~patches~ wrote:

> jake wrote:
>
>> ~patches~ wrote:
>>
>>> I'm watching a really neat show "Loving Spoonful" about Dutch cooking
>>> but the guest insists that Dutch cooking is very bland. Is that so?
>>> DH's dad (GRHS) came to Canada from Holland when he was 19. I can
>>> recall him eating things I considered strange but because of him
>>> there is a lot of seafood I like. I still can't get into eating
>>> Dutch hale on toast! We still shop at the Dutch market. She did a
>>> Finnish dish consisting of boiled asparagus eated with boiled egges
>>> that were seasoned with nutmeg. Then she did a Maylasian dish. I
>>> would have liked to seen some traditional Dutch cooking.
>>>
>>> A few things I liked/noticed - I was amazed at her kitchen! It was
>>> basically a walkthrough hall with cabinets on one side only. It is
>>> way smaller than my kitchen and she had almost no counter space but
>>> she did rely on her kitchen table that I think was outside of the
>>> actual kitchen. It just goes to show you don't need a huge kitchen
>>> to cook good food. One thing I really liked was she used actual cast
>>> iron something few of the cooking shows ever show. Both dishes used
>>> a lot of eggs and she mentioned she shopped daily. They brought in
>>> her 92 old mom which was kind of cool.
>>
>>
>>
>> I'm Dutch - and a foodie. So are several of my friends. I have no idea
>> what bald means to you. So can you be more specific? J. Eric's list of
>> foods does list true classics.
>
>
> Umm, that was bland not bald which means the food has very littl
> seasoning as in not spicey.

Then "bland"applies. I asked because I am sure to someone form South
East Asia most western cooking might be bland, and usually not vice
versa. So I was wondering about your perspective.

The climate here doesn't allow for growing spices (but there are soft
green herbs). So traditionally, spices weren't used in cooking. They
started being imported in 17th century but cost a fortune back then. So
they didn't become more used until centuries later.

Staple foods were potatoes and wheat, rye, barley etc, beans and dairy.
Plus fish, beef, pork, cabbages. Not citrus fruits, no tomatoes, no
eggplants,

Dutch appeltaart (apple pie/cake) is the best in the world, in spite of
all the simplicity of Dutch cooking.

DH's dad ate things like eel, oysters,
> sardines, and smoked salmon. Of those I learned to like everything but
> the eel. He would never, ever eat potatoes in skins because the sknins
> were considered pig food. He wasn't much of a cook either as dMIL was
> very much traditional that way but she was Lebonanese so her cooking was
> anything but Dutch. DH's aunts are all very good cooks but I don't
> recall a dish specific to Holland. I can't really be more specific
> other than I would like to make a few traditional Dutch dishes but don't
> really know where to look.