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Lesson Transcript

Mies: Welcome back to DutchPod101.com. All About lesson 7 Top 6 Dutch Dishes. I'm Mies.
Jacob: Ik heet Jacob.
Mies: I think most people don’t really know what Dutch cuisine is.
Jacob: Yes, most people know about the tulips and the windmills but when it comes to the food…
Mies: Haha, yeah you are right. Well I think people have heard about the Dutch cheese.
Jacob: Yeah Edam and Gouda cheese, and of course Heineken beer.
Mies: Wow you are already thinking about beer, but let’s start with Dutch breakfast.
Jacob: Waaa, I am hungry! Let’s eat.
Mies: Okay let’s see what do we have in store, bread and “beschuit”
Jacob: “Beschuit”, also known as Dutch crispbakes, are light, round, rather crumbly, rusks that are eaten in the Netherlands with breakfast.
Mies: Yes and to celebrate a newborn baby.
Jacob: Indeed, It is customary to serve “beschuit met muisjes” (sprinkled with "little mice" which are anise seeds covered in white, pink or blue sugar) at the birth of a baby.
Mies: Lets get back to breakfast, what do you want on your “beschuit”
Jacob: I would love some “hagelslag”
Mies: Yes Dutch hagelslag, chocolate sprinkles. Did you know that they were first invented in 1936 by Gerard de Vries?
Jacob: I didn’t know that.
Mies: Well let’s eat our breakfast. “Eet smakelijk “, hmm, how would you translate that.
Jacob: I don’t think there is any English translation possible so how about the French, bon appetite
Mies. Yes I guess that will do, “Eet smakelijk”
Jacob: “Eet smakelijk”
Mies: Well that was good. Let’s go for a walk.
Jacob: Can you bring the “drop”
Mies: That's another very Dutch thing.
Jacob: Yeah I guess so! A famous Dutch sweet is zoute drop, salty liquorice and liquorice sweets. These sweets are small, black and look much like gums.
Mies: Yeah the salty liquorice definitely is an acquired taste.
Jacob: I love it but I once gave it to a friend from Japan…… he thought I was poisoning him.
Mies: Ha ha! Yeah, maybe you have to be Dutch to love it.
Jacob: Okay. Let’s go for that walk you were talking about.
Mies : The holiday season is coming up again and you know what that means.
Jacob: Yeah yummy food! I can’t wait to eat some “pepernoten” again.
Mies Hmm.. yeah I guess you can best describe “pepernoten” as gingernut-like biscuits but made with cinnamon, pepper, cloves and nutmeg mix of spices,
Jacob: And we have; “oliebollen” on New Year’s Eve.
Mies: These deep fried dough balls, are served with powdered sugar and are a special treat for New Year's Eve.
Jacob: Yeah and our house will smell of the piping hot oil again used to prepare the oliebollen.
Mies: Lets have a snack…all this food talk makes me hungry!
Jacob: Yeah good idea, we just passed by the FEBO.
Mies: Haha, the FEBO, a chain of Dutch walk-up fast food restaurants, like a wall full of vending machines
Jacob: Did you know the FEBO was founded in 1941 in Amsterdam?
Mies: I didn’t know that. What will you have a cheese soufflé, a kroket, or a frikandel?
Jacob: I think I will go for some fries with mayonnaise
Mies: Haha, mayonnaise. Do you remember the scene in Pulp fiction?
Jacob: Yeah where Vincent says: "But you know what they put on french fries in Holland instead of ketchup?" and Jules says "What?", and
Vincent says "Mayonnaise."
Mies: Well I don’t really feel like eating food out of the wall. I would like to eat a “Hollandse Nieuwe” is a raw herring, which we eat by lifting the herring high in the air by its tail, and eating it upwards.
Jacob: Maybe I can teach you something else – did you know that traditionally the Dutch diet consisted of bread and herring?
Mies: Hmm, no I didn’t but how about potatoes.
Jacob: Well the potatoes didn’t arrive in Europe till the
18Th century when the Spanish brought them from Peru to Europe. At first people didn’t like the potatoes at all, but now they eat them every day.
Mies: Wow Jacob, you are teaching me a lot of new things today! Very nice but for now lets eat our fries and herring, “ Eet smakelijk”
Jacob: Eet smakelijk.
Mies: Hmm, that was “lekker “, “tasty” in Dutch.
Jacob: Yeah mine was “lekker” too!
Mies: Come on Jacob, we need to do something to get rid of these calories
Jacob: Sure, do you have any suggestions?
Mies: Well since the canals are frozen, I suggest we go ice skating.
Jacob: Yeah that is a great plan, and after that we can eat more!
Mies: Exactly what I was thinking.
Jacob: I also heard that they sell hot chocolate and “stroopwafels” along the canal.
Mies: Hmm “Stroopwafels” In English people would say syrup waffle.
Jacob: or treacle waffle
Mies: It is a waffle made from two thin layers of baked batter with a caramel-like syrup filling in the middle.
Jacob: Yeah and they are soooo good !
Mies: Let’s go ice skating !
Jacob: Ha yeah let’s…… stroopwafel……
Mies: Well ice skating was fun but I am real hungry now.
Jacob: Its cold so let’s have some real Dutch winter food.
Mies / Jacob: Stamppot!
Jacob: ha ha yeah. Ask anyone from the Netherlands what they would consider the “Dutchest” dish of all Dutch dishes and they will probably tell you 'stamppot'.
Mies: Stamppot; This hearty vegetable mash is usually made of potatoes and other vegetables. It is traditionally served with a smoked pork sausage, known as 'rookworst', and gravy. The ultimate in comfort food!
Jacob: Yeah and I need my “appelmoes” , apple sauce
Mies: Haha, you are still a little boy aren’t you.
Jacob: Pfffff there is nothing childish about eating applemoes.
Mies: Well, I don’t know about that but I must admit I like it too.
Jacob: So if someone asks you: what is Dutch food like?, what would you say?
Mies: I would say: we eat a lot of bread, and potatoes.
Jacob: with meat and vegetables.
Mies: We do eat fish but less then meat.
Jacob: And diary products, milk and cheese.
Mies: Yeah, but actually nowadays you can eat many different kinds of food.
Jacob: Holland is very multicultural and this definitely influenced our diet.
Mies: Indeed you can eat food from all around the world; Italian, Turkish, Chinese.
Jacob: The other day a Japanese restaurant opened near my house.
Mies: So what do you know about table manners Jacob?
Jacob: Everything I need to know! I sit down at the table and eat.
Mies: Haha, I see. So what do we say again before we start eating:
Jacob: “ eet smakelijk “
Mies: Indeed, yeah after this is said we can start eating.
Jacob: Oh yeah and my mom always told me not to put my elbows on the table.
Mies: I think I like your mom! And where do we leave our fork and knife when we are finished eating.
Jacob: Yeah I know that one too. We put them side by side on our plate.
Mies: Very well.
Jacob. See, I am not the barbarian you think I am.
Mies: Haha yeah, you’ve proven me wrong.
Mies: So let’s have a look at the top 5 Dutch delicacies
Jacob: At number 5 I would say “Poffertjes”
Mies: Hmm, poffertjes, small, fluffy pancakes typically served topped with powdered sugar and butter.
Jacob: Yeah and having your face and clothing covered in the powdered sugar is part of the fun.
Mies: At number 4 I would say: “ Broodje kroket”
Jacob: a bun with a croquette, love it don’t forget the mustard for me.
Mies: What would you put on number 3?
Jacob: Hollandse Nieuwe
Mies: Yeah, this herring we can best buy in Enkhuizen
Jacob: So this brings us to number 2
Mies: The stroopwafel
Jacob: Yeah, I like to eat them together with a strong cup of coffee.
Mies: Strong coffee…that is very Dutch too.
Jacob: Let’s say the number one together.
Jacob/ Mies: Stamppot
Mies: Mashed potatoes, with cabbage and a tasty sausage. Now, you can’t beat that.
Jacob: How about some food for the brave?.
Mies: Some challenging food?
Jacob: Yeah what would you suggest there?
Mies: At number 5 I would say “Hutspot”.
Jacob: Mashed potatoes with carrots and onion, yummy, not much of a challenge for me.
Mies: What would you put on number 4?
Jacob: Frikandel speciaal.
Mies: a kind of sausage made all sorts of left over meat, from intestines to brain. Eaten together with mayonnaise, ketchup and onion.
Jacob: I know not the healthiest but I like it. So your number 3?
Mies: Balkenbrij
Jacob: A kind of meat cake made out of various cuts of the animal-like liver, kidney and lungs. Hmm, doesn’t sound too tempting.
Mies: I know but actually its pretty tasty. Your number 2?
Jacob: Rolmops
Mies: pickled herring fillets, rolled into a cylindrical shape. Okay and what would you say is the most challenging food? We named it before.
Jacob/Mies: Zoute drop, salty licorice.
Mies: If you like it you can truly say you are Dutch.
Jacob: Haha, yes you can.
Jacob: Wow! I really liked this lesson
Mies: Yes, and get to know more on the next "All About Greece" series at Dutch Pod101.com.
Jacob: See you next time.
Mies: Bye!
Jacob: Dag!

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