Sure, I am Always Talkin’ Food, but I teach NT2 (Dutch as a second language) on the side. Mainly to young foreigners who came to Amsterdam for or with love and intend to stay. For privacy reasons the names in these columns are fictitious.
It’s game night: learning Dutch by playing a language game.
Could be a “scheidbarewerkwoordenspel” (separable verb game) or “who am I?”
But not tonight.
This evening my students will each translate a proverb form their own language literally into Dutch and write it on the whiteboard. The group then has to guess what the saying means.
With nine different nationalities out of ten students, this is quite a challenge.
Kendall from the U.S. kicks off with “Ik moet een man spreken over een paard”. (I gotta see a man about a horse)
There’s a lot of guessing, but no one has a clue.
What a surprise when Kendall tells us it’s a way to end a chat without revealing the true reason.
The group sees possibilities. A good excuse to end an awkward conversation always comes in handy.
Would this work in Dutch if you replaced “paard” with “fiets” (bicycle)?
Then it’s Zareen’s turn. ”De lente begint niet met één bloem” (spring does not start with one flower), the Iranian writes on the whiteboard.
Another tough one.
Fortunately, there is a Dutch equivalent, attributed to the sixteenth-century Dutch philosopher Erasmus.
When I jot down “één zwaluw maakt nog geen zomer” (one swallow does not make a summer), the meaning becomes clearer, and it is Raisa from Russia who guesses right: It takes more than a single thing that goes well for something to also end well.
Zareen hands the marker to Raisa, who writes, “als de kreeft over de berg klimt” (when the lobster climbs over the mountain).
‘Aha, als Pasen en Pinksteren op één dag vallen’, I call out spontaneously, and above all out of turn. A Dutch proverb meaning: When Easter and Pentecost occur on the same day.
’Nooit!’ (never), it sounds in chorus.
The next phrase, “één of acht” (one or eight), from the Japanese Sumire is a true enigma.
After a few fruitless attempts, Gundars from Latvia gives up. Using the expression that became world-famous thanks to a former American president (No. 45), he sighs resignedly: ‘It is what it is.’
‘Ja, klopt!’ (Right), Sumire reacts with a radiant smile. ‘Only fate determines your luck, nothing else.’
Food lingo
Cassava root - de cassavewortel
Cod - de kabeljauw
Surinamese salted and dried cod - de bakkeljauw
Kitchen diversity
The Surinamese cuisine is very diverse, with dishes rooted in the many cultures that have converged in this country on the north coast of South America. From the indigenous people to Africans, Javanese, Hindus, Chinese, Portuguese and Dutch.
A Surinamese staple food is cassava root, for instance deep-fried in chunky strips (telo) and eaten with salted and dried cod (bakkeljauw) or tiny salted and dried fish (teri).
A classic address for Surinamese food and ingredients is Tjin’s Toko, a snackbar slash international food store that sells imported foods from around the world.
Tjin’s Toko, Eerste Van Der Helststraat 64 Amsterdam. Open: Mon-Sat 10 AM-6 PM.