Food of The Netherlands

Here is a short list of treats to try while in the Netherlands.  By no means is this a comprehensive list, but rather a good starting list that should please almost every palette.

  • Stroopwafels – The classic dutch cookie.  Cinnamon, brown sugar, & ginger based cookie with caramel, syrup, butter, or honey inside.  Place on a hot cup of coffee or tea to warm up.  Also made hot and fresh in markets.
  • Other Dutch Cookies:
    • JodenKoeken – Large shortbread cookie typically in a tin
    • Kletskoppen – Very thin nut laced cookie with a caramel taste.  These are so thin and fragile they may not be practical but they are delicious!
    • Krakelingen – Puff pastry pretzel shaped cookie
    • Bokkepootjes – “Goat Feet” Crunchy cookie filled with cream and both ends dipped in chocolate
    • Chocolate Pindakoeken – Cookie topped with peanuts then topped with milk chocolate
    • Pepernoten/Kruidnoten – Small hard bite sized spiced cookies.  Can also be dipped in chocolate.  These are Xmas time cookies.
  • Speculaas/Speculoos – Speculaas is the famous dutch spice cookie. Speculoos is the Belgian version.  When mashed up into a paste it becomes Speculoos Cookie Butter and is sold just like Peanut butter and used much the same way.  
  • Dutch Cheeses:
    • Gouda – If hand made on a farm it’s called Boerenkaas
    • Dutch Blue (blue cheese made from Gouda)
    • Edam – Gouda’s little brother.  Made using 40% skimmed butterfat milk, compared to around 50% non-skimmed in Gouda, it is milder and a bit saltier than Gouda.
    • Leidse kaas – Cheese made in Leyden that is spiced with cumin.
    • Nagelkaas – Nail cheese in Dutch, it is spiked with cloves with look like little nails.
    • Maasdam – Dutch version of Swiss cheese.
    • Limburger – The dreaded stinky cheese found in Belgium, Holland, & Germany. Salty, creamy & pungent.
  • Chocolate:
    • Tony’s – Big chocolate bars found everywhere
    • Chocolate Makers – Organic
    • Cote d’Or – This is like the Lindt of NL
    • Lonka – They make a lot of candies
    • Milka – Kind of the Hershey’s of NL
    • Verkade – Famous chocolate bars
  • Baked Items
    • Bossche Bol  – Huge profiterole, about the size of an orange, filled with whipped cream and dipped in chocolate
    • Zeeuwse Bolus – Dutch cinnamon rolls
    • Poffertjes – Little Dutch Pancakes
    • Saucijzenbroodjes – Sausage inside a pasrty