International Cooking: Food from the Netherlands

I was looking forward to this week for a few reasons. I am a quarter Dutch, and I also had some idea of the type of food I would get to eat—namely, lots of potatoes! My Reddit post didn’t pass Reddit’s filters for some reason, and since this happened with my last post as well, I was worried I was under some kind of shadow ban. But I’ve posted three more times since then with no issues so I guess it was just a coincidence. It does mean I didn’t have as much help as I’d hoped when working out what to make this week, but luckily I was able to get some recipes from my sister’s Dutch friend Kevin, which I really appreciate.

The Netherlands, informally known as Holland, is a Northwestern European country. It also has territories in the Caribbean. The name ‘Netherlands’ means ‘lower countries’ which refers to the low, flat land, 26% of which is below sea level.

The region has been inhabited since ancient times, but it was during the 16th century that the Dutch Golden Age began and the country became one of the most powerful and influential in the world. During this period, the Netherlands established colonies and trading posts all over the world.

Today, the Netherlands is densely populated yet still one of the world’s largest exporters of food and agricultural products. This is due to the country’s fertile soil, mild climate, intensive agriculture, and inventiveness.

The Netherlands has a long record of social tolerance, with a strong economy. Although the city of Amsterdam is the capital, it could be argued that The Hague is more important as it is the host of the country’s primary political institutions as well as international courts.

What Do People Eat in the Netherlands?

Traditional Dutch cuisine includes lots of dairy products, due to the availability of water and flat grassland. Other Dutch staples include sausages, rye bread, fish (often smoked or pickled), and root vegetables such as potatoes.

The Dutch were heavily involved in the spice trade in the 17th and 18th centuries. This included coffee and chocolate, leading to the development of Dutch process chocolate. This process involves processing cocoa to reduce its natural acidity, and it is the basis of a lot of modern chocolate.

Dutch dishes show influences from neighboring countries, but also some of the country’s former colonies, in particular Indonesia. Many types of Indonesian food are popular, and some aspects, such as satay and sambal sauces, are used to add something extra to more traditional or simple dishes.

What I Made

• Hutspot (Mashed Potato, Carrot, and Onion)
• Hachee (Beef and Onion Stew)
• Patatje Oorlog (Fries with Mayonnaise, Satay Sauce, and Onion)
• Erwtensoep (Split Pea and Pork Soup)
• Borenkool Stamppot (Mashed Potato and Kale)
• Kapsalon (Fries with Shawarma)
• Hagelslag (Bread with Chocolate Sprinkles)
• Pannenkoeken (Dutch Pancakes)

Scroll down to read about other popular Dutch dishes I didn’t make!

Hutspot (Mashed Potato, Carrot, and Onion)

Hutspot is just one example of the variety of mashed potato dishes popular in the Netherlands. Hutspot is made by boiling and mashing potato, carrot, and onion. It’s typically served with smoked sausage such as rookwurst, though I served mine with bacon on top and ate it alongside the hachee I made (next dish).

This was very simple to make. I boiled chunks of potato, carrot, and onion together. Meanwhile, I chopped and cooked some bacon. Then I drained the vegetables and mashed them together with butter, milk, and the bacon fat. I served the hutspot with the bacon on top. It went well with the hachee but it was also great as leftovers with eggs for breakfast. This was delicious of course!

This recipe came from my sister’s friend, Kevin.

Hachee (Beef and Onion Stew)

Hachee is, for the most part, a simple beef and onion stew, but it gains a unique flavor from the addition of apple butter.

I started by tossing chunks of beef chuck in a mixture of flour, salt, and pepper. I browned the beef in oil, then set it aside.

I added butter to the pot, then added sliced onion and sautéed it for around 10 minutes. I returned the meat to the pot, along with bay leaves, cloves, vinegar, and beef stock (which I made with Better Than Bouillon).

I let the stew simmer on the stove for a couple of hours. The recipe said to put it in a low oven but I prefer using the stove when possible since the oven makes my kitchen so hot. Towards the end of cooking, I stirred in some apple butter, and after letting it cook a little longer, it was ready.

I served this with hutspot (previous recipe) but of course it would also go well with regular mashed potatoes. I really liked this; the apple butter added an interesting flavor. I think my stew was a little too soupy but the hutspot helped to mop up all the liquid.

This recipe is from Toine’s Kitchen.

Patatje Oorlog (Fries with Mayonnaise, Satay Sauce, and Onion)

‘Patatje oorlog’ translates to ‘war fries’, and these are often referred to as ‘Dutch war fries’. They are a fast food favorite consisting of French fries topped with satay sauce, mayonnaise, and raw onion. The name may have come from the fact that the dish looks a bit messy, like a battleground with all the condiments fighting (sometimes there is ketchup too).

I made my own mayonnaise for this by blending egg yolks, mustard, canola oil, lemon juice, and garlic using my immersion blender. Usually I would just use whole eggs but I had the yolks left over from something else. I think this made the mayonnaise thicker than usual. I seasoned it with salt and pepper and that was the mayonnaise done.

I also made the satay sauce from scratch. I toasted some peanuts gently, then added them to a food processor and blended them. I sautéed some minced shallots, ginger, and garlic in oil, then stirred in chili sauce, brown sugar, salt, and ketcap manis (Indonesian sweet soy sauce). I poured in some coconut milk and brought the mixture to a boil, then stirred in the blended peanuts and a bit of lemon juice. Once the sauce was thickened and everything was well combined, I took it off the heat.

I cheated and used frozen French fries, so all I had to do was put them in the oven and assemble the dish. I put the fries on a plate and topped them with mayonnaise, satay sauce, and diced onion.

This definitely wasn’t a very pretty plate, and it does sound like an odd combination, but it was actually amazing!

The recipe I used for reference is from Twisted Chef.

Erwtensoep (Split Pea and Pork Soup)

This split pea soup, also known as ‘snert’, is a very thick soup made from split peas and smoked pork. It’s often served with more pork in the form of sausage.

As I’m writing this the recipe I used is not loading; hopefully this is just temporary so I’ll still include the link but it means I have to go by memory when writing about how I made the soup.

I used bacon and ham for the pork part of my soup; I wanted a ham hock but the supermarket didn’t have any even though I’ve bought them there before. I sautéed the bacon, then removed it from the pot and set it aside. I cooked some onion and leeks in the residual pork fat, then added chicken stock and dried spit peas.

I let the split peas cook for around 15 minutes or so before adding chunks of potato and carrot. When they were almost cooked through, I added diced ham and the cooked bacon, and seasoned with salt and pepper. When the soup was thick enough that a spoon could stand up in it, it was ready!

I served this with kielbasa on top; I think it’s the closest thing to the more traditional rookwurst that is readily available here.

I know this isn’t a pretty dish but it was very flavorful. I first tried split pea soup when cooking food from Finland and I’m definitely sold on it by now.

This recipe is from The Dutch Foodie (link may or may not work, if it still doesn’t work after a week or so I’ll probably remove it).

Borenkool Stamppot (Mashed Potato and Kale)

I couldn’t resist making two mashed potato dishes; this one has kale mixed in and is also often served with rookwurst.

This was another easy dish. I boiled potato and kale together and sautéed some bacon. Then I mashed the potato and kale with butter, milk, and bacon fat and served it with bacon and kielbasa in place of rookwurst.

This made for a simple yet delicious meal. It’s a good way to get some greens in since you really don’t taste them.

This recipe also came from Kevin.

Kapsalon (Fries with Shawarma)

Shawarma seems to be pretty popular in the Netherlands and shows up in a few different ways. This dish was invented when a hairdresser went to the neighboring shawarma store and asked them to combine all his favorite ingredients. He continued to order this dish, and it took off. The name comes from the Dutch word for ‘hairdressing salon’ or ‘barber shop’.

Kapsalon is made by topping fries with meat, gouda cheese, lettuce, garlic sauce, and sambal. The meat can be shawarma meat, doner kebab meat, or gyro meat, and the vegetables may differ.

I made the shawarma using the recipe from RecipeTin Eats since it’s excellent. I haven’t even tried another one to compare yet, which I probably should just to see what else is out there, but this recipe is so good that I just haven’t felt the need. Chicken thighs are marinated in a mixture of spices, olive oil, and lemon juice, then cooked and chopped.

I topped fries with the chicken shawarma, followed by tomato, cucumber, red onion, and gouda cheese. I put this in the oven just long enough to melt the cheese (it took a few minutes), then drizzled over Sriracha and mayonnaise which I thinned out with a little water. This was meant to be sambal (an Indonesian chili sauce) and garlic sauce, but I improvised with what I had on hand. The mayonnaise was my homemade mayonnaise and it did have garlic in it!

This was amazing! I’ve always loved dishes that involve French fries and various toppings and this is probably my favorite so far.

I loosely followed the recipe from BBC Food for this; I didn’t use the included shawarma recipe but I used it as a guide as to what else I should add. The shawarma recipe does look good so maybe I’ll try it next time.

Hagelslag (Bread with Chocolate Sprinkles)

Hagelslag refers to chocolate sprinkles, which are served on buttered bread for breakfast or lunch. As an Australian, this is reminiscent of fairy bread except in this case the sprinkles are chocolate-flavored.

This was very easy—I took a slice of white bread (in this case, homemade) and topped it with butter and chocolate sprinkles. It tasted pretty good too!

Pannenkoeken (Dutch Pancakes)

Pancakes in the Netherlands are usually thinner than what most people probably expect when it comes to pancakes, though they’re thicker than crepes. It’s common to bake various toppings into them, such as bacon, apple, and cheese. Shawarma is also a popular topping.

To make the pancake batter, I mixed together flour and salt, then added milk and eggs. I whisked the batter until smooth, then let it sit, covered, for about half an hour.

For each pancake, I started by melting butter in the skillet and adding a ladleful of batter. Then I added the toppings, which cooked through after flipping the pancake. I made bacon pannenkoeken, apple pannenkoeken, and a version of each with gouda. The cheese and bacon pannenkoek was my favorite. I put maple syrup on the apple version, and it was also good.

This recipe is another one I got from Kevin.

Other Popular Dutch Dishes

• Bitterballen – made by rolling a very thick meat stew into balls, then breading and frying them. Typically enjoyed with beer.
• Hollandse nieuwe haring – pickled raw herrings, eaten on their own, with onions and/or pickles, or on a sandwich (broodje haring). This dish is protected by the European Union and can only be called by this name if the herrings are fished at a certain time of the year.
• Appelflappen – apple fritters, made by battering and frying apple slices.
• Kroket – a deep-fried roll coated in breadcrumbs, typically with meat on the inside. The Dutch version of a croquette.
• Frikandel – a type of skinless, deep-fried sausage made from a blend of meats. Often served with ketchup or mayonnaise.
• Oliebollen – deep-fried dough balls which can be plain or filled with raisins, currants, or apple pieces, typically served dusted with confectioner’s sugar.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed everything I made this week! It’s difficult to pick a favorite—for a more traditional dish, I’d go with the erwtensoep, but the kapsalon was also excellent.

Next week, I will be cooking food from New Zealand.