FOOD: How to eat herring and other Netherlands Local Custom Tips

This is how you eat your herring, bought at a market stall, freshly cleaned.

Hold the herring by its tail, tilt back your head and slide the fish down your throat. Honestly!

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This morning (June 23rd 2003) I sauntered off to the local fish stall because I feel like eating one of my favourite things for lunch: Hollandse Nieuwe (herring). I buy fresh white soft bread at the bakery to put them on or I may slide one down my throat and enjoy it pure. It's a typical Dutch thing!

Every year the herring lives the same cycle. In the months May and June the herring will have fattened enough but not formed any hard or soft roe yet. Herring can acquire plenty of fat in May if the weather is good. Fishermen will watch the weather and temperature closely during this period. Lots of sun will mean lots of food for the herring, so that they will grow nicely.

The Hollandse Nieuwe (Dutch New) is the first herring that is caught in season, usually in May. As soon as the herring has a minimum of 16% fat, it may hit the market as “Hollandse Nieuwe”. But there are other demands. The herring must be gutted, ripened, salted and filleted in the traditional Dutch way. During gutting, the gills, intestines and throat of the herring are removed. The pancreas remains as it helps the herring ripen.

Herring is caught nearly all year long, but not all herring can be called “Hollandse Nieuwe” or maatjesharing (young herring). During the year, the amount of fat in the herring changes. During these different fat stadia, the uses of the herring change also. Herring caught in August through October is smoked, marinated or turned into rollmop (rolmops in Dutch). De hard roe of the herring is partly exported to Japan where it is a veritable delicacy.

The salting “cooks” the herring, so it is not truly raw when you eat it, though it looks like it. If you eat chopped raw onion with it is a matter of taste. Purists will be revolted but do what you like! With onion they taste great too.
There is lots of tradition around Hollandse Nieuwe of which I will relate another time.

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We Dutch have lots of cheese. The essence is age with Dutch cheese.
All those huge yellow wheels of cheese are all different:
Old, crumbly, dry salty cheese, or soft, creamy young cheese.
Friese Nagelkaas (with cloves), Komijnekaas (cumin), Graskaas (made from milk when the first grass grows in spring), Boerenkaas (raw milk) and many more varieties.
Don't be fooled by those small Gouda cheeses. They are for tourists. In fact, there is no cheese made in Gouda anymore.
Another Dutch cheese from Limburg (= province), comparable to the French pavé is a cube, about 7 cm. all sides, packed in a foil covering. It is hugely strong, smelly even.
Goat's cheese in general is my favourite.
Cheese from Ankeveen (Ankevener geitenkaas) is the most well known Dutch goats cheese.
Most cheese is made in factories and there are different "brands". But cheese is still made on farms too.
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Photo left to right:
cheese with cumin, cheese with cloves, old cheese, young cheese

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The English eat chips with vinegar, Americans eat them with ketchup, the French eat the French fries (thin chips) without sauce.

The Flemish and Dutch eat chips with mayonaise. It's called Patat Met (Fries With).
Fries with mayonaise and satehsauce is called Patatje Oorlog (Fries at War).

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The bishop of Myra, St. Nicholas (or Sinterklaas in Dutch) is a deeply rooted Dutch tradition. He celebrates his birthday on December 5th and brings presents to the children at night, through the chimney.

He always rides a white horse and is assisted by Zwarte Pieten (Black Pete's), who are of Moorish descent. He arrives in The Netherlands some weeks before his birthday, on a steamboat from his home country Spain.

Bad children he will take back home in a potato sack, which Zwarte Piet carries over his shoulder. The sack is filled with small, nutsized cookies and sweets which he throws about everywheren.
Even the adults scramble to pick them up.

Sinterklaas is the older version of Santa Claus. These days, the Dutch do give presents at Christmas, but the true tradition is with St. Nicholas on December 5th.

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Traditionally, when a baby is born, the parents give beschuit met muisjes to the guests.
Beschuit is a round toast, very light and crumbly, smeared with butter to hold the muisjes (mice) which are sugar covered kernels of aniseed.

Aniseed is said to be good for breastfeeding as well as a symbol of fertility.
Pink and white muisjes for a girl and blue and white for a boy!

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Website: www.baknog.u-net.com/Beschuit/beschuit.html

The oysters from the province of Zeeland (south west Netherlands) are a veritable delicacy.
There are two kinds: The Zeeuwse oester and the Platte oester (flat oyster).
Both differ quite a bit. The Zeeuwse oester grows to maturity in 2 years, the flat oyster does the same in 6, which makes the latter rather more delicate and extremely pricy.
Often people think that oysters are 'snotty'. Not these oysters from Zeeland. You can really bite into them and chew. The taste lasts an extraordinarily heavenly long time. I've never had that with any other oyster, from any country.

On Christmas Day we eat 2 dozen oysters every year. And not much else. It has become a tradition in our home. We eat a dozen 'as is', and prepare half a dozen au gratin and half a dozen Chinese style. That's our Christmas dinner!

The quality and size is categorised thus:

Flat Oyster
1/0 (40-50 g)
2/0 (50-60 g)
3/0 (60-70 g)
4/0 (70-80 g)
5/0 (80-90 g)
6/0 (90-110 g)
6/0 super (>110 g)

Zeeuwse oester
IV (<70 g)
III (70-100 g)
II (100-140 g)
I (140-180 g)
0 (>180 g)

Price indication:
2007, Flat Oyster 5/0 is € 2.50 a piece, € 30 per dozen.
They were delicious!
Read more about the Dutch Oyster industry at the links below.
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Website: http://roem.tales.be/en/product/index.asp?L1=8&PRODUKTGROEP_ID=7
Other Contact: http://www.roemvanyerseke.nl/

This is completely Dutch. Eaten by everyone in The Netherlands for dessert: vla.
A kind of readymade custard in flavours like vanilla, coffee, chocolate and strawberry. Lovely UNnatural colours!

You'll only know why it is so popular until you've eaten it!

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In The Netherlands. most hotels offer a buffet breakfast.
You will find:
- cereals and yoghurt(s)
- fruit and fruit salad
- a selection of bread and crackers
- jam and other sweet spreads
- a selection of cold cuts
- a selection of cheese
- fruit juice(s) and milk
Sometimes there are chafing dishes with scrambled eggs and fried bacon. Often there is a dish with boiled eggs.

In other hotels you'll find most of the above set out on your breakfast table.

The so-called Continental breakfast (French bread and jam, a croissant and coffee) is never served in Dutch hotels.

Breakfast is ONTBIJT in Dutch

Photo: breakfast table in hotel Watermolle in Haaksbergen. Only the bread is still missing.

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A hearty breakfast dish, or maybe for dessert after a light meal.
For 4 persons:
4 slices of stale white bread
3 eggs, broken into a shallow dish. Add a bit of milk, sugar and cinnamon, whisk well.
Put the slices in the egg mixture and let them soak up all the liquid (5-10 mins).
Heat some butter in the pan, fry the slices carefully until golden.

Serve with a dash of icing sugar and HOT !

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