The Dutch may not be world-renowned for their food, but just like any other expat I do have this craving from time to time for snacks from home. Raw herring with (raw) onions, stroopwafels (syrup waffles), erwtensoep (split pea soup), hutspot (mashed carrots, potatoes and onions), bitterballen (deep-fried snack with ragout filling), and the list goes on…
If you’ve ever been to Brick Lane’s market on a Sunday, you know that when it comes to street food you can pretty much eat your way around the world. Including the Netherlands! So last weekend Jaklien and I made our way to East London for some good old-fashioned Dutch comfort food from… The Frying Dutchmen.
And it’s not all about frying, they also bake poffertjes! And I love poffertjes. I couldn’t remember the last time I had them, so the Dutch chips with mayonnaise had to wait, today I was having poffertjes. Lots of them, freshly baked with a lump of butter and covered in powdered sugar. (The best part is then to use your last poffertje to clean your plate with all the melted butter and sugar that’s left….yum!).
They’re pretty filling, so that’s all I had this time. But knowing that all this is only a tube ride away, I have a feeling that these cravings for Dutch and deep-fried food may happen more frequently now.
