Dutch food will not win awards and it will feed a family better and cheaper than the pretty countries next door. Here is what to know.
Pancakes, pannenkoeken, are a meal. Thin, the size of a large plate, with bacon and cheese or apple and cinnamon or a dozen other things. A pancake house is a restaurant for children with a menu the length of an arm. Poffertjes are the mini ones, puffed, with butter and powdered sugar, from a stand at any market.
Frites come in a paper cone with mayonnaise, or with satay sauce and onions as patatje oorlog, which means war fries. Vlaamse frites shops are on every corner and open late.
Bitterballen are the bar snack. Crunchy balls of creamy beef ragout, served with mustard, and they arrive at every cafe table with the first drink. Kids eat them by the plate. Kroketten are the same thing in a log, from a vending machine wall at FEBO, which is a Dutch institution and a rite of passage.
Sweet things and the dare
Stroopwafels. Two thin waffles with caramel syrup between, made fresh at markets and eaten warm, or sat on top of a coffee cup so the steam softens the middle. Buy the warm ones. The packet ones are for the plane home.
Cheese, obviously. Young Gouda is mild and every child will eat it. Old Gouda is crumbly and sharp and for you. Tony’s Chocolonely bars come in flavors and colors and are a Dutch thing the kids will already know.
The dare is the herring. Raw, brined, with onions, held by the tail and eaten in three bites from a stand. Dutch children do it. Watch one of yours try and let the other film it.
Planning Netherlands with kids? Start with the full Netherlands family travel guide, or send me the ages and the dates and I will come back with what is really available.
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