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Dutch cuisine is characterized by its somewhat limited diversity, however it varies greatly from region to region. The southern regions of the Netherlands for example share dishes with Flanders and visa versa. Dutch food is traditionally characterised by the high consumption of vegetables when compared to the consumption of meat. Diary products are also eaten to great extent, Dutch cheeses are world renowed with famouse cheeses such as Gouda, Edam and Leyden. Dutch pastry is extremely rich and is eaten in great quantities. When concerning alcoholic beverages wine has traditionally been absent in Dutch cuisine, instead there are many brands of beer and strong alcoholic liquor such as Jenever and Brandewijn.
Typically
Milk and black tea are drunk in great quantities at the Dutch breakfast and lunch table, coffee being reserved for the koffietijd at ten o'clock in the morning to start with. Dutch thrift led to the famouse 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 trade-mentality and protestant upbringing. At three o’clock in the afternoon it is teatime, though often coffee is drunk at this time of the day. Traditionally, in most households dinner is served at about 6 o’clock. The average Dutch meal is constituted by boiled or baked potatoes, boiled vegetables and stewed meat, including gravy.
Influences
The Dutch have always been open to foreign influences in their cuisine, and from the 16th century onwards all sorts of spices from all over the world were introduced into the Dutch kitchens. In this way some foreign dishes, for example the spicy Indonesian --Indonesia being a former colony of the Netherlands-- dish Nasi Goreng of rice with chicken or pork, is long considered to be part of the Dutch cuisine.
Ingredients
Dutch cuisine uses locally grown vegetables, such as these:
- potatoes
- green beans
- carrots
- Belgian endive (witlof)
- tomatoes
- onions
- Mushrooms
Common fruits include:
Meats commonly consumed include:
Horse meat is available from special butcher stores, but few people consume it.
Seafood commonly consumed includes:
Traditional
Some typical Dutch wintertime dishes, for which Dutch cuisine is probably most famous, are peasoup, and hutspot, a legacy of the Spanish invaders, who left a pot of hutspot on a fire outside the sieged town of Leiden in 1683, when the water rose to their teeth and they fled. Hutspot was originally made of parsnips (later replaced by carrots), potatoes and onions.
Special occasions
Other dishes are only consumed when certain festivities are taking place like Sinterklaas on the evening of the 5th of December.Sinterklaas rides the Dutch roofs on his white horse and accompanied by his black helper Zwarte Piet who carries pepernoten (like gingernut biscuits but made with cinnamon, pepper, cloves and nutmeg mix of spices) with him in heavy bags full of presents. Sinterklaas also gives each Dutch child the first letter of their name made of chocolate.
On New Year's Eve Dutch houses smell of piping hot oil deepfryers in which oliebollen and appelringen (battered apple rings) get fried. These yeast dough balls, filled with glacé fruits, pieces of apple and raisins and sultanas, are the treat for the evening to come and are served with icing sugar.
Pastry
The Dutch have all sorts of cookies, the word "cookie" is in fact derived from Dutch many of them filled with marzipan, almond and chocolate. The traditional and heavier coffee snack is peperkoek known in English as gingerbread. Apart from cookies, a truly huge amount of different pies and cakes can be found, most notably in the southern provinces.
Some Dutch dishes
| Main Dish | Dessert | Pastry | Other | Traditional Drinks |
External links
Dutch cuisine Niederländische Küche | Nederlanda kuirarto | Gastronomía de los Países Bajos | Nederlandse gerechten van A tot Z
"Dutch cuisine"