hearty winter fare: Erwtensoep. Split pea soup thick and tasty with hamhock or slices of smoked sausages. Or Hutspot, a dish of mashed potatoes, carrots and onions, accompanied by bacondrippings. Other 'heavy' stuff: Stamppot ( mashed potatoes with cabbage or sauerkraut ). With the arrival of the repatriants from the former Dutch East Indies - now Indonesia- the Dutch embraced the Indonesian kitchen.  Another Dutch favorite is Nieuwe Haring. Raw herring fillets dipped in diced onions and swallowed practically whole. Preferably washed down with an ice cold shot of Jenever (Gin) At the beginning of the Herring season, you can see many a Dutchman at a herring stall, his head thrown back, mouth wide open, lowering a herring by its tail down the gullet! I did not participate in that practice, prefering pannekoeken (pancakes) poffertjes (another kind of doughey fritter) and above all fresh baked bread, still warm on the inside with a crisp crust and nothing but a thick cover of farm fresh butter!!!! On the corner of our street was a bakery and I can still rember the smell of bread coming out of the oven wafting thru the store. I also rembered being stung by a bee there, but that is another story. NEXT>>>> |