The land of cheese and milk

The Dutch are famous for their dairy products.

Dutch food can be aptly described as hearty, simple and satisfying. Characterised by a high content of vegetables, Dutch cuisine also features an abundance of cheese, milk and bread. The dishes are warm and filling, two attributes that are especially important during the long and wet winter months in the Netherlands.

A typical Dutch dinner consists of one simple course: potatoes with vegetables, meat and gravy. The vegetables are often served as a stew — rode kool met appeltjes (red cabbage with apples) or rode bieten (red beets). Regular spices used in this kind of stew are bay laurel, juniper, and cloves. If an entrée is provided, it is most typically a soup.

Many traditional Dutch dishes are eaten daily. One of the best known is the Dutch stew — stamppot. The most famous stew is hutspot; it is made of potatoes, onions and carrots, and is served with slow cooked meat or bacon. It is documented that Spanish invaders brought this dish to the Netherlands during the siege of Leiden in 1573. Legend has it that this was the first dish that was found by the city's inhabitants once the city was liberated, left by the soldiers who had abandoned the region in a hurry.

Another well-known stamppot is Boerenkoolstamppot, which consists of kale (a type of cabbage) and potatoes, and is served with gravy, mustard and rookworst. Stamppotrawwe andijvie is a stew made of raw endive mashed with hot potatoes, served with diced fried speck, and hete bliksem is boiled potatoes with green apples, served with stoop or tossed with diced speck. The different stews are often served with mixed pickle, including stewed pears (stoofperen).

Pancakes for breakfast

Pancakes are also popular in the Netherlands. The Dutch make them in several forms, including poffertjes (miniature pancakes) and spekdik (a Northern variant with bacon). Poffertjes are a sweet Dutch treat made out of batter. The way they are cooked means that they differ from normal pancakes; they are turned before the one side is completely cooked, which results in a much softer core. They are typically served with poedersuicker (powdered sugar) and butter. Poffertjes are not hard to prepare, but require a special cast-iron or copper pan with several shallow indentations.

Another popular delicacy in the Netherlands is herring. This is raw herring, served with raw onions. The Dutch eat this by picking up the headless, cleaned fish by its tail and eating it whole. Often this is consumed straight from a fish van, which can be found in many Dutch towns and cities. Patat is the Dutch version of french fries and is distinguished by the thickness of the fry itself that tends to be a lot thicker than the norm. Patat is often eaten with lashings of mayonnaise. Patatje oorlog (french fry war) is served with mayonnaise, ketchup and sate-sauce, sprinkled with raw onions.

The Dutch are famous for their dairy products, and especially cow's milk cheeses. There is a broad and varied selection, including cheese with cumin, cloves and nettles. Famous Dutch cheeses are Gouda, Edam and Leidse. Samar Kadri, Agricultural Officer at the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Dubai, says: "Holland is the land of cheese and milk, and there are many regional varieties of Gouda and Edam." Both Gouda and Edam are exported to the UAE.

Gouda is the most commonly produced variety of Dutch cheese, but most famous are the distinctive round cheeses of Edam. These are made in a bowl-shaped mould known as a kaaskap. Cheeses that are intended for export are given a striking red coating of paraffin to preserve them.

The Dutch also enjoy 'decorating bread' with different sweet toppings. According to the publication Icons of the Netherlands: "Magelslag is what the Dutch call chocolate candy, with which they decorate their bread. This comes in four main varieties: dark, milk, white and mixed.

The Dutch also decorate bread with chocolate flakes, apple syrup, Dutch peanut butter and hazelnut spread." Another popular choice is muisjes, a sweet topping that comes in bright colours. When a child is born, visiting well-wishers are treated to beschuit (rusk) sprinkled with either blue or pink muisjes depending on the gender of the child.