Dutch breakfast can vary. Most common are bread slices with sweet or savoury spreads, as well as muesli and yogurt. Dairies such as cheeses, milk and eggs often play a role in the first meal of the day in the Netherlands.
Uitmsijter spek en kaas denotes a typical way of preparing eggs in the Netherlands. The bacon is first placed in a buttered pan, then come the sunny-side-up fried eggs, topped with Gouda cheese until it melts. The dish is seasoned with salt and pepper, and the whole thing is placed on slices of bread.
A typical Dutch lunch consists of an individual portion of cold meals, such as sandwiches filled with slices of meat and Dutch cheese or sweet assortments, accompanied by milk or juice. It looks more like a second breakfast; easy to prepare, easy to pack and easy to finish.
Haring 'Hollandse Nieuwe'
Haring or 'Hollandse Nieuwe' (Dutch new herring) is probably the most famous Dutch food. If you like fish you should at least try it once.
Originally, it was pretty common for the working classes to have a warm meal around noon. But with the dreary factory work keeping them away from home all day, a warm dinner was bitterly needed when they returned early in the evening. On a more modern note, the Dutch are infamous for doing a terrible job at lunch.
As people begin to eat, some may say "Eet Smakelijk” which means “Eat well and with taste”. It is polite to keep one's hands above the table until all have finished eating. It is recommended to take a small portion as your first helping, so you're able to accept a second helping. The Dutch tend to avoid wasting food.
Before wheat bread became the main type of bread in the Netherlands, rye bread was part of the main meal. But eating a slice of rye bread every day isn't a bad idea.
Dutch dinner
Dinner is often followed by a dessert in the form of yogurt or coffee. Typical Dutch dishes are stamppot boerenkool (mashed kale), Hutspot (stew of potatoes and carrots), erwtensoep (split pea soup) and bruine bonensoep (brown bean soup).
An average Dutch family might go through multiple loafs of bread a day.
According to the Amsterdam City Archives, hagelslag was first invented by B.E. Dieperink, director of the liquorice sweet company VENCO, in 1919. He came upon the idea of making brittle, white aniseed-flavoured sprinkles and using them as a bread topping during a hailstorm on a bleak autumn day, apparently.
The vegetables can include sauerkraut, carrots (also served with apple and onion) or spinach (served with egg). These dishes are usually eaten in winter. For dessert, people often eat yoghurt, porridge, pudding or custard, all made from dairy products.
Dutch people who prefer not to start their day with bread often choose yogurt or cereals, such as muesli or cornflakes with milk, yogurt or cottage cheese. For an extensive breakfast, many people cook or bake an egg (with bacon) and sugar bread or currant bread with almond paste is brought into the house.
You will find specialised pancake restaurants (we call them pannenkoekenhuizen = pancake houses) in practically any town or city in the Netherlands and Belgium. Not only for the tourists; the locals as well like to go out and eat in a pancake restaurant.
The Dutch goedenacht is not often used to greet someone, but rather when saying goodbye to someone in the (late) evening. It's typically used to say 'sleep well' or 'sleep tight' to someone.
In case you meet some new drinking buddies in one of the city's cosy pubs, you might want to know how to toast in Dutch. Luckily it's fairly simple: Dutch men toast by clinking their glasses or bottles and saying proost (health).
Sometimes also called 'een AVG' (aardappels – vlees – groenten). This one is considered the number 1 typical Dutch food. Lots of potatoes, lots of vegetables, boil them and mash it all together (stamppot translated literally as 'mash pot'). And that's it!
Tillage-based crops include potatoes, kale, beetroot, green beans, carrots, celeriac, onions, all the common kinds of cabbages, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, endive, spinach, Belgian endive, asparagus and lettuce.
Eating herring is a Dutch tradition. For centuries, fishing for and exporting salted herring was one of the cornerstones of the Dutch economy. This silvery, slimy fish is part of the Dutch national identity, thanks to a humble herring fisherman.
In some cultures, eating with your hands is quite common. In the Netherlands there are only a few things that you can eat with your hands publicly without it being frowned upon: chips, pizza, bread and meat with a lot of bones, like chicken or spare-ribs.
Dutch people are usually very open, friendly and welcoming. In the Netherlands, only parents and children live together. In general, they do not live with grandparents, aunts, and uncles. During meals, Dutch families usually share their adventures of the day.
When meeting someone in a casual setting, it is common for people to say “Hoi” ('Hi') or “Hoe gaat het?” ('How are you? ') Meanwhile in formal settings, the most common greeting is “Hoe gaat het met u?” ('How are you? ').