Like every country, Holland has a cuisine of its own. We’ll introduce some snacks and candy you can get in the Netherlands that are particularly weird for people not familiar with Holland.
Frikadel Speciaal:
The frikadel is a kind of snack sausage. The ingredients are all sorts of left over meat, from intestines to brain. Eaten together with mayonnaise, ketchup and onions, you can get this in every snackbar. Even though it might not sound that tasty, it is really popular among the Dutch!
Herring with onions:
This is raw herring that is fermented in chopped onions. Fresh from the sea, you can usually buy it in stalls outside in different places in the city, or in fish stores. The tradition of how to eat it is holding the fish by its tail between your middle finger and thumb, lean back and let it slide in your mouth.
Drop:
This candy is often bought by the kilo. It’s a sweet that is available in different tastes. It can be really salty, so if you are not used to this type of candy it is a good idea to start with the sweet ones!
Poffertjes:
These are tiny pancakes, with a diameter nearby one inch. It’s served with a lot of butter and powdered sugar. It is a good snack when it’s cold outside, sometimes sold in stalls on the street or in pancake restaurants.
Speculaas:
These cookies are sold in different shapes, but the most traditionally Dutch one is speculaas in the shape of a windmill, sold in every supermarket. They have an unusual taste, that comes from a combination of the multiple spices used. Dutch people have made a habit out of dipping the cookie in their coffee.
Comments:
Ellen:
Voor mij is het niet vreemd, alleen nostalgisch, wish to get some real haring met uitjes, and Frikandel met ketchup, mayo en uitjes.
noortje:
Ik begrijp het compleet!
Gert:
Hi Noortje, In the text of this posting you mention “frikadel” with the description of “frikandel”. Because this site is about Dutch, I think it is interesting to make a difference. Frikadel is a kind of meatball, generally eaten in Belgium and Germany, where it is called “Frikadelle”. The “frikandel” is the snack sausage you wrote about. I know: what’s in a name 🙂
noortje:
Ah, I didn’t know that. Thanks for the update!
Renaat:
Wat verveelend dat je stroopwafels helemaal bent vergeten!!!!!
Mark:
The ingredients you describe for a frikandal are a commen myth. Frikandel is not made of brain and kidneys. Dutch people don’t like intestinens.
Tascha:
The Ingredients for Frikandel are completely wrong. Kinda sad you didn’t do your rsearch on that. I can understand not mentioning stroopwafels as you can also buy those in the UK and a lot of starbucks stores all over the world sell them too but what about Haagse Hopjes? Hutspot? Kroketten? There is so much more that should be on this list.
Sten:
@Tascha https://blogs.transparent.com/dutch/patatdag-dutch-and-fried-food/ check out this updated post that provides a new list of ingredients, that is right. Also, keep track with the food videos “Food With Alessia”, which are all about Dutch foods too.
Edwin:
The Hering in not fermented in onions but in ” pekel” salt. You eat it together with onions and mostly also with pickle.