National proud!

No matter what you eat, dinner should be joined togheter

Until WW II the Dutch main meal was made from potatoes, vegetables and ocassionally meat. After the war many immigrants came into the country. First caused by the independence of the Dutch colony Indonesia, later by a shortage of laborers in Dutch industries. The immigrants brought along their food habits which remembered them of their identity and their home country. Small Indonesian restaurants were opened soon after, followed by Greek and Italian restaurant opened by those who were not necessary as laborers anymore. The potatoes and vegetables became old fashioned and people started to cook more exotic.

Nowadays the Dutch still love to enjoy food from all over the world. When going out for dinner the Dutch can choose between Thai, Mexican, African, Japanese and so on. Most of the time meals are adapted to Dutch flavors and not even comparable to the original version which you would get when ordered in the country of origin. By that restaurants differ in price and quality.

Recently a trend towards eating more Dutch products pops up. Vegetables are reinvented (vergeten groenten) and meat from Dutch livestock is revalued as is the Dutch fish like Oosterscheldekreeft. This trend is caused by recent food insecurity and diseases but also stimulated by organizations like Slow Food. Moreover some cooks really work hard to make sure that Dutch (quality) food is valued and appreciated again by its inhabitants.

The Italian kitchen is much more traditional. In almost all restaurants the different courses consist out of very Italian products; dried ham (crudo), cheeses, different types of pasta after the starter, meat or fish for main course and sweets as pudding (panna cotta) or a bowl of fruit finished off with a strong cafe. There are definitely differences in the country but those are rooted in history and depend on – for example – the distance to the sea (meat or fish), the local climate and the wealth of the region.

Where Dutch home cooks tend to mix a lot of flavors in one meal, the Italians serve more delicate meals not mixing different flavors, but spreading them out over different courses.

Italians are proud of their kitchen and like to and do enjoy it. Either in a restaurant or in their own kitchen. Hopefully in a few years the Dutch can go shopping for dinner or dine in a restaurant while being proud too of what their country produces!

After work hang-out

A perfect place for an afternoon drink

 Blogpost four out of five deals with our afternoon energy fill-up and the after work drinks.

After a few hours of work, half way the afternoon, you might get hungry and like to eat a snack which gives you enough energy to help you trough until the end of your working day. Both in Italy as well as in The Netherlands you probably choose something like a chocolate bar or some fruit. As far as I know there is nothing special or traditional in any of the two countries.

It seems more interesting to discuss the after work drinks and its snacks. Dutch people might not be as celebrating as people from other countries might be. After work they like to go home to their families, go to the gym or follow a course. But sometimes, especially in the second half of the week, they like to go out for a drink. Mostly after work with colleagues or friends ending at whatever time one feels like going home.

Starting with beers and wines but after a while your stomach starts to scream for some food, because usually dinner is served within two hours after work. Snacks will help you out. Fat snacks like olives, peanuts or potato chips seem to go very well with alcohol. This is where a Dutch tradition comes in.

Although they now have to compete with other snacks like Mexican taco chips and Vietnamese springrolls the bitterballen are still favorite in many bars. They are smaller versions of another typical Dutch fritter named kroketten. A bitterbal is a fried meat stew usually made with meat of veal or cow. The balls are covered with a bread-crumb skin to make sure they stay in shape during the frying process.

The bitterballen are served and eaten hot. Traditionally you dip them in mustard, but you can also eat them straight. There are a lot of companies making the balls but the best ones are those by Kwekkeboom or Van Dobben, the oldest kroketten factories in The Netherlands.

Of course there are also other options for people who are for example vegetarian or for those who want to pay attention to their health. There are different fried snacks filled with spiced rice, vegetables, chicken or fish available in Dutch bars and usually –like in Italy - also different kinds of nuts and chips. But in the end bitterballen are most loved by all the Dutch!

The snacks will help you through you drinking night. But for those still hungry, please visit the blog again tomorrow for the last post of this week. Tomorrow we have the chance to have dinner together.

Pranzo

Halfway the week we are halfway describing a day of differences between eating Italians and Dutch. After today two more blogposts will follow this week.

Dutch streets and shops are full with office staff during lunch time. People go out for a walk to stretch their legs, get some fresh air or go for a quick moment of shopping. This means there is not a lot of time left to eat lunch. Dutch lunches usually consist out of (whole meal) bread covered with cheese or meats prepared at home or sandwiches bought at a bakery. This means having lunch could easily be combined with the lunch walk or when back behind the desk. Apparently the Dutch lunch is not worth spending serious time on.

A lot of other Europeans are much more respectful to the mid-day meal. It might be even more important than dinner since lunch will give us the energy to work until the (early) evening. After dinner we only have to relax and sleep. In countries around a further from the Netherlands shops and offices close for at least one but most of the time for two hours. Streets get quiet and canteens and restaurants fill up with people waiting for a decent hot meal to be served.

In Italy restaurants offer a special workers meal (Menu del Lavoro). This is a two or three courses lunch meal starting with pasta (prima piatti) followed by a main course (secondo piatti) which is usually fish, meat or a salad with some kind of cheese. As a dessert you can have a sweet pudding or cake or some fruit. With this lunch you have some water and maybe some wine. Off course it is finished off with a shot of caffeine which helps you to stay awake after the amount of food just eaten.

Like other meals lunch is a perfect moment to spend with others like colleagues or friends working nearby. You have time to talk with them about work or private matters while in the mean time you enjoy a delicious meal which is not to expensive.

After lunch we have to go back to work. In the Netherlands they work until around five or six o’ clock. In Italy they usually work a bit longer. But before dinner we might need to fill up our energy levels. I will write more on this subject tomorrow.

Coffeelovers

An Italian coffeebar where they sometimes enable you to buy a 12-coffees card

Coffeelovers is the second blogpost in a series of five on the difference between Dutch and Italian habits regarding food.

Around the 16th and 17th century, both Italy and the Netherlands were very active exploring new parts of the world. All kinds of new products were found and traded to the home countries of explorers like Marco Polo and Abel Tasman. Although not all activities were positive for seller and buyer this period introduced us to a product which most of us still enjoy daily; coffee.

Bars and chain stores are still popping up in a lot of Western countries selling different types of coffee – usually with EnglishItalian names like moccachino - sometimes for enormous high prices. Trends are passing by in high pace. It is changing from coffee made in an espresso machine to the so called slow filter coffee.

Where Dutch people drink their coffee to flush away their breakfast or to wake up behind the office desk, Italians reserve a moment to enjoy their first cup of the day. As a sort of breakfast they walk into a bar around ten or eleven in the morning to have a cappuccino or cafe latte (here is the milk which we need for our daily calcium) accompanied by a sweet pastry like a croissant of a muffin.

In relation to quantity and quality there is a big difference visible between the Dutch and the Italian coffee tradition. Dutch people just want a lot of the caffeine containing liquid not bothering whether it is made with freshly grinded beans in an espresso machine or that it comes from a powder machine, often seen in big offices and train and fuel stations. If you want it to get sweeter you add sugar, if you want it milder you add koffiemelk (evaporated milk) or, even worse, creamer (milk powder which solves in the coffee).

The Italians have more rules and traditions. You can have a cappuccino or a cafe latte only till 11 in the morning. After lunch or dinner you have an espresso or a café lungo. Coffee is made from freshly grinded beans in an espresso machine which is handled by the bartender or a barista who knows how to deal with it.

After the coffee break it’s just a short period until lunch which starts around 12.30u in both Italy and the Netherlands. Make sure you are hungry!

A good start

A typical Dutch breakfast

Today the first blogpost in a series of five on the difference between Dutch and Italian habits of food starting with breakfast.

Dutch food experts strongly advise to start your day with a good breakfast full of cereals, some milk or a cup of tea or coffee. Breakfast is best enjoyed with your partner or family but if you are alone a newspaper is also good company.

In practice not many Dutch people will have or take the time to do it in the way food experts prefer. Most people like to stay in bed as long as possible, especially in the cold and dark winter days resulting in having only little time left to take a shower, getting dressed and eat breakfast. Most of the time the latter is skipped or combined with travel time in car or train.

To promote the fact that eating breakfast is an absolute necessity to have enough energy until lunch each year the Nationale Schoolontbijt is organized. This event focuses on school kids between 4 and 12 years old and their parents. It should show them the importance of eating healthy food as well as the social benefit one has when eating together. Thereby it should prevent kids from getting overweight.

Holidays are the best moments to enjoy breakfast in the way it should; bread which has just arrived from the bakery around the corner, fresh croissants and orange juice and some hot drink preferably served on a sunny terrace. But people spending their holiday in Italy might be disappointed about the possibilities offered by the hotels. Italians don’t really have a breakfast the way it is done in the Northern part of Europe. They rather start their day with a good cup of cappuccino and some sweet pastry.

Tomorrows’ blogpost will talk about coffee habits in both countries.

Food exchange

The pride of Piemonte now conquering the world: Eataly

Deze week een aantal korte blogposts in het Engels waarin de verschillen tussen de Nederlandse en Italiaanse eetcultuur worden besproken.

Everybody needs food to survive and have energy to do the things one has to do each day, no matter what country he or she lives in. The role food has in daily lifedepends among others on the countries history, climate, the economic situation and culture. In some countries getting food is people’s main activity; they work hard all day to be able to buy just enough food to feed their families. In other countries food is widely available to everyone without the need to put a lot of effort in it.

Inspired during a week in Italy’s food heaven Piemonte where food is pure and local. But maybe even more inspired on the flight home. The two Italians sitting next to me were amazed by the Dutch food traditions described in their travel guide.

Italy and The Netherlands are both Western countries. Food is available to everyone. To some extent the history of food in both countries is also similar. As John Dickie explains in his book Delizia! the Italian farmer families did not have plenty of food. They had to cook with the products available but the woman where able to make delicious and nutritious meals which nowadays we can still see in the Italian kitchen.

The Dutch living in the colder northern European climate mainly where also limited in the amount and diversity of products. Most meals in farmers houses consisted out of (mashed) potatoes and vegetables. Only in weekends, on festive days or in wealthier periods meat would be part of the meal.

But Italy also has a different relation to food. In history lessons about European history we learn that Italy was a country with powerful leaders, wealthy popes, kings and cardinals, and intelligent people. These people did not have to work hard and spent their days eating enormous banquets. Some of them even spread out over more days. Although this overload does not always sound healthy, a lot of habits which are still visible in the modern Italian kitchen come from that period.

This week I will describe a day in which two different countries feed themselves. Each blog post will be posted at the time the food is eaten. So breakfast early in the morning, lunch at mid-day and dinner in the (early) evening. After five short stories in which Italian and Dutch habits will be compared you can decide yourself which habits you prefer and which not. I hope it inspires both!

Hospitality

Het eten wat je krijgt tijdens een vliegreis is meestal niet om over naar huis te schrijven. Een maaltijd op een aantal duizend meter hoogte kan je eetervaringen van de vakantie in een keer teniet doen. Maar vliegtuigen zijn nu eenmaal bedoeld om je snel van de ene naar de andere kant naar de wereld te brengen en stoten veel vuile stoffen uit. Voedselproductie in en om vliegvelden lijkt daarom niet zo voor de hand liggend.

Voor ziekenhuizen is het een ander verhaal. Van het eten wat daar geserveerd wordt, schijn je je ook niet echt beter te gaan voelen, laat staan te genezen. En dat terwijl het menselijk lichaam heel gevoelig reageert op eten en ervoor kan zorgen dat men zich goed, maar ook dat men zich slecht voelt. Na het eten van een zak chips zal het lopen van een marathon een stuk minder gemakkelijk gaan dan wanneer je een bord groente leeg hebt gegeten.

Ziekenhuizen zijn groot en nemen veel ruimte in. Vroeger waren deze gelegen in stadscentra, maar steeds meer nieuwbouw wordt verplaatst naar de stadsranden waar grond een stuk goedkoper is. De nieuwe ziekenhuizen zijn vriendelijker, laten veel daglicht toe en zijn er op gericht het de patiënt, de bezoeker en het personeel zo aangenaam mogelijk te maken.

Naast deze architectonische ingrepen kan ook de omgeving van de ziekenhuizen mee ontworpen worden. Voedselproductie voor de ziekenhuizen kan (deels) op het terrein plaatsvinden. Patiënten die langdurig in het ziekenhuis verblijven kunnen met elkaar in contact komen, revaliderende patiënten gebruiken de tuinen voor hun dagelijkse beweging en frisse lucht en voor alle patiënten kan de kwaliteit van de maaltijd aanzienlijk verbeterd worden.

Ziekenhuizen die niet de mogelijkheid hebben een tuin aan te leggen kunnen op een andere manier actief zijn in het verbeteren van hun maaltijden. In samenwerking met >Slow Food hebben het Alice Hospital in Darmstadt en het San Giovanni Antica Sede (Turijn)afspraken gemaakt met lokale producten om producten van hen af te nemen. Hiermee wordt de afstand die het eten tussen producent en consument aflegt een stuk korter, wordt de lokale economie gestimuleerd en krijgen de patiënten producten van kwaliteit uit hun eigen omgeving te eten. Je zou er bijna je been voor willen breken.

Plastic Fantastic

Je trekt je jas aan, pakt je huissleutels en portemonnee en stapt op de fiets om boodschappen te gaan doen. Je slaat wat in voor het avondeten en meer, want ‘ het was in de aanbieding’. Met een vol mandje sta je bij de kassa. Plots realiseer je dat je de boodschappen ook nog thuis moet brengen. Toch maar weer een plastic tas kopen.

Het is vreemd dat het meenemen van een boodschappentas bij veel mensen niet valt onder “ik ga boodschappen doen en neem mee……”. Inspiratie opdoen voor bijzondere boodschappen tassen die het straatbeeld vullen bleek lastig. De resultaten van een aantal fotosessies zijn de zien op Flickr. Net als dat de straten rondom de Bijenkorf geel kleuren tijdens de Drie Dwaze Dagen kan je de nabijheid van een bepaalde supermarkt herkennen aan de grote hoeveelheid plastic boodschappentassen.

Voor de supermarkten is het een goede stunt. Klanten betalen een klein bedrag voor de tassen (waarschijnlijk veel meer dan ze kosten) en tonen vervolgens aan iedereen waar zij hun boodschappen doen.

De tassen zijn vaak van redelijke kwaliteit en zouden meer dan een keer gebruikt kunnen worden. Maar in de praktijk komt het er waarschijnlijk op neer dat ze na een keer in een lade verdwijnen. De consument zal haar gewoontes moeten aanpassen om dit te veranderen. Aan het rijtje jas, sleutels, geld moet ook de boodschappentas toegevoegd worden. Er zijn genoeg leuke boodschappentassen te koop die van goede kwaliteit zijn en daarom lang mee gaan. Daarnaast scheelt het een hoop plastic en maakt het omgeving van de supermarkt een stuk inspirerender!