When you think about the Netherlands and sweet, you may come up with things like Stroopwafels, Hagelslag or Vla (a post on that one soon!).

I am talking about a sweet treat that is eaten with warm dinner. It is more of a side. Especially with potatoes. Yes, those yellow roots we eat. In the Netherlands, you eat them with appelmoes (apple sauce). You can also eat it with fries, on pancakes… Whatever you prefer! But the Dutch like it much 🙂

Now, of course you know apple sauce. But the way it is eaten in the Netherlands, appears to be quite unusual.

Zuurvlees and patat with a side of mayonnaise and appelmoes (image by Don Pedro de Carrion de los Condes ! at Flickr.com)

My grandmother’s favorite is peeled, cooked potatoes with appelmoes. I like it myself a lot too – the fresh, cool taste of it with the hot potatoes is a great combination!

Also, many different varieties of appelmoes exist in the Netherlands. There is pure appelmoes, which is without any added sugar, just as sweet as the apples itself. Then there is appelmoes Light, which is the sauce with less sugar, and sometimes added apple juice. Another version is appelcompote, which is basically appelmoes that is not sieved too fine, and contains pieces of apple. Also, there is Oma’s appelmoes (grandma’s apple sauce), which is apple sauce with some added kaneel (cinnamon), which is especially nice in the winter months. As you can see, the different kinds of appelmoes you can get are endless.

The way appelmoes is made is simply peeled apples, which are cooked, sugared, and mashed. And then sieved. Sometimes they are sieved multiple times to make the appelmoes finer.

Do you like apple sauce? Is it eaten in your country?

What do you eat it with? Let me know!