Who doesn’t know a magazine or newspaper with a letters section, in which an “authority” in a particular field gives advice to the readers?
From relationship guidance to tips on office etiquette.
In the Netherlands, for years it was “Beatrijs” who navigated readers of newspaper Trouw through modern life.
Such a reader's letter is the basis for the final writing test of our level B2 course.
The reader, “Taalpurist”, is concerned about English becoming increasingly dominant in the Dutch language.
Taalpurist asks Beatrijs: ‘Hoe moet ik hiermee dealen omgaan?’ (How should I deal with this?)
’Soon my language will disappear altogether!’
With an advice in about 150 words, my students will put themselves in Beatrijs’s shoes.
A task all tackle with verve.
Matilde from Ecuador points out that, regardless of your stance on Dutch, it especially befits a metropolis like Amsterdam to have a common vehicular language that facilitates language traffic, and thus coexistence, among all nationalities.
‘Gewoon mee dealen.’ (Just deal with it)
Raisa from Russia knows the development is unstoppable, but hopes that Dutch as a language will survive. After all, what other speak has such beautiful lingo as spijkerbroek (jeans; literally trousers with nails/pop rivets) and platteland (the flat countryside, ergo specifically the Dutch countryside)?
Lucky for her, others argue that while over the centuries several languages have left their mark on Dutch, it has never disappeared.
‘Op de een of andere manier doen wij Nederlanders dit altijd’ (somehow we, the Dutch, always do so), Raisa’s compatriot Mikhail begins his response as Beatrijs.
‘Like nobody else, we can see what is interesting elsewhere, borrow it, transform it, and give it back improved and amplified. For instance, we take house or trance music from abroad and build a huge Dutch industry out of it.’
As for our language, this Beatrijs points out that foreign influences simply get so vernederlandst (Dutchified), that in the end no one even realizes it wasn't once Dutch.
‘Denk: checken, Netflixen, sporten, appen. Het is de kern van onze Nederlandse identiteit.’ (It is the core of our Dutch identity)
Beatrijs reassures Taalpurist that Dutch will always survive. Not through protectionism or purism, but by being flexible as Dutch reed.
Sure, I am Always Talkin’ Food, but I teach NT2 (Dutch as a second language) on the side. Mainly to young internationals who came to Amsterdam for or with love and intend to stay. For privacy reasons the names in these columns are fictitious.
Food lingo
De tijgerbol - Dutch crunch roll (literally: tiger roll)
Het tarwemeel - wheat flour
De rijstebloem - rice flour
Knapperig - crunchy/crispy
The Dutch crunch
Mikhail/Beatrijs may or may not be right that it is in our Dutch nature to perfect inventions made elsewhere, the opposite also happens. Take de tijgerbol, which is having its culinary moment in New York City under the name Dutch crunch (roll). The originally Dutch roll made of white wheat flour has a crunchy top stemming from a rice flour paste (tijgerpap) that is spread over the dough during its second rising and bursts open in a kind of tiger pattern when baked.
Hence tijgerbol.
I love a good tijgerbol. The sad thing is that, as with much of our heritage, the Dutch have simply let this wonderful invention languish, and I personally don't know a good artisanal place to buy this pinnacle of crunchiness. Instead, the Dutch leave it to supermarket chains like Albert Heijn (Appie) and Dirk to sell something that, as the New York bakeries now show, is a shadow of what a tijgerbol can be (but which I still buy sometimes).
A Dutch revival of de tijgerbol is long overdue.
PS If you know of a good artisanal tijgerbollenbakker in Amsterdam, please e-mail me.