Prime 11 Meals To Attempt in Amsterdam & Their Ties To Dutch Historical past

This checklist of the 11 finest meals to strive in Amsterdam is bound to make you hungry for an thrilling journey to the Dutch capital.

Exploring the culinary traditions of a brand new vacation spot is greater than only a delight for the senses. It’s a gateway to understanding the place, its individuals, and historical past, in addition to geography and cultural evolution. 

That is very true for Amsterdam and the Netherlands, the place every certainly one of these 11 meals to strive in Amsterdam tells an enchanting story.

A narrative of people that reclaimed their land from the ocean. A narrative of the Dutch modern spirit and its impact on expertise and enterprise alike. A narrative of maritime exploration, international commerce, discovery, and exploitation. 

Be a part of us as we delve into Dutch delicacies, mixing a foodie’s listicle with an in-depth tour of the historical past and tradition behind these flavors.

Understanding Dutch Delicacies

To start understanding Dutch delicacies, we have to look again somewhat bit at Dutch historical past and geography. 

Swamps & Land Reclamation

For hundreds of years, the lands surrounding modern-day Amsterdam had been bogs and swamps, unsuitable for rising crops. Not solely that. Practically a fifth of what we now know because the Netherlands was underwater earlier than the thirteenth century.

This modified with the invention of wind-driven water pumps, which drained the land extra successfully. It’s possible you’ll be conversant in the look of those pumps as we’re, after all, speaking in regards to the iconic Dutch windmills. Because the previous saying goes: God created the World however the Dutch created the Netherlands.

Seafaring & Commerce

The frequent flooding and swampiness of the land gave rise to a different defining attribute of the Dutch: they took to the ocean. What the land couldn’t give was supplemented by fishing and commerce. Over the centuries, the Dutch innovated – and in the end nearly monopolized – each.

From pioneering new strategies of preserving fish to primarily inventing the inventory market, the ocean is deeply intertwined with Dutch historical past.

One of the crucial vibrant European cities at the moment, Amsterdam was initially a fishing village. It reworked into one of many world’s most vital ports throughout the seventeenth century, a interval referred to as the Dutch Golden Age. 

The notorious Dutch East India Firm (VOC), a consolidation of a number of expedition corporations, turned one of many world’s strongest entities with a monopoly over the commerce of spices resembling nutmeg, cloves, or cinnamon.

As the primary firm ever to subject inventory for public buying and selling, VOC not solely reworked Amsterdam but in addition had a profound affect on Southeast Asia, significantly present-day Indonesia.

Whereas we’ll later lightheartedly discover the reflections of this era in Dutch delicacies, it’s vital to acknowledge the darker facets of Dutch colonialism.

VOC’s shift from merchants to colonizers is for instance starkly marked by their conquest of the Banda Islands, the place the Dutch almost eradicated your complete native inhabitants of their pursuit of a nutmeg monopoly.

Prime 11 Meals To Attempt in Amsterdam

1. Dutch Cheese

Dutch title: Kaas (Gouda, Edammer, and so on)
English title: Dutch cheese
Taste: savory
Class: staple, ingredient
TLDR: totally different sorts of cheeses like Gouda and Edam
The place to eat: in cheese shops throughout Amsterdam, don’t be shy and ask for samples
Dietary restrictions: cow’s milk, rennet

Most Dutch cheeses are semi-hard varieties made out of wealthy cow’s milk. Their iconic flat cylindrical form and shiny yellow colour have turn into symbols of the Netherlands. This distinctive form comes from molds used to press the cheese curds.

After urgent, the cheese is cured and aged in a managed surroundings for wherever from just a few weeks to over two to 5 years. Whereas most Dutch dairy farms promote their milk for industrial cheese manufacturing, many farmers nonetheless handcraft Boerenkaas (farmer’s cheese) from recent uncooked milk, preserving conventional strategies and flavors.

Historic Connection

Folks within the space have been grazing cattle and making cheese for hundreds of years. Julius Caesar himself remarked on the cheese-making capability of the native individuals as early as 58 BC. In fact, a lot has modified since.

First, extra land was reclaimed from the ocean. This wetland wasn’t instantly appropriate for crop cultivation. However grass thrived on these polders, supporting cattle grazing and producing milk of nice high quality. 

Dutch farmers have additionally efficiently crossbred cows able to higher milk manufacturing. By the Sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Dutch cows had been producing twice as a lot milk as their European counterparts. Holstein cows, originating within the Netherlands, now make up round 90% of cows on US dairy farms.

By the Sixteenth century, the Dutch had been exporting their surplus cheese throughout Europe and stay the second-largest exporters of cheese on the planet at the moment.

Dairy is an emblem of Dutch tradition, epitomized by one of the well-known Dutch Golden Age work depicting a humble kitchen maid pouring milk right into a pot – The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer.

Enjoyable Truth

Cheeses are sometimes named after the cities they had been traded in, reasonably than essentially the locations of their origin. Each Gouda cheese and Edam cheese are named after cities within the Netherlands which can be well-known for his or her historic cheese markets.

2. Stamppot

Dutch title: Stamppot
English title: Mash pot
Taste: savory
Class: full meal
TLDR: mainly a hearty twist on mashed potatoes
The place to eat: conventional eating places, like De Blauwe Hollander
Dietary restrictions: butter

The most typical reply to What’s the most conventional Dutch meals?, stamppot combines mashed potatoes with one or a number of greens like sauerkraut, endives, kale, spinach, or turnip greens.

Boiled potatoes and greens are drained and mashed along with butter, salt, pepper, and parsley.

Stamppot is often served with a sausage however is accessible with different pairings as effectively. Typically described as a consolation meal, it would simply be the right dish for unhealthy climate days in fall and winter. Every area of the Netherlands has its personal twist on this conventional dish.

Historic Connection

The simplicity of the dish itself made it an excellent meal for farmers, who would simply combine leftover seasonal greens and potatoes, particularly throughout harvest season. Even sailors had been capable of prepare dinner stamppot on lengthy sea journeys.

The precise origins of the dish are usually not clear, but it surely has remained a staple in Dutch delicacies via the colder months or durations of meals shortage.

One of many stamppot variations made with potatoes, carrots, and onions is known as hutspot. In line with legend, after the Siege of Leiden (a metropolis southwest of Amsterdam), a younger orphan discovered a cooking pot stuffed with hutspot left behind by fleeing Spanish forces.

3. Broodje Haring

Dutch title: Broodje Haring
English title: Herring sandwich
Taste: savory
Class: road meals, sandwich
TLDR: chilly sandwich product of a white bun, a slice of salt-cured herring, gherkins, and uncooked onions
The place to eat: Fishmonger stands known as Vishandels – like Frens Haringhandel or Volendammer Vishandel
Dietary restrictions: fish (herring), gluten (bread)

The right snack on the go, a easy herring sandwich is certain to fulfill medium starvation for little or no cash. The bitter style of pickled gherkins and the sharp, pungent chunk of uncooked onions completely complement the fish’s flavors, whereas the gentle, tender white bun balances the sandwich to perfection.

You can even get pleasure from soused herring the Dutch means by choosing the fish up by its tail, tilting your head again, and slowly savoring its slimy goodness.

Historic Connection

Herring has at all times been well-liked with the Dutch, however at first, they had been nonetheless predominantly consumers reasonably than sellers. That was all about to alter and by the tip of the fifteenth century, the Dutch would primarily monopolize your complete herring export market because of their ingenuity. 

Dutch individuals had been the primary to course of herring instantly on board their ships. This innovation meant fishermen now not wanted to return to shore to course of their catch, permitting them to sail additional and longer, catching extra fish and gaining deeper insights into their habits.

Coupled with enhancements in fishing nets, boat design, and total fishing technique, the Dutch rapidly cornered the market, turning into the most important exporters of herring between the fifteenth and 18th centuries, regardless of being smaller and farther from herring-rich waters than different international locations.

Enjoyable reality

Though the fish utilized in Broodje Haring and even Hollandse Nieuwe is commonly described as uncooked herring, it truly refers to fish which have been preserved in salt (soused herring). These days, a requirement to additionally deep freeze the fish additional eliminates dangers related to consuming uncooked fish.

4. Kibbeling

Dutch title: Kibbeling
English title: additionally Kibbeling
Taste: savory
Class: snack, road meals
TLDR: deep-fried battered fish items served with dipping sauce
The place to eat: Fish stands like Frens Haringhandel
Dietary restrictions: fish, probably gluten

Kibbeling is a well-liked Dutch deal with and, on the threat of sounding biased, among the best issues you’ll be able to style in Amsterdam. Chunk-sized items of white fish are spiced, battered, and fried in scorching oil to crispy perfection, served with a scrumptious dipping sauce of your alternative like mayonnaise or garlic sauce.  

Historic Connection

Within the Nineteenth century, cod was a comparatively cheap fish and a staple of the Dutch weight loss program. Historically, kibbeling was made out of cod cheeks and different leftover elements of cod, or kabeljauw in Dutch, to make sure no a part of the fish went to waste.

These days, nevertheless, cod is never used as a result of its a lot greater worth, because it has been vastly overfished within the final century. As an alternative, different white fish (typically unspecified) are used.

5. Rijsttafel

Dutch title: Rijsttafel
English title: Rice desk
Taste: savory (but in addition spicy, bitter, candy, and so on)
Class: a feast
TLDR: rice accompanied by seven to forty varied facet dishes of Indonesian origin
The place to eat: Indonesian eating places, like Restaurant Max

Like a miniature banquet of mouth-watering unique dishes, rijsttafel – which means rice desk – is a showcase of assorted cuisines from throughout the Indonesian archipelago.

It options meat skewers, fermented soybeans, wealthy curries, greens in coconut sauce, and numerous different delicacies, all served with beneficiant parts of fluffy steamed rice.

A multi-course rijsttafel dinner provides some much-needed spice to your exploration of this stunning European capital and is ideal for sharing with a associate or a bunch of family members.

In line with the Indonesian embassy within the Netherlands, there have been about 400 Indonesian culinary companies throughout the nation in 2022, 74 of which had been situated in Amsterdam, so don’t miss out.

Historic Connection

As already talked about, the Dutch colonized varied islands in present-day Indonesia beginning within the late Sixteenth century. Initially established as outposts of the Dutch East India Firm, Dutch management expanded over the territories following an 1814 treaty with the British and lasted till Indonesian independence in 1945. 

It’s from the mansions of the rich Dutch colonists that we’ve got rijsttafel at the moment. They acquired a style for Indonesian meals via their native home servants and sought a solution to showcase their colonies’ unique riches to guests.

Thus, rijsttafel, a feast consisting of quite a few well-liked dishes from throughout the colony, was born. When Indonesia declared independence, Dutch colonists and other people of Eurasian descent returned to the Netherlands, bringing rijsttafel with them.

Nevertheless, because the dish was considerably symbolic of the colonial previous, it was rejected by locals and stays uncommon in Indonesia at the moment.

Enjoyable Truth

For those who’re touring alone, strive ordering Nasi Campur – a scoop of white rice accompanied by small parts of different dishes.

6. Patatje Oorlog

Dutch title: Patatje Oorlog
English title: Conflict Fries, Oorlog fries, loaded fries
Taste: savory
Class: snack, road meals
TLDR: loaded fries with mayo, onions, and peanut sauce
The place to eat: fry outlets like Sausmeester (Vleminckx), established in 1957
Dietary restrictions: peanuts, mayo

Most definitely named after the mess you make when consuming them, these Conflict Fries are a filling and gratifying snack and among the best meals to strive in Amsterdam.

They include a beneficiant portion of fries topped with scrumptious condiments like mayonnaise, thick peanut satay sauce of Indonesian origin, finely chopped uncooked onions, spicy sambal oelek, and a contact of candy soy sauce.

Historic Connection

The time period Conflict Fries is often attributed to the dish’s messy look, whether or not that’s after consuming them and even earlier than. Nevertheless, as a mix of Dutch and Indonesian flavors, it additionally evokes reflections of struggle and battle.

Potatoes, imported to Europe from the Americas by Spanish conquistadors, type the bottom of this dish. The origin of French fries continues to be disputed between France and Belgium.

Topped with Indonesian sauces, these fries remind the eater of the Dutch colonial previous. In your paper cone with patatje oorlog, you carry centuries of human historical past; and but the origin of this specific recipe stays a thriller.

7. Bitterballen

Dutch title: Bitterballen (singular: Bitterbal)
English title: Meatballs
Taste: savory
Class: snack, pub meals
TLDR: deep-fried breaded balls with a meaty filling
The place to eat: bars, beer spots
Dietary restrictions: meat, gluten, butter, egg

Crispy and crunchy on the skin with a wealthy, gooey inside, bitterballen would possibly simply be the right beer snack. The bitter within the title doesn’t describe their taste however reasonably means that it is best to pair them with a bitter drink like Dutch Jenever (primarily gin) or a easy pint of beer.

A plate of bitterballen with a dollop of mustard on the facet is right for sharing amongst mates over just a few drinks. The molten inside of a bitterbal consists of what’s primarily a beef gravy, although different meats or components can be utilized. And once we say molten, we imply molten – please don’t burn your mouth with a bitterbal!

The gravy, combined with buttery roux, is chilled and solidified, rolled in breadcrumbs, and deep-fried to a crispy golden brown. And sure, vegetarian and even vegan variants exist and are available in Amsterdam.

Historic Connection

The origin of the bitterbal is unclear. Many sources declare that they got here from the Sixteenth-century Spanish occupation, because the Spaniards tried to recreate their acquainted tapas-style dishes utilizing Dutch components, such because the already well-liked leftover meat ragouts.

Nevertheless, different sources insist on Spanish croquetas turning into a staple a lot later, adopted from the French (the primary point out of a French croquet we had been capable of confirm comes from 1693).

No matter the place precisely they got here from, we all know the place they ended up. Bitterballen are usually not solely well-liked within the Netherlands, but in addition made their solution to the previous colonies and are loved in locations like Indonesia and Suriname.

Enjoyable Truth

Kroketten, one other Dutch snack staple, are primarily the identical as bitterballen, simply in a unique format. Whereas bitterballen are spherical, kroketten are lengthy and cylindrical.

8. Appeltaart

Dutch title: Appeltaart
English title: Dutch apple pie
Taste: candy
Class: dessert
TLDR: lattice-style apple pie, often served with whipped cream
The place to eat: cafés, we suggest De Koffieschenkerij for the ambiance
Dietary restrictions: dairy, eggs

This candy lattice-style apple pie has been a staple in Dutch households for hundreds of years. It’s a type of “similar to my grandma used to make” recipes, full with slight variations from household to household.

The butter-rich dough is pressed over the underside and sides of an oven pan to type the right crust. The pie is then crammed with sliced juicy apples typically combined with cinnamon, lemon juice, nutmeg, and even raisins.

The ensuing pie, served with whipped cream alongside your cup of espresso, would possibly simply be the right afternoon deal with. Frankly, you shouldn’t go away Amsterdam with out making an attempt a slice.

Historic connection

Folks have been sharing and recording recipes all through historical past, however these paperwork have typically not survived for us to be taught from. To not point out that the circumstances by which we often deal with recipes and cookbooks are usually not perfect for historic preservation.

Generally, a dish’s historical past is solidified with its first point out in a printed cookbook, because the printing press made it doable for textual content to be replicated endlessly. Such is the case for the appeltaart.

Firstly of the Sixteenth century, when the artwork of guide printing was lower than 70 years previous, the primary printed Dutch cookbook got here off the press. In it, it hid the primary recorded easy recipe for an appeltaart.

It has solely barely modified since then and has rightfully held its place as a Dutch basic ever since. The dough made with a beneficiant quantity of butter and the same old dollop of whipped cream on the facet additionally remind us of the significance of dairy within the Dutch weight loss program.

9. Pannenkoeken

Dutch title: Pannenkoeken or Pannekoeken (former spelling)
English title: Dutch pancakes
Taste: candy, savory, or any mixture thereof
Class: meal
TLDR: giant Dutch pancakes (thicker than crepes however thinner than American pancakes) with every kind of toppings and fillings
The place to eat: Dutch pannenkoekenhuizen – pancake homes
Dietary restrictions: dairy, eggs

For many individuals the world over, pancakes symbolize a pleasant, candy breakfast. Not for the Dutch. Right here, pancakes are a lunch or dinner affair.

Dutch pancakes are someplace between a fragile French crepe and a thick American pancake and could be topped or crammed with every kind of treats. Bask in candy variations with apples, raisins, strawberries, or Nutella, or strive savory choices with bacon, cheese, or mushrooms.

For the very best of each worlds, strive the favored apple and bacon pancakes. Get pleasure from a plate of those scrumptious creations at one of many native specialised pannenkoekenhuizen, or pancake homes, and expertise a real Dutch culinary deal with.

Historic Connection

A household gathers round a small hearth. A central determine, most frequently an older girl in a white starched cap, holds a pan with an extended deal with over the hearth. She’s making pancakes. Small, chubby kids observe her work or gnaw on already-cooked pancakes.

The pannenkoekenbakster or koekenbakster was a well-liked motif for sketches and etchings for Dutch artists of the seventeenth and 18th centuries.

Work of the Dutch Golden Age typically depicted easy home scenes, not like in the remainder of Europe, which was nonetheless largely preoccupied with non secular artwork.

Many of those pancake girls, together with one etched by Rembrandt himself, could be seen within the Rijksmuseum’s on-line assortment, which we extremely suggest shopping on the whole.

Enjoyable Truth

Individuals may be conversant in the time period Dutch child or Dutch child pancake (typically known as a German pancake).

This dish is probably going neither Dutch nor a pancake. Firstly, its origin is often ascribed to an early Twentieth-century Seattle-based restaurant. And secondly, to make a Dutch child, you want an oven as an alternative of a stovetop.

10. Poffertjes

Dutch title: Poffertjes
English title: Dutch mini pancakes
Taste: candy
Class: dessert, snack
TLDR: small, spherical, fluffy pancakes served with butter and powdered sugar
The place to eat: truthful stalls, pancake eating places, Dutch eating places
Dietary restrictions: dairy, eggs

Poffertjes are a Dutch pageant and truthful staple, a deal with loved throughout celebrations of every kind. Whether or not at summer season festivals, vacation markets, and even weddings, poffertjes have their place wherever pleasure is discovered.

Their title comes from the Dutch phrase pof, which means puff, a becoming description for these fluffy little pancakes.

To make poffertjes, you want a particular pan known as a poffertjespan, a big frying pan with 12 to fifteen completely spherical indentations that rework the bubbly batter into scrumptious bite-sized pancakes.

Savor them with easy butter and sugar or indulge in additional elaborate variations, simply so long as you bear in mind to strive them in your go to to Amsterdam.

Historic Connection

We might by no means know precisely the place these small spherical pancakes originated, however what we do know is that they’ve been linked to festivals and festivals since their very starting.

The primary documented point out of poffertjes comes from an early 18th-century traveler’s description of an Amsterdam truthful. A cursory take a look at Nineteenth-century mentions of poffertjes obtainable on Google Books makes the dish’s connection to festivals and festivals even clearer.

Fairgoers describe stunning stalls and keen poffertjes women, inviting individuals to purchase their sugary creations. Allegedly, a mean of 700 plates of poffertjes a day had been bought at a good in Amsterdam in 1875.

11. Stroopwafel

Dutch title: Stroopwafel
English title: Stroopwafel, syrup waffle
Taste: candy
Class: dessert, candy snack, road meals
TLDR: halved skinny wafer with candy syrup inside
The place to eat: stroopwafel stands or outlets
Dietary restrictions: dairy, eggs

Stroopwafels are primarily giant, spherical cookies made out of a single skinny wafer (thicker than a biscuit wafer however a lot thinner than a waffle) that has been halved and crammed with a layer of darkish, thick, candy syrup. This luscious filling consists of molasses-like stroop, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon.

Whereas packs of stroopwafels could be purchased everywhere in the world, the Netherlands is the very best place to strive a recent stroopwafel straight from the waffle iron. We promise that it is a utterly totally different tasting expertise and definitely value visiting certainly one of Amsterdam’s many stroopwafel outlets for.

Take one to-go in a serviette or sit down and put a stroopwafel over your espresso cup to melt the wafer good—the best way the Dutch like to get pleasure from it.

Historic Connection

One factor you may need seen is that Dutch treats appear to be on the sweeter facet. And perhaps Amsterdammers’ candy tooth could be traced again to their historical past, too.

By 1662, the Dutch Republic dominated the sugar commerce, supplying greater than half of the refined sugar consumed in Europe, with quite a few refineries lively in Amsterdam.

Sugar turned so broadly obtainable that elaborate sculptures made out of sugar had been common decorations at aristocratic banquets, signaling the host’s wealth and affluence. The place did they get all this sugar?

In 1630, the Dutch West India Firm (WIC) conquered the Portuguese settlement of Pernambuco, a area in at the moment’s Brazil that was one of many greatest producers of sugarcane on the time.

Though Dutch Brazil didn’t final lengthy – barely 20 years – it cemented the Dutch’s position in international sugar manufacturing and commerce, together with the transatlantic slave commerce.

The Dutch additionally had varied colonies throughout the Dutch Caribbean, together with Suriname, Curaçao, Aruba, and some different islands within the Lesser Antilles, the place sugarcane was grown as effectively.

Pattern The Greatest Meals in Amsterdam With JayWay

We hope that by now, you’re not solely enthusiastic about all of the scrumptious treats you’ll get to style in your subsequent JayWay journey in Amsterdam but in addition intrigued by the wealthy and sophisticated historical past of the Netherlands. 

You think about your self tasting artisanal cheese at a small farm exterior town, an ideal day journey that your JayWay Journey consultant can simply add to your Low Nations itinerary.

You image your self savoring scrumptious fish treats at an area fishmonger stand between sightseeing stops or indulging in an beautiful Indonesian rice feast within the night.

You already know to go for lunch pancakes as an alternative of breakfast ones. You’re able to expertise a heat, gooey stroopwafel with a recent cup of espresso.

However past the culinary delights that await your style buds, you’ve additionally gained perception into the Dutch. How they superior expertise and society, their desires and ambitions, and a few of the darker chapters of their previous.

Dive deeper into this fascinating meals scene via its tradition and historical past with an on-site exploration of the very best meals to strive in Amsterdam in your subsequent Netherlands journey.