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.
’Soup.’
'Soup?'
'Yes, Dutch soups are very interesting.'
I look at the Japanese Johji with glassy eyes. Dutch soups are interesting? That's new to me.
That is to say, not entirely.
Whenever I talk about the Dutch cuisine with my students, one of them is bound to ask me: ‘Is there a Dutch cuisine?’ At the same time, someone else will share how extraordinary Dutch soups are.
Really? Extraordinary even?
Or are they just trying to be nice and can’t think of any other Dutch dish they like?
They nearly fooled me. But I know by now that the food they promptly fell for upon arrival, doesn’t even come close to soup. It’s deep-fried snacks, from bitterballen to kroketten and vlammetjes.
Not merely ‘interesting’, but downright ‘brilliant’, is how they characterise these pockets of pure instant happiness.
’But other cuisines deep-fry too’, I counter. I think of the bacalao croquettes from my holiday in Portugal, the deep-fried artichokes from Rome, and especially of the divine tempura from the land of Johji the soup lover.
Genuine artisanal deep-fried dishes. Surely nothing can beat those?
Yet, for my students anything that has been bubbling in a Dutch frying pan is nothing short of invincible. Hence, the borrel with bitterballen is the most favored part of our class schedule.
’Vet lekker!’ (literally: fat tasty) is how Johji describes the bitterbal, much to my surprise.
Well, as long as it helps them pick up some authentic Dutch vernacular…
Food lingo
Bacalao croquette - het stokviskroketje
Deep-fried artichoke - de gefrituurde artisjok
Super delish! - Vet lekker!
Vet lekker!
Just like my students, I love Dutch bitterballen and kroketten, but I am also a huge fan of fried foods from other countries around the world. Like pakora from India and Nepal: balls of spiced vegetable strips, coated with a light dough of gram flour (from ground chickpea). After frying, they are served with chutney or raita. Eat pakora at the food truck Himalayan Live Street Food on the Ten Katemarkt. Vet lekker!
Himalayan Live Street Food, Ten Katemarkt Amsterdam. Open Monday-Saturday at market hours.