1600s · De Gouden Eeuw

The Golden Age

The VOC pours pepper, nutmeg, and cinnamon onto Dutch tables; still-life painters record the loaded board.

Friesland

Friese Nagelkaas (Frisian Clove Cheese)

Fryske Nageltsjiis

Friesland's ancient skimmed-milk cheese spiked with cloves and cumin — dark, dry and aromatic, the northern dairy's most storied wheel.

90 minAdvanced

Cheese

Holland

Komijnekaas / Leidse Kaas (Cumin Cheese)

Komijnekaas · Leidse Kaas

A firm, low-fat cows'-milk cheese studded with cumin seed — Leiden's spiced weigh-house cheese, pressed with the city's crossed-keys brand.

90 minAdvanced

Fish

Holland

Stokvis (Stockfish with Potatoes & Mustard Sauce)

Stokvis

Dried, soaked stockfish gently poached and served with potatoes, rice, mustard sauce and fried onions — an old Amsterdam feast-day dish.

70 minIntermediate

Osseworst (Amsterdam Spiced Raw Beef Sausage)

Borrel

Holland

Osseworst (Amsterdam Spiced Raw Beef Sausage)

Ossenworst

Amsterdam's lightly smoked raw-beef sausage, spiced with clove, mace and pepper in the VOC style — sliced soft onto rye or bread as a butcher's borrel bite.

40 minAdvanced

Fish

Zeeland

Zeeuwse Oesters (Zeeland Oysters)

Zeeuwse Oesters

Flat and creuse oysters raised in the tidal flats of the Oosterschelde, shucked and served raw on ice with lemon, shallot vinegar, and rye.

30 minIntermediate

Stews

Gelderland

Hazenpeper (Jugged Hare)

Hazenpeper

The old Dutch game braise — hare marinated in red wine and vinegar, then simmered dark and thickened with its own blood or a spoon of gingerbread.

190 minAdvanced

Sweets

Holland

Oliebollen (Dutch New Year's Doughnuts)

Oliebollen

The deep-fried yeast dumplings the Dutch eat to see out the year — studded with raisins and apple, rolled in icing sugar, best eaten by the frozen canal.

60 minIntermediate

Stews

Holland

Hachee (Dutch Onion & Beef Stew)

Hachee

The dark, sour-sweet onion and beef stew of the Dutch winter table — a kilo of onions cooked down with vinegar, cloves and bay until glossy and deep.

210 minBeginner

Stamppot

Holland

Hutspot (Potato, Carrot & Onion Mash)

Hutspot

The oldest Dutch mash — floury potatoes, carrots and onion crushed together and tied to the 1574 Relief of Leiden, served under braised beef or klapstuk.

60 minBeginner