Nobody ever moves to the Netherlands because they love Dutch food. I really wish six years of living here have allowed me to opine otherwise. But I can't, because there really isn't that much to love about Dutch food.
It's not that Dutch food is bad, per se (though newcomers who've been coerced into trying Hollandse Nieuwe will probably beg to differ). It's that, on the spectrum of taste between "horrifying" and "divine", so much of it occupies that vast space of "indifferent". And if you've just moved here, nothing drives home the feeling of utter loneliness than your first trip to a Dutch supermarket and finding that all of your familiar friends have abandoned you at the border.
This blog isn't really meant to be a cooking blog, though it will have lots of recipes. It's not a "Dutch life" blog, though I'll probably inadvertently slip in something about living here every now and then and an occasional picture of my kid. Although the title is Zuinig, it's also not a frugality blog, although I will endeavor to keep track of the euros in the interest of proving that it doesn't cost a lot to eat well.
What it is about--and why I've called it Zuinig--it's about getting the most for your time and money. Which doesn't make it all that different from other blogs on the topic, I suppose, except for the fact that I'll be dealing with things like tokos and halal butchers, bemoaning the potato, and showcasing lots of stamppot.
It's not that Dutch food is bad, per se (though newcomers who've been coerced into trying Hollandse Nieuwe will probably beg to differ). It's that, on the spectrum of taste between "horrifying" and "divine", so much of it occupies that vast space of "indifferent". And if you've just moved here, nothing drives home the feeling of utter loneliness than your first trip to a Dutch supermarket and finding that all of your familiar friends have abandoned you at the border.
This blog isn't really meant to be a cooking blog, though it will have lots of recipes. It's not a "Dutch life" blog, though I'll probably inadvertently slip in something about living here every now and then and an occasional picture of my kid. Although the title is Zuinig, it's also not a frugality blog, although I will endeavor to keep track of the euros in the interest of proving that it doesn't cost a lot to eat well.
What it is about--and why I've called it Zuinig--it's about getting the most for your time and money. Which doesn't make it all that different from other blogs on the topic, I suppose, except for the fact that I'll be dealing with things like tokos and halal butchers, bemoaning the potato, and showcasing lots of stamppot.
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