Amsterdam!!

Frites!

Our trip to Amsterdam actually began in Gouda. Don't ask.



After an evening of revelry, the best thing that one could possibly imagine is frites. Served with a generous dollop of frite sauce (pretty much mayonnaise, with some other stuff stirred in), this was definitely the breakfast of champions.



We also spotted this suspicious contraption in the railway station. At first thinking it a dodgy convenience, topped up perhaps once a month and kept warm until the last snack had been dispensed, we later saw these all over Amsterdam. Apparently warm-fried-food vending-machines are awfully popular.



Despite earlier reservations, upon closer inspection I thought that I could recognise some of the artery-clogging foodstuffs from my childhood!



Totally convinced that this must be a Huttons lasagna-topper, or some European cousin, I plopped in €1.10 for to liberate the lonesome little fella.



It looks like a topper...



The inside was a slightly curry-tasting (and I mean curry in the most generic sense of the word, encompassing the cuisines of the entire Indian subcontinent and all of southeast Asia) disk of what might have once been risotto, that was crumbed and deep fried into submission. On closer inspection:



The sign distinctly says "bami", possibly indicating 'bami goreng', which would make sense given over three centuries of Dutch occupation (liberation?) in Indonesia. However, bami goreng ought to be noodles, not rice, so either it was pre-masticated pasta, or something was slightly lost in translation. Whatever else, it gave us the deep fried starch component to any healthy diet, and kick started a wonderful weekend.





Little canals...




It's not Venice, but then Venice isn't as much fun.



The canals are incredibly pretty. Once upon a time they'd freeze in winter turn into long skating rinks for the locals.




Where would we be without clogs?





Of the few Dutch treats we were expecting, one was olibollen, a fried donut akin to the frittolera in Venice, served plain or dusted in icing sugar. Unlike its Italian cousin, this version was heavier, studded with raisins and chewy like good bread.



Needless to say, a chewy, bready donut dusted in icing sugar is one heck of a messy snack... Pedestrians all around A had to shield themselves from the blizzard of sugar the few in every direction. By the end, A looked like she'd had a messy affair with a snowman.



Walking around is tiring, and walk we most certainly did, all weekend.



Stopping for a cup of coffee and a muffin. Not the best muffin, and not the best coffee. Far from it. Expensive, though.



Dutch fast food! Aside from the ubiquitous fries, look at the other battered offerings! All the colours of the rainbow! If your rainbow happened to be made up of a spectrum from curry yellow to radioactive orange.



More frites!



A couldn't withstand the displays of waffles, and after a day of lingering looks and longing sighs, she finally broke and bought one of these chocolated contraptions.



Not the best waffle in the world, but when you're cold and there's a window full of them, you just know that you have to claim one as your own.

Cheeeeeeses

Our trip to Amsterdam was not filled entirely with local fare, but we did manage to fit a few specialities into our journey.



'Gouda' cheese. These were made with herbs, while others are made with thistle, cumin, marajuana, and all sorts of additives.



VSOP cheese?



I think this just means farmhouse cheese.

Poffertjes



Little Dutch balls of batter, fried and covered with sugar and syrup. Yum!



Like crepes, only five million times richer.



A caldron of powdered sugar promised a fiendish dessert to come.



Ladles of batter being poured. This looked disconcertingly like takoyaki, Japanese octopus balls.



Our chef had definitely sampled a few too many of his wares.



Would you believe that this is one serving? No? Would you believe that this is two servings?



Our serving being packed.



A rainbow of colours to choose from for your cutlery.



Yes! Because a rich batter that has just been fried needs generous chunks of butter on top!



As well as being doused in a blizzard of sugar...



And a generous squeeze of chocolate sauce.



You can barely see the steaming pile of little doughnut/spherical pancake things under all that fat and sugar.



But it was sooooo good.

Hollandse Nieuwe



The only delicacy that I was prepared for, and sought out was this pickled herring dish. Before leaving Ol' Blighty, I asked a Dutch friend what interesting things I might find in her native land. After much wracking of brains and many recommendations of pancakes (!?), she thought that salt-pickled herring might be to my taste.



This really is A's home turf. After three days of searching, and after a ridiculously large meal of bbq ribs, followed by the poffertjes (see above), we came across a tiny caravan perched on one of the many bridges in the centre, selling this, and other local goodies.

The herrings are caught in early spring, when the herring have been fattening themselves all winter to avert the cold, and salted for consumption. These days the herrings are caught in spring, then brined and frozen so that they can be enjoyed (?) all year round.



The texture was incredibly fatty and delicate. Served with chopped onion and a slice of gherkin, it was too rich and too fishy for me to take. A however, happily chomped through most of it, before the combined weight of a decadent week forced her capitulation.