My Thoughts on NEtherlands Cuisine

*by Isabella Castelo*

I’ve been in Europe for almost three months now, and what is something I’ve had to do every day here, without fail? Eat. Before coming here, my expectations were very high. I thought I was going to be eating goooood; I was so wrong. In the Netherlands, the cuisine consists of potatoes, mushrooms, fried food, and dry rice. While these don’t sound that bad on paper, when you have no choice but to eat from these four categories every day for three months, it starts to piss you off.

That is why I’ll be using this post to list some of my least favorite foods from my time here!

1. Any attempt at vodka sauce (1/10)

I don’t eat meat, and a lot of times the meatless options were to be desired at the dining hall here. Something they did very often was tempeh in vodka sauce—it just looked like vodka sauce; if I’m being honest I have no idea what it was. I tried to love it every time but it was impossible to get down. I wasn't strong enough for that battle and finally decided to quit on these orange soybean bricks.

2. Fish stew (3/10)

Walking out of your room and being hit by the pungent smell of a variety of random fish made into a slop isn’t a nice way to end a random Tuesday; however, it is how I ended a LOT of said random Tuesdays. Usually, it was a mixture of salmon with a variety of white fish options mixed in there. I’m a big fish lover, so this isn’t a biased report, but after two or three bites by body rejects that kind of stuff. It knows when something isn’t supposed to be swallowed, and that fish stew is at the top of the list

3. Fried discs (5/10)

These were round, orange, hockey puck esq sides. I did appreciate the crunch, but the flavor was mysterious, to say the least. It looked as if they cooked spaghetti in some kind of “seasoning”(this is in quotes because no matter what they tried to do it was all incredibly bland) and deep fried that with Hot Cheeto panko bread crumbs. Yum!

Those were all very negative, but I do have some honorable mentions that I’ll miss when I return home. The favorite chip flavor in the Netherlands isn’t any of the classics. No salt and vinegar, sour cream and onion, or barbeque. No, here you have paprika chips. Do they taste anything like paprika? No of course not, but they are delicious just the same (I’m actually munching on them as we speak). I’ve never seen this flavor in the US and I’ll have to say a serious goodbye at the end of my stay because I really will miss them. Also, the mayo + fry combination is unmatched. At home, I was very anti this combination, but here the mayo is just different in Europe. It’s slightly thicker, less eggy, and, dare I say, a little sweet. Everything about it is perfect and I would bathe in it if I could. I’ll try it when I get back home but I have some serious doubts about it being the same.

If you’re reading this and thinking about coming to Kastell Well, do not be discouraged. The shitty food is a small price to pay for how amazing it is here. Also, the woman who serves our food makes it all worth it and if she ever sees this I’ll be so ashamed. I’m sorry girl! Love you but not your cooking.

Love,

Isabella

Photograph: Pinterest

My Thoughts on Netherlands Cuisine