Mouth, meet money. Money, meet mouth.
I've been in Amsterdam for a year and a half now, and in terms of Dutch food I've primarily been exposed to snackish stuff:
But I'd never really had any of the few "traditional" Dutch main courses. I've been rather put off, not only by the quality of the food I have had, but by their descriptions (as in here for stamppot specifically, or here for a general food review I posted this time last year.) And to give it a really fair test, I should go to a place recommended by a Dutch person, right?
Well, I broached the subject with a Dutch friend and he recommended a place called "De Keuken" (The Kitchen) at Spuistraat 4 near Central Station. So some classmates and I checked the place out. I, of course, neglected to bring a camera, but not everybody was as silly as that (thanks Ann!), so I give you stamppot:
click for larger image
click for larger image
See? Not as bad as I thought it might have been...
You may notice the two soda bottles behind me? 0.2L each -- together they're just slightly larger than one 12 ounce soda can. I could have gone through a lot of those... but they're US$1.75 apiece, so I restrained myself.
So all in all it was a good night, and the Dutch food was not as bad as I thought it might be. But "high cuisine" it ain't.
- french fries with mayonnaise-like sauce
- the "cheese souffle", cheese wrapped in a packet of something which is sort of halfway between pasta and dough, then breaded and fried
- and of course herring -- pretty good smoked, but that's hard to find in town and I can't get around the pickled ones which are everywhere.
- and recently, poffertjes, basically tiny, slightly chewy pancakes of no particular taste other than they're served with a big hunk of butter and covered with powdered suger.
But I'd never really had any of the few "traditional" Dutch main courses. I've been rather put off, not only by the quality of the food I have had, but by their descriptions (as in here for stamppot specifically, or here for a general food review I posted this time last year.) And to give it a really fair test, I should go to a place recommended by a Dutch person, right?
Well, I broached the subject with a Dutch friend and he recommended a place called "De Keuken" (The Kitchen) at Spuistraat 4 near Central Station. So some classmates and I checked the place out. I, of course, neglected to bring a camera, but not everybody was as silly as that (thanks Ann!), so I give you stamppot:
click for larger image
- Cook and mash some potatoes (no milk, just mash them up, and leave them chunky)
- Mix in some chopped lettuce (raw, as opposed to the cooked cabbage I saw in the prior description)
- Sprinkle with pieces of bacon (lots -- this is the only part of the dish with any flavor)
- Add a hunk of sausage -- not spicy, not smoked, just sort of plain
- Cover it all with a little thin brown gravy
click for larger image
See? Not as bad as I thought it might have been...
You may notice the two soda bottles behind me? 0.2L each -- together they're just slightly larger than one 12 ounce soda can. I could have gone through a lot of those... but they're US$1.75 apiece, so I restrained myself.
So all in all it was a good night, and the Dutch food was not as bad as I thought it might be. But "high cuisine" it ain't.