When I was in Amsterdam I asked a few locals what are typical Dutch dishes, and they gave me enthusiastic replies of plates that didn’t sound too different from the average fare you can get in England.
Traditionally, Dutch cuisine is simple and straightforward, with many vegetables and little meat; breakfast and lunch are typically bread with toppings while dinner is meat and potatoes, supplemented with seasonal vegetables. The Dutch diet was relatively high in carbohydrates and fat, reflecting the dietary need of the laborers whose culture molded the country, and contains many dairy products.
But in my search to find a dish that was traditional and unique, I didn’t have to look any further than the Soused herring!
Soused Herring is herring soaked in a mild preserving liquid. It can be raw herring in a mild vinegar pickle or the famous Dutch brined herring. They throw chopped onion on top of it and either serve it with a bun so you can eat it like a sandwich or smother it with a cream/yoghurt sauce, but being a bit of a food Nazi I wanted it as pure as possible.
It was so tasty, very mild in it’s flavour and soft in texture, that I had two!