And now for something completely different: Dutch Food

When it comes to Dutch food I think we have the most infamous reputation around. There are not much Dutch restaurant around that serve you with the Dutch staples and when people have heard about Dutch food they hear that it is often mashed together, bland, tasteless and weird.

To start of with the mashing. Yes there are several dishes that involve mashing pottatos and vegetables together. These are called Stamppot (mash pot) or Hutspot (mix pot)The stamppot comes in many forms and is often named {vegetable name} stamppot (or -stamp). The Hutspot comes in two basic variants. The normal one is potato, carrot and onions and then there is Leidse hutspot which has the addition of white beans and parsnip. Depending on the what people like, the potato purée can be made smooth or still a bit lumpy in most cases the same goes for the vegetables.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="366"] Stamppot with raw curly endive baked pork belly bits and gravy[/caption]

Here is the recipe for above dish

Another thing we are famous about is our Herring, not so much the fish itself, it is eaten in many countries. No we are famous because of the way we eat it. If you ever come to the Netherlands and want to eat a Herrin do the following

1. when ordering order a cleaned one but not cut to bite sized pieces. You want the two filets with only the tail left on


2. have it sprinkled with diced onions, some people like a crack of black pepper but personally I don't care.


3. Take your plate in one hand (you will get a small rectangular piece of carton as plate in most cases)


4. grab the herring by the tail


5. Tilt your head backward and open your mouth


6. Hold your herring above your mouth and slowly drop it down, when a fifth in (half for advanced eaters) take the bite


7. Take the rest of your Herring and slowly drag it back and forth across the onions that have dropped onto your plate/carton and repeat step 5, 6 and 7 till the herring is finished .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLwT6klu8MY

Since the Dutch always have been a sea-faring nation we went all around the world a long time ago and instead of taking our food with us (you don't need winter foods in the tropics) we took a lot home with us. Among the staples of Dutch home cooking you can find things like Bahmi (Indonesian noodle dish) and Nasi (Indonesian Rise dish), Macaroni, Lasagna and other Italian pasta dishes and Chili con Carne. However they have all been "Dutchiefied" (yep, less heat, less herbs, other vegetables etc etc)

Another thing is our liquorice. We love the stuff and there are many sorts. But don't think about comparing it to the sweets with the name you get in the USA or Australia for example. The Dutch liquorice is called drop is 9 out of 10 times black or brown and can be either salt, double salt, sweet or bitter-tasting. Also herbs like laurel or things like sal ammoniac can be used as flavoring.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDFTyRDSG-U

There are several english websites around with Dutch recipes, give it a try you might like the food after all.