@hanktank61@nerdjoy.social @EllenInEdmonton@mstdn.ca I had white asparagus topped with eggs and ham 20 years ago, prepared by my Dutch roommates. But white asparagus are a spring dish, they don't grow in any other season.
Supermarkets and markets are the places to explore to understand a country and its people. Just by looking at the food that is sold.
So I have many good things to say about the NL. Their urban planning and their pragmatism is something I highly value, with bikes being the absolute queens ♥
️.
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@hanktank61@nerdjoy.social @EllenInEdmonton@mstdn.ca
I spent a great week in Papendal, surrounded by the forest and the facilities where Dutch elite athletes train. Truly beautiful ❤
️ and I haven't seen anything comparable anywhere else yet.
But I can't change my mind about the lack of love towards food. And I am not a difficult person, as I reprimand anyone badmouthing the British, because I love a good fish & chips, a delicious shepherd's pie or even the English breakfast. The same goes for the Scandinavians
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@s1m0n4@ohai.social @hanktank61@nerdjoy.social @EllenInEdmonton@mstdn.ca There is a difference between what you can get in the cities in NL and rural areas, also at the Albert Heyn, and a difference in how people see food in traditional protestant and catholic areas. I would never go to Papendal for good food (sorry, Papendal). We have lots of great international ingredients, food, wine, cheese and ambundance of different restaurants near where I live, but no real local cuisine, no; upper class was always french focused.
@mel@nerdjoy.social @hanktank61@nerdjoy.social @EllenInEdmonton@mstdn.ca I spent a semester doing my master thesis in Maastricht, some 20 years ago. At that time there weren't so many different cuisines and no restaurants I could afford. Going to Albert Heijn was like an errand into despair, for a young Italian like me at that time. The weekly market was lovely. And my love for bikes and cities evolving around those started at that time.
I have many fond memories. People. Trains. My work. Food isn't one of them though 😂
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@s1m0n4@ohai.social @hanktank61@nerdjoy.social @EllenInEdmonton@mstdn.ca Haha, even in Maastricht... 😆
Sharing horror stories of how our parents would feed us their version of exotic food (like spaghetti, haha) is a thing of Dutch gen X. Now Italian friends who live in NL are happy with all the different cuisines here. But that is eg. in The Hague and Rotterdam.
@mel@nerdjoy.social @s1m0n4@ohai.social @hanktank61@nerdjoy.social
Rural cuisine is almost always less diverse than urban cuisine. Hopefully, fresher and healthier, but that depends a lot on the region. Over the last decade or so, rural cuisine in western Canada has become much more diverse, as newcomers to Canada settle in small communities. We used to have Chinese Western cafés in all small towns, but now, it might be Thai, Mexican, Eritrean, or Korean.
@EllenInEdmonton@mstdn.ca @mel@nerdjoy.social @s1m0n4@ohai.social We are losing Dutch/Chinese restaurants in Holland. Coming in after WW2. Copying Indonesian kitchen that was better known in the main Ports Amsterdam and Rotterdam for many years.
Some became very good. We had a Chinese/ Canadian girl staying with us in 2009. Grew up in Little Italy Toronto, did not recognize Dutch Chinese at all 🙂
But many, the good ones too, have nobody to continue. Kids don't want to do that anymore.
Except a few, but they change to modern style
@hanktank61@nerdjoy.social @mel@nerdjoy.social @s1m0n4@ohai.social
Our Western Chinese restaurants popped up across the prairies after the railway was built. These days, Chinese immigrants tend to be investing in a whole different kind of immigration. The young people who continue the family restaurants are choosing a more adventurous cuisine. Near me, I have Shanghai-style, with XLB Xiao Long Bao soup dumplings. Another place had more northern cuisine; there is a bao restaurant, specializing in steam buns, and there are a couple of dim sum restaurants.
I wish I had a giant bank account and more than one stomach.
@EllenInEdmonton@mstdn.ca @mel@nerdjoy.social @s1m0n4@ohai.social There are some run that way on the neighborhood by the young. Looking classy , mix of Asian , nice. But you cannot pretend to do Korean Fried Chicken or Bibimbap Korean style if it is not Korean. Our local deli ( with Korean GF😏
) explains it is almost impossible to get the real ingredients here. Gochujang is, but even that is lacking in all those wannabe Korean places
@hanktank61@nerdjoy.social @mel@nerdjoy.social @s1m0n4@ohai.social I lived in Vietnam for a total of 6 years and what passes for Vietnamese here is very different, thanks to the availability of ingredients like fresh herbs. It’s still delicious, though.
s1m0n4
