28 In Amsterdam/ Delft/ Europe/ Expat Life/ Netherlands/ Rotterdam

Delicious Dutch (or not!)

I grew up as a very, and i mean VERY fussy eater. I would hate the texture, smell and even just the look of most foods. But over the years I have improved drastically and these days I still shock my parents with what I now love to eat. Moving to the Netherlands has definitely put me to the test with trying what the Dutch have to offer.

Crunchy Meat-based ball – “Bitterballen”

When I first tried a bitterballen for the first time, I thought it was absolutely disgusting. Biting into a fried crunchy ball with soft meat inside that had been dipped in mustard. It was burning hot and my tastebuds were going crazy at the idea that I was even trying it!

I think around the 5th time of trying it (as well as waiting till it was not burning hot!) I started liking them. Even going back to the mustard for an extra dip! It’s not something I eat often, but if I’m out for an afternoon at a nice bar or cafe then they are a perfect snack with a beer. You cannot come to the Netherlands without trying them!

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Caramel Waffels – “Stroopwaffels”

These delicious caramel/cinnamon waffled biscuits are to die for. You can buy them in the supermarkets as a pack of little biscuits, but the best way to try it is fresh, which are also made more than twice the size. We used to buy one to share on the way to the shops in Rotterdam.

stroopwafel

The little ones are good, as you can warm them up on the top of your cup of tea at home, but biting into a large warm biscuit with caramel oozing out the middle while visiting the market is way more dutch. Perfect to eat all year round too.

Cheese – “Kaas”

How to start this? I love cheese. I eat cheese toasties, cheesy pasta, cheese on pancakes (with bacon) and grated cheese on food such as cauliflower or courgette for dinner. I eat too much cheese. In England I would eat rich strong cheddar all the time, but in the Netherlands that same cheese is three times expensive! These days I’m eating ‘jong kaas’ which is just mild cheese, or occasionally their ‘oud kaas’ which is their stronger/older cheese.

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One thing I still need to visit is Gouda on a Thursday morning (June to August) when up to 300 farmers bring their cheese weighed, tasted, and priced. However I have been to De Goudse Waag cheese museum, which was good for a rainy day to learn the history and machinery used in making gouda cheese.

Chips – “Patat”

Chips are very popular to eat when walking around the market, grabbing some chips on the go as you shop for your fruit and veg (or if you are too lazy to cook and you walk to the snack bar for dinner!). The Netherlands have some very strange combinations though and I definitely don’t like them all!

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The most popular is patat mayo, basically chips that you drown with mayonnaise on top. If your feeling adventurous, some raw sliced up onions on top is delicious. Another is patat oorlog, which translates to chips war. The sauces are practically at war with each other to be eaten first. The sauces are mayonnaise and peanut sauce and it includes chopped raw unions on top. There are also others including ketchup, mustard and curry too, but for now i’ll just stick to mayonnaise.

Mini Pancakes – “Poffertjes”

These mini pancakes “poffertjes” are usually served with a thick layer of icing powder and a pile of butter, which slowly melts on top. During the winter months they are delicious with a cup of hot chocolate. During the summer months it’s delicious to add some fresh fruit, as it makes a great combination of warm pancakes and cold fruit. My favourite is with strawberries!!

Thursday 6th August 2015 (1)

I took this photo of my poffertjes at Seth Poffertjes. They are definitely not the healthiest treat to eat in Rotterdam but perfect to eat on a sunny afternoon! During the summer period it’s always a challenge to get a seat here so good luck!

Pancakes in general are popular in the Netherlands, with hundreds of combinations too. A recommendation from me: A large pancake with bacon, cheese and syrup… Mmmmm!

Herring – “Haring”

This is a popular treat for those who love fish. It is to be eaten raw and often with chopped onions (occasionally pickles too). The traditional Dutch way to eat it is to hold one end above you and bite into the other end.

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haring

This is something I extremely AVOID. I hate fish and I am glad Lennart doesn’t like fish either, so I never have to cook it!

Chocolate Sprinkles – “Hagelslag”

When I first saw these in the supermarket I knew what they were due to having them back in England to decorate cakes with. Being placed next to the jam, peanut butter and nutella it wasn’t exactly the cake making section. Well that was exactly where they belonged because the Dutch eat them in a sandwich or on some toasted bread! Popular for breakfasts and lunch.

My best breakfast combination of hagelslag is on some round crackers “beschuit” with butter and some strawberries.

10413933_676413115746784_2065284304_nI could really go on with other Dutch treats as there is quite a list. Here’s some extra:

  1. Oliebol (round donuts with raisins covered in icing powder served only for New Years)
  2. Drop (liquorish sweets, with loads of different combinations like with mint or honey)
  3. Appeltaart (Apple pie is very very popular, especially if you buy the best apple pie in the Netherlands from Dudok)
  4. Stamppot (Fresh potatoes mashed together with ingredients like endive and bacon)
  5. Tompouce (a puff pastry cake filled with pastry cream and icing on top)
  6. Vla (a cold custard pudding in many flavours like chocolate and vanilla)
  7. Speculaas and Pepernoot (spiced shortcrust biscuits served only during November when the Dutch Santa “Sinterklaas” arrives)
  8. Kapsalon (a full calorie meal mostly served at snack bars. In the tin you get a layer of chips, then meat, then cheese and on top some salad. Mostly served with garlic sauce and sambal)
  9. Erwtensoep (This is pea soup thats very popular in winter, okay you can likely get soup like this in every country, but you can also get soups with mini meatballs here, yum!)
  10. Kaassoufflé (a yummy cheesy fried snack thats covered in breadcrumbs and filled with melting cheese)

Any more I have missed off my list?? Add a comment below!

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28 Comments

  • Reply
    theycallmemrstibbs
    26th March 2016 at 6:29 pm

    I actually have started loving some dutch foods. Especially stroopwaffels, hutspot and appelgebakt.

    • Reply
      zoetogetherintransit
      26th March 2016 at 6:35 pm

      Ooh yummy! I’m still not a big fan of appelgebakt but my partner loves it, i always make strawberry kwarktaart.

      • Reply
        theycallmemrstibbs
        26th March 2016 at 6:35 pm

        I’m allergic to strawberries 😔

  • Reply
    Carole elliott
    26th March 2016 at 7:07 pm

    All sounds yummy to me. And fattening😜☺️

    • Reply
      zoetogetherintransit
      26th March 2016 at 7:17 pm

      Sure is!! Xx

  • Reply
    anupriyabasu123
    15th June 2017 at 6:10 pm

    This is an interesting article since I am a big foodie! I wasn’t aware of many of these. Just curious, why don’t you like fish? As in, I can’t even eat raw fish, but there are some Indian and Chinese preparations I completely devour!

    • Reply
      Zoe | Together In Transit
      15th June 2017 at 6:16 pm

      I always try new dishes but fish is just something that I have never liked. I’ll keep my mind open!

  • Reply
    Eva
    23rd November 2017 at 8:41 pm

    I am alltheopposite of a picky eater and would probably love everything haha 😀 A friend of mine is obsessed with poffertjes, for some reason I never came across those when I visited the NL. I am in love with the fries. I love mayo. I don’t understand why in so many countries they don’t serve mayo with fries, but ketchup. I prefer mayo so much more, and my heart is happy when I get fried with mayo in the NL or in Italy. Sweden sadly doesn’t have that, they’re a ketchup country 🙁

    • Reply
      Zoe | Together In Transit
      23rd November 2017 at 8:43 pm

      Good to know about Sweden then if I ever visit haha! Poffertjes sure are good, but I eat them rarely! Last time I ate them was with ice cream and strawberries but my favourite is with nutella now!

  • Reply
    Hazel
    25th November 2017 at 8:48 am

    This has made my mouth water, these all look so good! Looks worth the visit for some mini doughnuts alone!

    • Reply
      Zoe | Together In Transit
      25th November 2017 at 9:01 am

      Haha yes it sure is!

  • Reply
    Joanna Davis
    25th November 2017 at 10:08 am

    Your post made me so hungry! I will be going to Rotterdam next year for a week and I am looking forward to trying out all of the treats you’ve wrote about. The mini pancakes will definitely be on my list!

    • Reply
      Zoe | Together In Transit
      25th November 2017 at 3:14 pm

      So glad to hear you liked it (and made you hungry!). There are definitely some treats on the list worth trying! Hope you have an awesome time here when you visit!

  • Reply
    Anya Carion
    25th November 2017 at 11:11 am

    Oh my goodness I’ve heard so much about stroopwafels and I feel like I need to try them now! And I loveeee the sprinkles! I actually used to eat that all the time as a kid!

    • Reply
      Zoe | Together In Transit
      25th November 2017 at 3:16 pm

      Not sure where you are based in the World, but the supermarket Lidl sometimes sells stroopwaffels, though they are never as good as the warm freshly made ones!

      • Reply
        Anya Carion
        26th November 2017 at 12:00 pm

        Oh my goodness definitely checking the local Lidl!!!

  • Reply
    Sarah
    25th November 2017 at 2:04 pm

    Stroopwafels and bitterballen are my favorites (although I can totally understand why you were initially a little weirded out by the latter). I recently had a sweet treat called hoorn (I think) which were lace cookies stuffed with creme and topped with chocolate (looked like a mini chocolate covered ice cream cone). Mmmm it was delicious.

    • Reply
      Zoe | Together In Transit
      25th November 2017 at 6:16 pm

      Sounds yummy! I’ll have to take a look around and see if I see any here! If it has chocolate in it then I’m already sold!!

  • Reply
    Christina Guan (@happy2wander)
    25th November 2017 at 4:36 pm

    Omg I love all these things, especially stroopwafels (they’re my soulmate). The only exception is herring, which I haven’t mustered up the courage to try yet hahah.

    • Reply
      Zoe | Together In Transit
      25th November 2017 at 6:16 pm

      Haha well I wouldn’t recommend it personally, but always good to try something at least once! 😉

  • Reply
    Page_Traveller
    25th November 2017 at 5:53 pm

    Haha! I tried bittenballen when I visited two years or so ago. Need to try the rest though! Thanks for sharing!

    • Reply
      Zoe | Together In Transit
      25th November 2017 at 6:17 pm

      Thanks for commenting! There sure is quite a lot to try so it’s definitely worth another visit 😉

  • Reply
    Practical Wanderlust (@practicalwander)
    26th November 2017 at 12:49 am

    OMG, this made me SO hungry. I love Dutch food!!

    • Reply
      Zoe | Together In Transit
      26th November 2017 at 9:05 am

      Hehe time to treat yourself!

  • Reply
    thewonderer86
    16th January 2018 at 2:39 pm

    I thought for ages I wouldn’t like herring but when I tried it I loved it!

    • Reply
      Zoe | Together In Transit
      16th January 2018 at 7:47 pm

      You sure do have a better taste than I do! Even the smell still puts me off haha!

  • Reply
    Carole elliott
    8th February 2018 at 4:31 pm

    But do you still avoid tomatoes? I like the sound of everything on your list, but sounds fattening as well!

    • Reply
      Zoe | Together In Transit
      8th February 2018 at 4:33 pm

      Hehe I eat tomatoes nearly every day in my salads these days!! The rest sure is sugary/fattening so I only eat them as a treat 🙂

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