Lola’s Ramblings: Ten Dutch Products

Posted June 2, 2016 by Lola in Lola's Ramblings / 20 Comments

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Lola’s Ramblings is a feature on my blog Lola’s Reviews where I ramble on about a book related or a non-book related topic. These are discussion type of posts where I talk about a topic and readers can weigh in on the topic in the comments. Usually these posts are everything that doesn’t fall under any standard header, like tours, cover reveals, memes, challenges, recaps or reviews. Lola’s Ramblings posts are discussions of a certain topic and my point of view on them. The banner for this feature is designed by Michelle from Limabean Designs.

Sometimes I share pictures about dutch products in my Sunday post and I decided I could dedicate a whole post to this topic. Ever since I started blogging and interact with a lot of Americans I have noticed more the products you have there and we don’t have here, but also the opposite and it makes me appreciate the products we have here a bit more. I listed ten dutch products that are mostly sold here and as far as I know aren’t as easy to get outside of the Netherlands. Some of these pictures have been featured in my Sunday post before, but I also added some new ones.

Ten Dutch Products

  • Beschuit
    Beschuit is something that gets eaten here a lot as a snack or as breakfast or part of a lunch. It’s hard to explain what exactly it is, it’s a pretty hard baked biscuit like food. The way they are eaten can be compared to crackers, with how you usually put something else on top of it, but the taste is very different. Beschuit is more airy than crackers. The texture is a bit like toasted bread. But Beschuit is always round and gets sold in packages in the supermarket and stays well pretty long. They are baked twice thanks to which they get their hard baked structure. There are similar products in other countries, with different names and shape, but they have in common with beschuit that it gets baked twice. Below is a picture of Beschuit.
    Beschuit
  • Onbijtkoek
    Onbijtkoek literally translated means Breakfast Cookie. It’s a pretty soft rectangular shaped food item that can be eaten as a snack or as breakfast, usually without anything on it or with butter and/ or sugar on top. It’s made with lots of spices and has a very characteristic flavour. I like ontbijtkoek, as it’s quite filling and makes for an easy late night snack for when I am a tad hungry. We have special shaped containers for Ontbijtkoek to keep it from drying out once you’ve opened the package.
    Onbijtkoek
  • Poffertjes
    Poffertjes are small tiny pancakes baked in a special poffertjes pan. They do taste slightly different than pancakes, but are similar enough to use that to describe the taste. They are smaller and fluffier than pancakes. And usually eaten with a bit of molten butter and/or sugar. On many festivals or markets you can see stands which sell poffertjes, but they can also be made at home if you have the right pan or you can by the premade in grocery stores.
    Poffertjes
  • Eierkoeken.
    Eierkoeken are a soft and fluffy food item. It has one rounded side and one flat side. You can eat Eierkoeken as a snack or as part of a meal. The flat side can be coated with butter or even with butter and hagelslag or anything else you like. Although I like them best plain. Literally translated these would be called egg cookies. Eggs are one of the main ingredients, so that’s probably how they got their name.
    Eierkoeken
  • Kokosbrood.
    I always thought you could buy Kokosbrood everywhere. Literally translated it means cocos bread. It’s a cocos like piece that you can eat plain or on your bread. It tastes sweet and like a cocos. I really like kokosbrood and eat it on my bread during lunch most days.
    Cocos-Bread
  • Hagelslag.
    Hagelslag is pretty typical dutch or at least the way it’s eaten and sold here. Hagelslag would be chocolate sprinkles literally translated, but they aren’t for on cakes, we have special sprinkles for that, although you could use Hagelslag for that purpose. Here Hagelslag is common to eta on your bread and most hotels and restaurants where you can eat lunch serve it. There are lots of different brand and almost every grocery store sells this. There are also similar products which are sprinkles shapes, like Fruithagel or Anijshagels, which respectively taste like fruit or anise.
    Hagelslag
  • Kruidnootjes.
    Kruidnootjes are tiny spiced cookies that are usually eaten around Sinterklaas, a national holiday that takes place on 5 December. Even since September you can find these in stores and I really like them, from all the sinterklaas candies these are probably my favourite. Literally translated they would be called spiced nuts, which doesn’t seem right. They are small and round shaped and they taste like cookies with lots of spices, the main ingredient of this spice mix we call Speculaas Kruiden is cinnamon. While I don’t think you can buy Kruidnootjes anywhere except for in the Netherland,s you can make them yourself. Here’s my recipe for Kruidnootjes
    Kruidnootjes
  • Amandel Staaf.
    Amandel staaf or literally translated almond bar is a pastry made from almond paste covered in puff pastry dough. Just like Kruidnootjes it is commonly eaten around Sinterklaas, but you can also buy them around Christmas and Easter. When you buy these ina store you have to heat them up in the oven for a bit as they taste best when warm. I really like these.
    Amandel-staaf
  • Stroopwafels and Stroopkoekjes.
    Stroopwafels are one of those most typical dutch treats. They are round cookies made with a waffle iron with syrup in between two cookies. Stroopkoekjes are similar as stroopwafels, but are a different type of cookie and as a result the flavour is very different. I like both of them. The picture is of stroopkoekjes. You can buy these in most grocery store,s but soemtiems also can buy freshly made oens of markets or festivals. Stroopwafels are more popular and common as stroopkoekjes.
    Stroopkoekjes
  • Vla.
    Vla is a dairy product that’s very common here in the Netherlands. It’s usually eaten as dessert. And they sell it in multiple flavours. It is similar to custard to give you an idea of what it’s like, but not totally the same. I really like vla, it’s a great dessert and I like trying out new flavours. Like this Easter version they sold around Easter this year with mandarin and orange flavour. I don’t think I’ve seen vla ever outside of the Netherlands, things like quark and yoghurt other countries have as well, but not vla like we have here.
    Paas-Vla

Tell me about some products typical for your country?

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20 responses to “Lola’s Ramblings: Ten Dutch Products

    • Stroopkoekjes are so good, I am glad they are so common here ๐Ÿ˜‰

      I had to google Haggis as I hadn’t heard of it before, it doesn’t sound appetizing to me. For dinner I hardly ever eat typical dutch meals.

  1. I’m so greedy I fancy everything here! I love trying new or foreign food.

    I admit that sometimes it’s hard to know which food has not been exported and remains local/national to the UK…but I might say things like Jaffa cakes, Ribena (Blackcurrant drink), Irn Bru (soft carbonated drink), HP Sauce, Marmite, tablets (buttery toffee) etc…

    • Same here, I love trying new or foreign food. It’s a shame it often is so hard to get in other countries.

      And yes it is hard to now which food really it local to a country. I visited the UK and Scotland once and I am particularly fond of shortbread, which is hard to find here sadly. And I once had a vegetarian english breakfast in a bed and breakfast we were staying, which was delicious.
      Lola recently posted…My To-Be Read List #22: pollMy Profile

  2. oh wow….all of these I want to try out!! I do love European and UK foods though. Many tasty delights and boy I miss them. I went to France and the UK a few years back, and got hooked on the food. I do like spiced cookies…the closest we have is ginger cookies and LOVE those especially during the holidays.
    Renee (@Addictofromance) recently posted…At A Glance: Month Of MayMy Profile

    • I have made ginger cookies once and yes they are sorta similar, but still very different. I visited the UK once and there were some foods that I really liked three. It’s fun to try out foreign foods. there are quite some product I hear you US people talk about we can’t get here.

  3. You guys really like your sweets, don’t you. lol Everything looks good though, I could definitely see myself eating some of that.

    Here in the US, for me at least we eat a mixture of a lot of cultures foods. I like Mexican foods, chinese foods and Italian foods. But the thing that we always have in our home is deli meats, cheeses and crackers. We love to have a snack of meat, cheese and crackers.
    Mary Kirkland recently posted…Review: Twice The Growl by Milly TaidenMy Profile

    • I really like my sweets which is probably why I focused on those ;).

      For dinner I also eat a lot of different cultures their food. And if you walk around in most supermarket you find Italian, Mexican and Asian food often as well.

  4. You’ve made me hungry, Lola!! ๐Ÿ˜€ I so enjoy it when you share food because it’s interesting to see the different types of things you have that we don’t. I had chicken curry for lunch today. I think breads are very common here but I like the varieties you have. And I especially like the chocolate sprinkles. ๐Ÿ˜‰ I think chips – potato or corn – are things we eat here quite often that I don’t see you share. They’re not the healthiest so maybe it’s a good thing you don’t eat them. ๐Ÿ˜‰ But corn chips are one of my favorite foods…I like to eat them with salsa or guacamole.
    Bookworm Brandee recently posted…New Release Review ~ Derision ~ Trisha WolfeMy Profile

    • I always hear about so many US product we don’t have here, so I thought I would return the favor. It is interesting to hear what other countries have that we don’t.

      I don’t get why chocolate sprinkles aren’t more wide spread as I think lots of people would enjoy those.

      I don’t eat a lot of chips myself, so I guess that’s why I don’t share those as often. Corn chips are quite good, I like those once in awhile. And there was this sorta paprika flavoured chips they sell here that i quite like. I’ll take a picture next time I buy that.

  5. I think I would like living in the Netherlands since you have a lot of bread, cracker-y, carb-y type food, and I really like those even though I try not to eat much of them anymore lol. I think I would like all of these except the kokosbrood and maybe the vla. The kruidnootjes sounds maybe similar to gingerbread cookies since those have a strong spice flavor? But with cinnamon? Well, you know I like cinnamon. And I also like gingerbread cookies lol. The almond paste one also sound amazing, and those little pancakes look adorable!
    Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight recently posted…Short Story: Allโ€™s Fair in Love, Ice Cream, and Power Outages (Part 2)My Profile

    • Yes we do have a lot do bread, cracker-y food. I love vla and they have so many different flavours there’s something for most people.

      The idea or kuidnootjes is sorta similar to gingerbread cookies as they are both made with spices, but kruidnootjes have more cinnamon. I made gingerbread cookies once, but I don’t think I liked them too much or maybe I added too much ginger.

      The little pancakes can be quite easy to eat as you can put one in your mouth in one bite.

  6. Fun post! I would try all your foods there and might have eaten similar foods to some here in the US. I’m not sure what we have that might not be available outside the US since I’ve never traveled. Maybe different flavors of foods like ice cream, cookies, or potato chips like Barbecue or Mesquite flavor? I know you mentioned peanut butter oreos and I wondered if you got the white fudge flavored ones like we get.
    Sophia Rose recently posted…Gambled Away by Rose Lerner, Isabel Cooper, Jeannie Lin, Molly Oโ€™ Keefe, and Joanna Bourne #ReviewMy Profile

    • I quite often see products we don’t have here, like for example cool whip or those frozen biscuits or frozen cinnamon rolls. So it was fun to share some product that are normal for me, but those in the US probably haven’t heard of.
      I do think we have barbecue flavor chips here, but I don’t buy chips as often. I haven’t heard of mesquite flavor so far. We only have a few oreo flavours here and I know you have lot of different flavours there.

    • The tiny pancakes are pretty common here, but I don’t think they sell them much outside of the Netherlands. And I don’t get why chocolate sprinkles aren’t more common outside of the Netherlands, I think they would do well in other countries as well.

    • The mini pancakes are really good, you just pop them in the microwave for a bit and then they are ready And you can easily eat one in one bite. It’s interesting to see what kind of foods they have in other countries.
      Lola recently posted…Sunday Post #181My Profile

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