Eating out in Netherlands
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Dutch Dishes
Dutch cuisine isn’t particularly interesting compared to the food served in Italy or Spain. Nevertheless, once you're visiting the country, it's good to know what the Dutch dishes are like. The most traditional dish is Hutspot – mashed potatoes with onions and carrots – which dates back to the 18th Century. Another popular Dutch course is the thick Erwtensoep, or pea soup, which is usually served in the winter, contains pieces of meat and is very nutritious. Luckily for Dutch cuisine, it has been influenced by immigrants and new ingredients brought to the country from the colonies. Rijsttafel, for example, is a dish inspired by Indonesian cooking.
It's a classic soup of Dutch and Belgian cuisine, made of fish, vegetables including carrots, leeks and potatoes, herbs, eggs, cream and butter. Although it is very popular in Belgium, its name is Dutch and means 'watery mess'.
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Stroopwafels, in English 'syrup waffles', are thin waffles with syrup filling. They come from city of Gouda from 18th and 19th century. Story tells that they were invented by a baker using leftovers from the bakery, such as crumbs, which were...
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Those are traditional Dutch cookies, originally prepared for St Nicholas Eve, December 5. They are very crunchy, thin and most important – have some image stamped on one side. The name delivers from the Latin word
speculum, which means...
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Sometimes referred to as Dutch doughnut,
Oliebollen is a traditional Dutch food eaten at New Year's Eve and funfairs. They are small doughnuts formed with spoon and fried in deep oil.
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Poffertjes are a traditional Dutch batter treat. They are pretty similar to pancakes, but in contrast with them
poffertjes are turned before one side is completely done, which makes them much softer inside. They are not hard to...
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Typical for Dutch cuisine, this dish consists of boiled and mashed potatoes, carrots and onions. It origins date to the 1574, when fleeing Spanish army left lots of potatoes behind after the siege of Leiden. Today hutspot is base for different kinds...
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Erwensoep or Pea Soup is emblematic of Dutch cuisine. Usually eaten during winter it has a very thick consistency, includes pork and sausage. One source says 'You should be able to stand a spoon upright in a good pea soup.' So it's even more...
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This strongly connected with Indonesia word means literally 'rice table' and consists of rice and variety of side dishes such as meat, vegetables, nuts, fish, poultry and many many more, often very spicy. Sometimes in restaurant they serve no less...