In honor of herring, festivals are even held in Holland
This fish is sold on the street directly from stalls: they put lightly salted herring without scales and bones on a paper plate, and sprinkle it with onions. You need to take the fish by the tail and put it whole into your mouth. The Dutch love herring so much that they even make hot dogs out of it.
In any restaurant and any eatery, they cook fish dishes amazingly. A multitude of dishes from fresh river and sea fish, shrimp and shellfish – the country ranks first in the world in their consumption.
In Holland, an incredible amount of potatoes is also produced and consumed. Boiled, fried, stewed potatoes, in the form of puree, croquettes, or as an addition to casseroles and omelets are on the Dutch table every day.
They consume relatively little meat and do not refuse offal. The most typical dish is 'hotpot' – tender boiled or stewed meat with vegetable puree. There is also 'stamppot' – mashed potatoes with cabbage and smoked sausages, as well as meat stew – 'hutspot'. Special smoked sausages are also popular, usually served with applesauce.
By the way, applesauce is very popular in Holland. They even eat it with chicken. The Dutch also love light, melt-in-the-mouth meatballs, which are served with mustard on skewers as appetizers.
The most popular Dutch sauce is made from eggs, butter and milk, with lemon and balsamic vinegar. This thick gravy is reminiscent of mayonnaise and is served with meat, fish, vegetables – in short, with any dish.
Soups are also held in high regard in the Netherlands. For example, thick pea soup with smoked sausage, in which a spoon can actually stand. Mustard soup is also incredibly tasty, and if it is made with smoked eel, one bowl will clearly not be enough.
Holland has long been famous for its cheeses. Cheese is served here as an appetizer, for dessert, and it is always added to salads.
Favorite local desserts are spicy crunchy cookies 'speculaas', and the truly Dutch invention – 'stroopwafels' made of two thin layers of dough baked with caramel filling. Delicious donuts covered with glaze or powdered sugar, with fillings for every taste, are sold at every step.
The most popular drink in the Netherlands is, of course, beer. It has been brewed here since the 14th century. There is a myriad of beer varieties: light and dark, weak and very, very strong. They even invented non-alcoholic beer for dogs made from malt and beef so that a person can treat their best friend.
Source: Magazine "Menu for You"
_