With almost half the country situated below sea level, the Dutch have had to learn to make water our friend. We use if for:
- transport
- leisure
- enclosure (nature's very own fence)
- and of course, food
The most famous Dutch fish dish, by far, is herring. Every year, the first tub of the season of 'Hollandse Nieuwe' herring is sold at auction for charity. Last year, it raised €56,500. That's a lot of money for a few fish, but it's tradition. As is the way we eat it: raw. After carefully being undone of the head and the bones, it's topped with sauce, or raw shredded union, or gherkin, or all of the above, or none. Now, you can eat it like this:
But most common is this:
And yes, that is supposed to be traditional Dutch attire.
It's a true Dutch delicacy, along with our smoked eel, and 'kibbeling' (deep fried bits of cod in batter):
And of course it comes with its own sauce.
As you can see, we don't do 'haute cuisine'; our dishes aren't very refined. Which is why I found it interesting to see that the fish dish mentioned in Annie M.G. Schmidt's Otje was a beautiful salmon paté in the shape of, you guessed it, a fish. Though I doubt it was as astonishing as Alice B. Toklas' Bass for Picasso, it was supposed to be the 'piece de resistance' of the fancy dinner Tos, Otje's father had cooked up.
Tos is described as a 'hot-headed chef' and often throws a tantrum. At more than one occasion, he almost throws the salmon dish against the wall before it could even be served.
Though Otje succeeds in saving the dish every time, it's to no avail. Her pet mice crash the dinner and Tos gets fired, thus setting them on the adventure the rest of the book is all about.
Behold, a great cliché, with the salmon paté in the middle.
© Fiep Westendorp
© Fiep Westendorp
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