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.
’I want to speak Dutch with my friends in de kroeg,’ writes Federico from Naples on the white board.
Tonight we start a new advanced Dutch course, and I have everyone write down their language goals, so that we can revisit those later to see what is still needed to achieve them.
Salma’s goal is my personal favourite. ‘Ik wil grapjes begrijpen en maken in het Nederlands,’ writes the Mexican. (I want to understand and make jokes in Dutch)
This is how we come to talk about humour. Nothing is more culturally determined than just that. If you want to be able to understand or make a joke in another language, you need to know and fathom something about that culture.
That is why humour is often the very last station on the journey to master a new language.
The Dutch, for instance, are not only direct in doing business and on Tinder, but also in their jokes.
And that does not necessarily strike a chord with everyone.
If you come from a culture where it is not common to be this direct, our humour can come across as very harsh. Or not even as humour at all.
Almost every Dutch person has at one point experienced this when making a joke in the company of strangers.
Salma is aware of that. She has been living in the Netherlands for five years now.
‘I’m ready for it,’ she states with confidence.
A little later on I ask the group: ’What had you heard about the Dutch before you came to the Netherlands?’
By way of a wink I show a picture of a weed-smoking blonde in traditional Dutch attire, with windmills in the background. Undeniably the most worn-out cliché about our country.
’Exactly that,’ Salma points. ‘Drugs, blondes and windmills.’
Her new classmates look at her inquisitively.
’Dat was dus een grapje’ (that was a joke), Salma reacts, now a tad less confident.
Food lingo
Pub/bar - de kroeg/het café
Baker(y) - de bakker(ij)
Stone oven - de steenoven
Sourdough loaf - het zuurdesembrood
I loaf a good joke
Despite our windmills, which once mainly ground grain, and despite the fact that we are famous for our boterhammen met kaas, Dutch bread has been a joke for a long time. Artisan bakers had all but disappeared and we had to make do with factory bread.
This has changed in recent years. Artisanal bakers are now the pop stars of food. Particularly bakers that specialize in just one item - from bagels to brioche. It has customers stand in long queues at their door.
Salient detail: as in Paris, there’s an influx in Amsterdam of bakers from North America, the country that once made factory bread big. Like Breadwinner, which sells only two items: artisanal stone oven NYC sourdough loaves and bagels.
Breadwinner, 2e Laurierdwarsstraat 50H Amsterdam. Open: Thur-Sat 9:30 AM-3 PM; Sun 11 AM-2 PM (only bagels and sandos).