School Project: The Netherlands - Help requested

[Doug Kitchen]

My high school daughter is doing a project on the Netherlands. During her presentation next week, she needs to bring some food that is identified with the Netherlands. We know about Gouda cheese (and we think we can even pronounce it correctly) but another kid is bringing cheese for their presentation. Besides she wants something sweet so that the kids will eat it.

So...

Are there any distinctive deserts from the Netherlands?

A second question is: Are there particular social, economic, political or religious issues in the Netherlands today that she should be looking out for in her research?

Thanks for any help

Doug

[Hans Deventer]

My high school daughter is doing a project on the Netherlands. During her presentation next week, she needs to bring some food that is identified with the Netherlands. We know about Gouda cheese (and we think we can even pronounce it correctly) but another kid is bringing cheese for their presentation. Besides she wants something sweet so that the kids will eat it.

So...

Are there any distinctive deserts from the Netherlands?

Doug, we are famous for our deserts! Many strangers coming into our country don't care much for the main dishes, but they love the deserts. The problem would be, however, how to get them in the USA! We have what we call "vla", which has evolved from yoghurt.
First, we buy that stuff in one liter cartons. Second, we got it in many, many kinds. Vanilla, vanilla/chocolate, strawberry, cherry, skimmed, country like, etc etc etc.


A second question is: Are there particular social, economic, political or religious issues in the Netherlands today that she should be looking out for in her research?

Thanks for any help

Doug

I would take on liberty of speech, or liberty of religion versus the law against discrimination. This is very much a current topic. What can I say out of my liberty of speech or liberty of religion, and when has it crossed a border?

Another idea would be the problems with integrating Maroccan youth into the Dutch society. For some reasons, many of them are a big problem. Our crown prince Willem Alexander has just visited Marocco to celebrate 400 years of diplomatic bonds between the two countries.

Or you might consider water management. The changing ideas regarding dikes and the room we should allow rivers to have. Interesting subject considering New Orleans.

Just some suggestions!

[Joel Merrill]

Here ya go

http://www.jaarsmabakery.com/ourpastries.asp

I live in a Dutch town in Iowa. My wife used to work in this bakery.

Joel

[Tina Daling]

I thought I might be able to make some suggestions for this project but blame Joel - he had to go and distract me with all those delicious Dutch desserts from the bakery.

Now all I can do is droooooool. I love Almond Banket and I often bake Almond Butter Cake. The stores around here sell Speculaas but they are not quite as good as the Dutch ones that I remember eating in my younger years.

There are also Olie Bolen - a Dutch New Year's speciality - similiar to a deep-fried apple fritter rolled in icing sugar.

I have a few recipes if she would like them.

Tina - the transplanted Dutch girl:fav16

[Doug Kitchen]

Doug, we are famous for our deserts! Many strangers coming into our country don't care much for the main dishes, but they love the deserts. The problem would be, however, how to get them in the USA! We have what we call "vla", which has evolved from yoghurt.
First, we buy that stuff in one liter cartons. Second, we got it in many, many kinds. Vanilla, vanilla/chocolate, strawberry, cherry, skimmed, country like, etc etc etc.

I would take on liberty of speech, or liberty of religion versus the law against discrimination. This is very much a current topic. What can I say out of my liberty of speech or liberty of religion, and when has it crossed a border?

Another idea would be the problems with integrating Maroccan youth into the Dutch society. For some reasons, many of them are a big problem. Our crown prince Willem Alexander has just visited Marocco to celebrate 400 years of diplomatic bonds between the two countries.

Or you might consider water management. The changing ideas regarding dikes and the room we should allow rivers to have. Interesting subject considering New Orleans.

Just some suggestions!


Thanks for the suggestions and information.

My daughter (who was up until 1am writing) saw your post at 5:30am and quickly paraphrased your thoughts on freedom of speech issues. She properly cited you in her paper. It turns out she has another week to figure out her oral presentation - so she may add a few more current events.

Just found a recipe for caramel vla. It sounds very good. We are going try out recipes and we might be able to find vla or its ingredients since this part of NY is very Dutch. Our high school's knickname for sports teams is the "Dutchmen"

Thanks again

Doug

[Doug Kitchen]

Here ya go

http://www.jaarsmabakery.com/ourpastries.asp

I live in a Dutch town in Iowa. My wife used to work in this bakery.

Joel

Wow!!! I love almond, great stuff.

I have had the spice cookies before but not freshly baked.

Decisions, decisions. It looks like we'll have to do a lot of experimenting next week. We'll go to great lengths to help my daughter with school work. ;)

Doug

[Hans Deventer]

Now all I can do is droooooool. I love Almond Banket and I often bake Almond Butter Cake. The stores around here sell Speculaas but they are not quite as good as the Dutch ones that I remember eating in my younger years.

There are also Olie Bolen - a Dutch New Year's speciality - similiar to a deep-fried apple fritter rolled in icing sugar.


Yeah! "Oliebollen" and "appelflappen" and indeed "speculaas". I guess you know better what is special when you don't live in the country anymore.
And though it does not qualify as desert, "drop" and "hagelslag" are quite Dutch as well.

[Hans Deventer]

Tina,

We had a new desert today: "Pepernoten-vla". (Sorry folks, I have no clue how to translate that). It tasted like the batter for spicecake (Kruidkoek). Pretty good, actually!

[Tina Daling]

Yes, we Dutch people have some peculiar tastes that not everyone else appreciates. I love 'drop' - in fact my daughter and I were at a Christmas craft sale last weekend and we both bought some 'Gouda' cheese and she bought a bag of mixed drop. Mmm - they were so good!

I've never tried pepernote-vla but I do remember the pepernoten - they were good too.

Just this weekend I baked several loaves of 'koek' made with molasses and brown sugar. That is my favourite loaf recipe - I think it must have been one of my mom's recipes or maybe from our CRC cookbook.

I didn't think I ate too many Dutch foods anymore but I guess I'd forgotten that some of these things are Dutch. I also make Stampot and Boere Kohl - my Dutch cooking is better than my Dutch spelling - sorry Hans! (Please keep in mind that I was only 3 when I immigrated - and 3 year olds aren't great spellers!)
Dutch Girl :fav16

[Joel Merrill]

I can't spell very many Dutch names but there is a lot of stuff I've seen or heard of hear in Pella. My barber still has family in the Netherlands and goes back at least once a year, He loves pickled eel and brings as much back with him as he can. The Dutch have a salted licorice candy that tourists by once but never again. They like chocolate on their toast in the morning. It comes in sprinkles like what we put on sugar cookies or in a chocolate nut spread called nutella. It is a lot like creamy peanut butter only it is half chocolate. One of my favorites is a sweet very crisp bread called rusk. It is good with blueberry preserves. The Dutch invented donuts. They were originally called oil cakes. The Dutch also invented golf, by the way, but some how the Scottish got credit for it. During our Tulip Festival we have a stand that sells something that looks like very small pancakes. You get a plate with a dozen of them and put powdered sugar on them. They make them on a large cast iron griddle with shallow round places in it about the size of a half dollar that they pour the batter in. I have no idea how to spell it but it sounds like "pofferjees". Don't laugh Hans, I have a hard enough time with English. We have a couple of very old bologna makers in town. One has been here since the town was founded so the Dutch much like bologna. I can't remember a lot this late at night but if I went up town I could probably come up with a long list of stuff, especially if I talked to the older folks.

Joel

[Hans Deventer]

Joel, you're talking about "hagelslag" (the sprinkled chocolate) and "poffertjes". You got pretty close!

[Doug Kitchen]

My high school daughter is doing a project on the Netherlands. During her presentation next week, she needs to bring some food that is identified with the Netherlands. We know about Gouda cheese (and we think we can even pronounce it correctly) but another kid is bringing cheese for their presentation. Besides she wants something sweet so that the kids will eat it.

So...

Are there any distinctive deserts from the Netherlands?

A second question is: Are there particular social, economic, political or religious issues in the Netherlands today that she should be looking out for in her research?

Thanks for any help

Doug


Jen finished her project today. She ended up with about 20 pages of information about the Netherlands and it sounded like the talk went well, too.

More importantly we did have a chance to experiment with some Dutch recipes. At first, we tried a butter cake (BOTERKOEK) recipe on Saturday night. After it was finished we found out she didn't need it until today. The first cake simply didn't survive. It used 5 eggs and a stick of butter, it was excellent. I've posted a picture (with Jenny and Lori, my wife)

So we went back to the drawing board and decided that a coffee cake (kaffie cake ?) by comparison, almost sounded healthy for adolescents. So that's is what she brought and the class devoured. I can't tell you how good it was since there was none left for me. :( We'll have to do the experiment again!

Thanks for everyone's suggestions.

Doug

[Hans Deventer]

Glad to hear it went well, Doug!

[Joel Merrill]

Jen finished her project today. She ended up with about 20 pages of information about the Netherlands and it sounded like the talk went well, too.

More importantly we did have a chance to experiment with some Dutch recipes. At first, we tried a butter cake (BOTERKOEK) recipe on Saturday night. After it was finished we found out she didn't need it until today. The first cake simply didn't survive. It used 5 eggs and a stick of butter, it was excellent. I've posted a picture (with Jenny and Lori, my wife)

So we went back to the drawing board and decided that a coffee cake (kaffie cake ?) by comparison, almost sounded healthy for adolescents. So that's is what she brought and the class devoured. I can't tell you how good it was since there was none left for me. :( We'll have to do the experiment again!

Thanks for everyone's suggestions.

Doug

That's great :fav18 I'm glad it went well. I forgot to tell you something. The Dutch are very agreeable people. When you talk to them they say "Yah Yah" a lot. So if you want to sound Dutch, say Yah Yah everytime someone says something to you :basic01

Joel :fav09