A few things the Dutch get right …

I will probably spend a lot of time in this blog questioning some of the … hmmm, let’s go with … “interesting” things the Dutch do. But I feel like, in the vein of gratitude, I should also acknowledge, on a regular, basis, the things the Dutch get right.

So, here’s my list for today:

Soup

Take a look at a label from canned soup in the U.S. and you’ll likely find a litany of ingredients, most of which have as many letters as Dutch words — in other words, a lot of letters — and most of which probably fall into the class of preservative, artificial stuff, and stuff called natural that are — for all intents and purposes — artificial or at least not something you would probably choose to eat voluntarily in nature.

But when it comes to soup in Holland, they get it right. I had a soup today that I’m fairly certain was Vegetable 1, Vegetable 2, vegetable broth, and fresh herbs. Or, in my case, broccoli, zucchini, broth and some herbs that I’m not savvy enough to identify, but I can confirm that they can be found in nature. Granted, I’ll give you that my soup came from the farmers’ market on Ten Katestraat, but even the soups in store aren’t that different.

Water

Ok, water probably doesn’t sound like a super big thing. But, try living in Florida where the last thing you want to do is drink water out of your tap without a filter. Or even the San Francisco area where even after 5 years I was never quite sure if it was safe or decent to drink. So, suffice it to say I spent a good chunk of change on water filters and bottled water.

Fast forward to Holland, the land of water and canals. (which, side note, means it’s going to be super awesome when summer comes and the mosquitos come out! ugh!) Turns out that Amsterdam alone has a whopping 165 canals with a pretty cool history.

So while we’re nowhere close to a water shortage — no surprise — what was pretty surprising was the quality of the tap water for drinking. Sure, like anywhere else, they have bottled water — and even canned water — but there may be a reason you see reusable bottles just about everywhere you look. There’s even a Haarlem-based manufacturer of a cool reusable and sustainable bottle called Dopper that come in just about every shade you can imagine.

And just to make drinking tap water a philanthropic thing — you can buy tap water. Seriously. Join the Pipe is a company that sells tap water in bottles and sells tap refill stations. The not-fun part is that you have to pay for it. But the fun part is that the money raised goes to help people in third world countries get access to clean drinking water.

So, what makes it so good? In part, no chlorine like there is in the U.S. That’s because in Holland they purify the water earlier in the pipeline (literally) and they maintain the delivery system better so no need for chlorine because the viruses and bacteria don’t have a chance to even get there.

Second, the age of the pipes. In Amsterdam, 50% of the pipes were replaced since 1970 with the average being about 35–40 years old. In the U.S., 22% of the total pipe network is older than 50 years.

Honestly, it still feels weird to me to fill a drinking glass from the tap, so I trick myself by putting it in a bottle in the fridge, but it’s nice to know that keeping hydrated doesn’t have to cost a ton.

Herring

And, this brings me to herring, glorious herring.

I’m jewish so herring was nothing new to me, but herring in Holland is a totally different experience, and, dare I say, life changing.

This is probably the lamest picture I could find but I couldn’t resist because it was so entertaining of a find.

I can’t even begin to compare the popularity of herring stands to anything in the U.S. other than Starbucks. You can’t really go more than a kilometer without seeing a herring stand. For about 3 euro you get a little dish of cut up herring served with pickles and white onion and a little toothpick to eat it.

It’s delicious, satisfying, cheap, and crazy high in vitamin D3, omega 3, and selenium.

Apparently what I’ve been eating isn’t even the penultimate herring and herring season doesn’t really begin until early June. I’ll spare you the kind of gross details about what makes Dutch herring better than most other herring but suffice it to say it’s in the gutting process, which is done on the boats, and the brine requires less salt than normal.

Either way, while I admit I was slightly scared of herring when I first saw it and ate it, but I’m definitely a convert and can say, without hesitation, that it’s delicious, a light treat when you just need a bit of something, and considering it’s everywhere, learning to love it will do you good when you’re out and about.

Stay tuned for more on my list of things the Dutch do right.

Originally published at holdthemayo.blog on March 9, 2019.