Stuff you need backpacking around the Netherlands

Haring, ready to eat Dutch traditional cuisine is basic. However, due to influences from Indonesian, Surinam, Chinese and (North) African immigrants there is an abundancy of foodcultures to choose from. In the big cities you can eat good Thai food (on the Nieuwmarkt in Amsterdam for instance) for a bargain price, and in the Chinese quarters you can get authentic Chinese food, though of a basic nature. You will also be able to find a restaurant from every corner of the world (especially in Amsterdam). Every bigger village has its own Chinese restaurant where you can eat a lot for a little money, but the taste is aimed at the Dutch citizen with little 'taste' for adventure (no herbs, a lot of sugar). They have been influenced by the Dutch-East Indies from the times as they were a colony of the Netherlands, like the famous 'Dutch Indien Ricetable' with a variety of small dishes. It is also a bit comparible with Chinese or Eastern take-away-shops in other countries. These restaurants often advertise as "Chin.Ind." for "Chinese/Indien (Indonesian)". They mosttimes have a sit-in area and a counter or separate entrance for take-away with lower prices. Some restaurants do have a separate menu with specialties from a specific region, like Schezuan. Also around every corner in a city centre, near public transportation areas or even in more quiet quarters is a 'friture', also known as 'snackbar' or 'cafetaria', which mainly sells french fries (also known as "Patat" or "Friet" (pommes-frites)). You can have a lot of things added to your french fries: mayonaise ('frites sauce'), (tomato-)ketchup, curry, pinda sauce (heated 'peanut'butter' sauce or sateh sauce), cutted raw onions, cold apple sauce etc. They also sell all kinds of other fried snacks, like "kroketten" ('croquette') and "frikandellen". Snacks you could try there, are: "Broodje Kroket" (a breadroll with a ragout-filled, crispy covered kroket snack), "Frikandel speciaal" (a long cylinder of spiced meat, cut open and adorned with mayonaise, ketchup or currysauce, and optionally sprinkled with raw onion) and "patatje/frites oorlog (=war)" or sometimes called '-Feest' (=Party or Fiesta) or '-Vrede' (=Peace) (i.e. french fries, mayonaise, pinda sauce , optionally sprinkled with onion). Note that "mayonnaise" in the context of french fries is distinctly different from french mayonnaise, and is more accurately described as "frietsaus" (fries sauce); it is firmer, sweeter and contains less fat, whilst remaining just as unhealthy. The snacks listed here are very much the antithesis of high cuisine, but among with other "typically dutch" foodstuffs some of the things Dutch expats miss most about their country. Modern Dutch restaurants and cafés serve better food lately, mostly meat, vegetables, served with fries/fried potatoes and salad. If you eat in a café then food is affordable, you can also go to upscale restaurants where prices go up equally. Most of the time profit is made from the drinks, so be careful there if you're on a budget. Expect service in restaurants to be pretty slow, especially if you are American. This is not because you're being treated differently, but because the Dutch, like most Europeans, tend to live at a much more relaxed place. There is not as much emphasis on fast or overly-attentive service. Service is included in the menu prices and tipping is not mandatory, but rounding up is the polite and kind thing to do. Traditional highlights are:

• Herring eaten raw ('haring'). New herrings ('Hollandse Nieuwe') is a special treat available around june.
• sweet ("zoet") or ... ("hartig") Pancakes in variety of tastes like with apple, syrup, cheese, bacon etc. ('pannenkoeken' available in 'pannenkoekenhuizen')
• small or miniature pancakes ('poffertjes' available in 'poffertjeshuizen')
• Mashed potatoes with onions, carrots and bacon (hotch-potch 'hutspot')
• Pea soup ('erwtensoep' or 'snert') made of green-peas
• Stroopwafel. Two thin layers with syrup in between. Available packaged from any supermarket or made fresh on most street markets.

Other "typically dutch" foodstuffs are;

• Chocolate sprinkles ("Hagelslag"), used to sprinkle on top of buttered slices of bread (much like jam),
• Chocolate spread on bread,
• Bars of unadorned chocolate,
• Dutch peanut butter on bread, which is considerably different from e.g. US peanut butter. (And sometimes extra topped with chocolate sprinkles to make it not so 'dry' to eat)
• A bread roll with butter and a slice of cheese for lunch, rather than more elaborate lunches,
• Dutch coffee (dark, high caffeine grounds, traditionally brewed),
• Oranjebitter (orange, bitter liquor drunk only on Koninginnedag), jenever (a sort of gin), Dutch beers
• Rookworst (literally "smoked sausage"), available to go from HEMA outlets,
• "Limburgse vlaai" (predominantly in the South of the Netherlands) a kind of cold pie, usually with a fruit topping.

Some of these "typically dutch" foodstuffs taste significantly different from, but do not necessarily improve upon, specialties from other countries. For example, while Dutch coffee and chocolate can instill feelings of homesickness in expats and might be seen as "soulfood", fine Belgian chocolate and Italian coffees (espresso, etc.) are considered to be delicacies. Liquorice ("drop", originally a black candy) is something you love or hate, you can buy all kinds of varieties. You can get it from sweet to extremely salty (Double salt) and in a hard or soft bite.

The legal drinking age is 16 for LOW alcohol percentages ( beer, wine) and 18 for high alcohol percentages (brandy, whiskey etc).

• Beer

Although the Dutch beer "Heineken" is one of the most prestigious beers in the world, it is just one of the many beer brands in the Netherlands. You can get all kind of beers from white beer to dark beer. Popular brands are Heineken, Grolsch, Brand, Bavaria, Amstel etc. Traditional beers come from monasteries in South of the Netherlands (Brabant and Limburg) or Belgium. You can visit a traditional beer brewer in for instance 'Berkel-Enschot' at the 'Trappistenklooster'. It needs to be said that the brewery is now owned by the big brewer Bavaria, so it's not so traditional anymore. Most breweries have nowadays also produce a non-alcoholic variant of ther beers, like Bavaria Malt or Amstel Malt. Which consist sometimes 0% or less than 0,5 alcohol and is very suitable for people who would like to drive and don't drink (or sometimes called "de Bob" as promoted in its campaign). In Amsterdam you can visit a local brewery located in a windmill called "brouwerij 't IJ"

• Tea

Dutch drink black tea, and they keep it as watery as possible and comes in many diffrent tastes, from traditional to fruit infusions etc. Luckily, if you're English, you get the teabag served with a cup of hot (but never boiling!) water, so you can make your own version. Milk in your tea is almost unheard of and only given to children.

• Coffee

Coffee is almost compulsory when you are going to visit people. One of the first questions when coming through the door is often "Koffie?" and it is served in small cups (half a mug) with cookies. If you're from the States or Canada, you can drink one cup of Dutch coffee in the morning and add water the rest of the day! If you order 'koffie verkeerd' (which literally means a "wrong coffee") you get the French 'café au lait' which is less strong with fresh milk.

• Hot chocolate

Hot chocolate with whipped cream is a winter tradition in the Netherlands. It really fills you after a cold walk. In the summer you can also get it in every decent bar, however sometimes it's made from powder as opposed to traditionally, and doesn't taste that good.

• Bitters

Also popular in winter are alcoholic bitters. From the province of Friesland the bitter called Beerenburg originated which is served in the entire country. Almost all other regions and produce their local, less famous variants of a bitter.

Costs

Accommodation and food is on the expensive side. Rail travel, museums, and attractions are relatively cheap. Retail prices for clothing, gifts, etc. are similar to most of Western Europe; consumer electronics are a bit more expensive. Gasoline, tobacco and alcohol are relatively expensive due to excise taxes.

Shop

The Netherlands is a good place to buy flowers. Outside florists, you can buy them pre-packaged in most supermarkets.

Klompen

The famous "wooden shoes" are surprisingly comfortable and very useful in any rural setting. Think of them as all-terrain footwear; easy to put on for a walk in the garden, field or dirt road. If you live in a rural area at home, consider taking a pair of these with you if you can. Avoid the kitschy tourist shops at schiphol and Amsterdam's damrak street, and instead look for a regular vendor which can usually be found in towns and villages in rural areas. The northern province of Friesland has a lot of stores selling wooden shoes, often adorned with the bright colors of the Frisian flag.