Whatever the reason, the tide is finally turning. People are starting to become interested again in the Netherlands' lost culinary history and are exploring the abundance of local and regional dishes. And, you'd have to be blind not to notice that the (slow) food revolution is slowly gaining momentum here.
Holy Trinity
While it is true that meat and two veg are considered the holy trinity of their cooking, the Dutch have a rather healthy diet compared to other Western nations. Many Dutch meals rely heavily on vegetables and legumes. Moreover, Dutch cooking is straight-forward, easy to make, cheap and nutritious. It ain't all bad.
If You've Got It, Flaunt It
Actually, the Dutch can only blame themselves for their bland reputation. Ironic, when you consider that they ruled the spice trade for a hundred years. In fact, they were cooking some very exciting dishes until the beginning of the 19th century, when frugality became fashionable. The classic Dutch cookbook, De Verstandige Kok (The Sensible Cook) published in 1669, included dishes like roast goose with turmeric root. Now, that's adventurous even by today's standards.
You only have to look at the stunning old Dutch still lifes to see that there was a lot of passion for great food in this country, and a desire to flaunt it. These still lifes were even called pronk pieces (to pronk means to show off).
Frugal Fashion
After its heyday in the 17th century, the Netherlands lost many of its colonial possessions to the British in the Anglo-Dutch wars. This loss of wealth, coupled with a growing population that put pressure on natural resources, meant that most people had to tighten their belts. They simply could not afford to eat such a wide variety of foods any longer.
The most popular Dutch cookbook in the 19th century was called Aaltje, die volmaakte en zuinige keukenmeid, (Aaltje, the perfect, frugal kitchen maid). And, while this book wasn't quite as frugal as its title, it set the tone for what was to follow. You see, towards the turn of the 20th century, the trend was to send Dutch girls to huishoudschool (a kind of domestic science school). Here, efficiency was drilled into them. Needless to say, all the passion went out of Dutch cooking at that point, and many traditional family recipes were lost.
Renewed Interest
Luckily, times are changing yet again. Over the last decade or so there has been a renewed interest in Dutch cooking and ingredients. People are once again trying out forgotten root vegetables like celeriac, black salsify, kohlrabi and parsnips. They're taking pride in their wonderful local Zeeuwse mussels, as well as their uniquely Dutch cheeses like nagelkaas (clove cheese), boerenkaas (artisanal unpasteurized farmhouse cheese, often matured) and komijnekaas (cumin cheese). And the Dutch are finally starting to get over their frugal need for cheap food, realizing that you have to pay for quality and taste.
I think the beauty of Dutch cooking lies in its simplicity. The Dutch excel at honest-to-goodness comfort food like root vegetable mash and brown bean soup, and they make the best apple pie in the world. The secret to making simple food soar is to use the best ingredients you can afford. Buy locally-grown, seasonal and organic. And let the ingredients do the talking.
