The cultural wonder that is 'Dutch food'

A recent article in Dutch newspaper het Parool examined the renaissance of Dutch food in Amsterdam. A few years ago it seemed that pizza was the main form of Dutch cuisine, at least based on the number of restaurants. But now some establishments are switching from pizza to ‘Dutch food’, which I Amsterdam argues is a ‘cultural wonder’:

So what is Dutch food exactly? Generally speaking, it’s simple and hearty with meat stews, soups, fish, seafood and frietjes (fries) featuring heavily on menus. Perhaps the best way to taste traditional Dutch food is to get someone’s grandmother to invite you over for dinner. 

Stampot anyone?

As the article explains, not all these Dutch restaurants are new - De Blauwe Hollander opened in 1979. The Blue Hollander refers to the uniforms worn by Dutch Marines who were sent overseas and developed a nostalgic longing for classic dishes such as stamppot. The current owner, in line with the multicultural nature of the city, is originally from Armenia. “De Blauwe Hollander was doing so well that I decided to open a new Dutch restaurant. And I’m already looking for the next location.”

Probably the new location will be around the Leidseplein, which has emerged as a Dutch Food hotspot, largely thanks to the tourists that have flooded the city in recent years: “The guests are mainly tourists. And Dutch people bringing foreign friends”. Although in the pasts tourists were mainly visiting the major museums or taking day trips to Volendam, that has changed as the notion of authenticity has shifted. These days, authentic culture is often equated with the ‘local’, even though the local culture is increasingly multicultural. And whereas in the past tourists might have been pointed to restaurants by guide books, these days they tend to be driven by social media.

A Japanese tourist is waiting outside of The Pantry with his mom, to get a table for lunch. “There’s a queue here, so the food must be the best.” They had already tried Dutch meatballs earlier; now they want to try stamppot. “When we travel, we like to taste the local food.”

As our recent research on food outlets in Amsterdam featured on TikTok showed, “Tourists see the shops on social media, go there themselves and make a similar video. A visit becomes a kind of performance, and the shop’s status as a tourist destination is reinforced.”

The Parool article also recounts how the Dutch airline KLM has tried to woo passengers with Dutch food: “Tourists flying to Amsterdam with KLM often get a preview of Dutch food on board – a sandwich with Beemster cheese and stroopwafels.” Unfortunately,  next month, free cheese sandwiches will be ditched in favour of paid options. By introducing ‘Grand Café KLM’, the airline aims to save money while arugably “offering passengers more choice” and adapting to “ changing customer preferences and industry trends.”

The end of free Dutch food on KLM flights has meant significant changes for its suppliers. Bakkerij Carl Siegert, a historic bakery from Harmelen has supplied KLM with more than 200 million slices of bread over a 13-year partnership. Qizini, a large-scale food manufacturing company added the Beemster cheese and prepared the pre-packaged sandwiches for airline catering and CONO Kaasmakers supplied the cheese filling. CONO said their partnership with KLM will continue via cheese blocks and other snacks sold on board. They concluded their contribution with the phrase: "Fasten your cheese belts!

The decline of Dutch food being served in KLM Economy Class contrasts with the growth of Dutch restaurants in the centre of Amsterdam. But it is symbolic of the problems of the Dutch flag carrying airline, which recently reported a sharp decline in operating profit, despite an increase in revenue. This was due to rising equipment and personnel costs, and higher airport fees.  The airline therefore implemented a €450 million cost-saving plan to improve financial performance. As a result, you may have to wait until you get to Leidseplein until you can taste some Dutch food in future.

In anticipation of your visit, here is a blog post by a Mexican student studying in Amsterdam on 'Surviving Dutch gastronomy'.