135 recipes
Every recipe in the house, newest first. Filter by chapter, or wander the whole wall.
Holland
Broodje Shoarma
The Dutch high-street shawarma sandwich — spiced meat in a soft Turkish flatbread with crisp salad, cool garlic sauce and as much sambal as you can take.
Gerookte Zalm op Toast
Cold-smoked salmon on toasted sourdough with lemon-dill cream, capers and cress — a light, modern Dutch plate for lunch or the borrel table.
Kalfskroket
The genteel elder of the Dutch croquette — a delicate veal ragout set with a hint of nutmeg, breaded and fried pale gold, the café-terrace bite with mustard.
The Indies at Home
Kip ketjap
Chicken braised in sweet soy with garlic, ginger and onion until dark and sticky — the easy Indo-Dutch weeknight dish that made ketjap manis a Dutch pantry staple.
Pompoensoep
A modern Dutch autumn soup — pumpkin roasted until caramelised, then blended smooth with ginger and stock and finished with toasted seeds and cream.
Runderlappen
The foundational Dutch braise — thick beef slices browned in butter and simmered hours in a dark, mustard-sharpened jus until fork-tender. Sunday food.
The East
Suikerbietenstroop
The dark, bittersweet beet syrup of the Dutch larder — boiled down from sugar beets, spread on rye bread and stirred into stews, and a lifeline in the war.
Kwark met Muesli & Honing
Creamy Dutch quark layered with toasted muesli, honey and fruit — the fresh, high-protein breakfast bowl of the modern Netherlands.
Gerookte Makreeldip
A smoky North Sea borrel dip — flaked smoked mackerel folded with crème fraîche, lemon, horseradish and dill, spread on rye toast or scooped with crudités.
Telur balado
Hard-boiled eggs fried crisp and coated in a fiery Minangkabau red-chilli sambal — a vivid, spicy side that lights up the Dutch-Indo rijsttafel.
Kapsalon
Rotterdam's loaded tray — fries topped with shawarma and melted Gouda, grilled, then piled with fresh salad and garlic and hot sauce. A 2000s street-food legend.
Ontbijtkoek
The dense rye-and-honey spice loaf the Dutch eat at breakfast — no butter or egg, deeply moist, sliced thick and spread with cold butter or nothing at all.
Bruine Bonen met Spek
The Dutch brown-bean pot — dried bruine bonen slow-simmered with smoked bacon and onion, finished sweet-sour with syrup and vinegar. Deep winter thrift food.
Posteleinstamppot
A rare summer stamppot of succulent purslane wilted into potato — lemony, faintly saline and green, an old kitchen-garden dish from before spinach ruled.
Sayur lodeh
A gentle Javanese vegetable stew in a spiced coconut broth — the mild, soothing dish that balances the fire of the Dutch-Indo rijsttafel.
Zure Bommen
The snackbar's "sour bombs" — big whole cucumbers brined with dill, garlic and mustard seed until crunchy and sharp, the classic bite alongside fried Dutch snacks.
Zeeland
Paling in 't Groen
Fresh eel gently poached in a vivid green sauce of spring herbs — chervil, sorrel, parsley and spinach — a river dish of the Scheldt borderlands.
Zeeuwse Bolus
Zeeland's sticky coiled bun — a rope of soft dough rolled in cinnamon sugar and wound into a spiral that bakes into a dark, caramelised, chewy whirl.
Groningen
Bietensoep
A deep-crimson Dutch beetroot soup — earthy roasted beets simmered with apple and stock, finished with a swirl of soured cream and a shower of dill.
Friesland
Karnemelksepap
Tangy buttermilk thickened with a little flour and pearl barley, sweetened with syrup — Friesland's homely everyday porridge of the dairy farms.
Noord-Brabant
Spek en Bonen
The plain Brabant farmhouse pot — green or runner beans stewed slow with smoked bacon and potato until soft and savoury. Thrift cooking, still loved.
Krentenwegge
The long, fruit-heavy currant loaf of the Dutch north — enriched dough packed with soaked currants and raisins, once carried metres long to a new mother's door.
Leverworst op Roggebrood
Soft Dutch liver sausage on dense dark rye — a butcher's-counter borrel classic topped with mustard, pickle or a slick of appelstroop, sliced thick and unfussy.
Semur
Beef braised slow in ketjap manis with nutmeg, clove and onion until dark and tender — the Indonesian sweet-soy stew that shows the two-way trade of the Dutch-Indo kitchen.
Bossche Bol
Brabant's giant choux puff — a tennis-ball of pastry stuffed with barely-sweet whipped cream and dipped whole in a thick coat of dark chocolate.
Knolraapstamppot
A mash of swede and potato from the clay north — earthy and faintly sweet, a root that carries the hard memory of the 1944 Hunger Winter with quiet dignity.
Gemarineerde Haring
Herring fillets steeped in a sweet-sour vinegar marinade with onion, bay and peppercorns — the keeping herring of the Dutch larder, sharp and bright.
Gehaktballen in Jus
The great Dutch meatball — one fist-sized gehaktbal per person, browned in butter and braised in its own dark jus. The Wednesday-night heart of the table.
Preisoep
The homely Dutch leek and potato soup — sweet softened leeks and floury potatoes simmered in stock, blended smooth or left chunky, with smoked bacon.
Kaasplankje
A Dutch cheese board built around aged Gouda and cumin Leidse — how to choose, age and plate the nation's cheeses with mustard, syrup and rye for the borrel.
Saucijzenbroodje
The Dutch bakery-counter sausage roll — spiced minced meat in crisp, buttery puff pastry, glazed and baked to shattering gold. Warm from the oven, at its best.
Soto ajam
A fragrant golden chicken soup with turmeric, lemongrass and ginger, piled with noodles, egg and beansprouts — the Indonesian comfort bowl beloved on the Dutch-Indo table.
Fryske Nageltsjiis
Friesland's ancient skimmed-milk cheese spiked with cloves and cumin — dark, dry and aromatic, the northern dairy's most storied wheel.
Gelderland
Arnhemse Meisjes
Gelderland's crisp oval biscuits — thin rounds of yeasted puff dough rolled in coarse sugar that caramelises into a shattering, glassy crust.
Mosselen met Friet
A steaming pot of Zeeland mussels with a heap of twice-fried Belgian-style friet and mayonnaise — the great shared supper of the Low Countries.
Blinde Vinken
"Blind finches" — thin veal escalopes wrapped around a seasoned mince filling, browned in butter and braised soft in their own gravy. A Dutch Sunday classic.
Oranjekoeke
Friesland's flat celebration cake — a dense almond-and-spice base under a bright layer of icing, ginger and glacé cherries, cut into generous squares.
Vissoep
A North Sea fish soup — a stock built from bones and shells, then chunks of white fish and shrimp poached in a light saffron-tinged, tomato-touched broth.
Limburg
Zuurkool met Spek
The Limburg way with sauerkraut — mashed through potato with a whole slab of streaky bacon simmered on top and a thread of dark apple stroop to soften it.
Atjar tjampoer
A bright turmeric pickle of crisp vegetables in a sweet-sour brine — the Indonesian acar that cuts the richness of the Dutch-Indo rijsttafel.
Gehaktballetjes
Small spiced Dutch meatballs for the borrel — juicy gehakt bound with rusk and nutmeg, browned and served warm on cocktail sticks with mustard.
Worstenbroodje
Brabant's beloved sausage roll — seasoned minced meat wrapped in soft enriched bread dough and baked golden. The savoury pride of the Catholic south.
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.
Gerookte Makreel
Whole mackerel brined and hot-smoked to a burnished gold, its oily flesh turned firm and savoury — eaten flaked on rye or whipped into a pâté.
Kalfsragout
The pale, elegant Dutch veal ragout — tender veal in a lemon-bright cream sauce, the filling of vol-au-vents and the ancestor of the bitterbal.
Suikerbrood
Friesland's tall enriched loaf shot through with pearls of sugar that melt into sweet caramel pockets — sliced thick, buttered, and eaten with coffee.
Zeeuwse Mosselsoep
Zeeland's mussel soup — plump Zeeuwse mussels steamed open, their briny liquor strained into a leek-and-cream broth and finished with parsley and mussel meat.
Berenhap
The "bear bite" — a snackbar skewer of fried gehaktbal and raw onion, drenched in satésaus, the Dutch peanut sauce, and eaten straight from the stick.
Eierkoek
The pale, pillowy Dutch egg cake — a low-fat sponge round, soft as a cloud, eaten plain or buttered with morning coffee. Light, mild, and comforting.
Serundeng
Grated coconut toasted slowly with a spice paste until golden and crunchy — the fragrant Indonesian condiment scattered over rice and saté on the Dutch-Indo table.
Hutspot met Klapstuk
The full Sunday version — coarse carrot, onion and potato mash crowned with klapstuk, beef rib braised for hours until it falls apart in its own dark jus.
Krentjebrij / Watergruwel
The northern fruit porridge of barley, currants and berry juice bound to a glossy set — Groningen and Drenthe's beloved cold-or-warm brij.
Hollandse Garnalen
Tiny North Sea brown shrimp, hand-peeled and served sweet and briny on buttered bread or bound into a classic garnalencocktail.
Limburgse Vlaai
The great open fruit tart of the Catholic south — a soft yeast-dough base filled with cherries or apricots and finished with a woven lattice top.
Jachtschotel
The Dutch hunter's dish — braised beef layered with onions and apple under a potato-mash lid, baked golden. Leftover-braise comfort food at its best.
Beschuit met Muisjes
The Dutch birth ritual on a plate — crisp round rusk, buttered, heaped with sugared aniseed "little mice" in pink or blue to announce a newborn.
Loempia
Crisp fried spring rolls packed with cabbage, beansprouts and pork — the Chinese-Indonesian snack that became a Dutch market and snackbar fixture.
Vlammetjes
Little "flames" — crisp mini spring rolls with a fiery sambal-spiced filling, a Chinees-Indisch snackbar favourite served with sweet chilli for the borrel.
Spinaziestamppot
A springtime green mash of wilted spinach folded into buttery potato, lifted with nutmeg and often a hard-boiled egg — lighter and fresher than the winter stamppotten.
Banketstaaf
The festive Dutch pastry log — a length of puff pastry wrapped around dense almond spijs, glazed, and cut into slices for the Sinterklaas and Christmas table.
Watergruwel
A cold water-based porridge of pearl barley and dried fruit, thickened and spiced — the lean-day Dutch gruel that predates the milk pudding.
Aspergesoep
A silky Limburg soup of white asparagus — the peelings simmered into a sweet stock, then a light cream velouté studded with tender spears and nutmeg.
Lekkerbek
A whole battered fillet of white fish, deep-fried crisp and golden — the bigger, sit-down cousin of kibbeling from the Dutch fish stall.
Rode Kool met Appel
The Dutch winter side — red cabbage braised slow with apple, clove and a splash of vinegar until sweet, tart and glossy, the classic partner to hachee.
Filet Américain
The Dutch broodje staple — seasoned raw beef whipped smooth with egg yolk, capers and mustard into a soft, spreadable tartare for rye, rolls and the borrel.
Pisang goreng
Ripe banana in a crisp batter, fried golden and eaten hot — the Indonesian sweet snack that became a beloved close to the Dutch-Indo meal.
Roggebrood
The dense, dark rye of the Dutch east — whole rye berries steamed for hours into a moist, almost black loaf that slices thin and keeps for weeks.
Pepernoten & Kruidnoten
The tiny spiced nuggets scattered by the handful at Sinterklaas — crunchy kruidnoten and the chewier true pepernoten, both built on speculaaskruiden.
Rijstebrij
Pudding rice simmered slow in whole milk until thick and creamy, served warm with brown sugar and cinnamon — the oldest Dutch comfort in a bowl.
Stokvis
Dried, soaked stockfish gently poached and served with potatoes, rice, mustard sauce and fried onions — an old Amsterdam feast-day dish.
Rauwe Andijviestamppot
The quick post-war favourite — cool raw endive shredded into hot mash so it half-wilts, keeping crunch and bite, with bacon and a molten butter well.
Uiensoep
Dutch onion soup — onions cooked down slow and dark, simmered in beef stock, and finished with a cap of toasted bread and melted Gouda or Leiden cheese.
Stoofpeertjes
Deep-red Dutch braised pears — hard stoofpeertjes simmered slow with wine, cinnamon and clove until wine-dark and tender, served warm beside game or meat.
Krentenbollen
Soft Dutch breakfast rolls studded with currants and raisins — enriched dough baked to a glossy dome, split warm and spread thick with butter.
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.
Spekkoek
The many-layered spice cake grilled one thin layer at a time — an Indo-Dutch showpiece rich with butter, egg yolk, cinnamon and clove, striped like bacon.
Boterkoek
A single flat round of pure butter, sugar and flour — dense, chewy and deep gold, cracked across the top and barely set in the middle. Frisian at heart.
Chipolatapudding
A festive Dutch gelatin pudding of whipped cream, ladyfingers, candied fruit and liqueur, set in a mould — the grand table pudding of the old cookbooks.
Koninginnesoep
A refined Dutch cream of chicken — koninginnesoep, the 'queen's soup', a velvety chicken velouté enriched with egg yolk, cream and a little sherry.
Gebakken Kabeljauw
A thick fillet of cod floured and fried in butter until golden and just set, finished with lemon and parsley — the plain, perfect Dutch fish supper.
Suddervlees
The plain, patient Dutch weeknight braise — beef slices left to sudderen, to murmur on the lowest heat, until tender in a simple dark gravy.
Babi pangang
Crisp roast pork with a sweet-sour red sauce and pickled vegetables — the Chinees-Indisch restaurant classic that became a Dutch takeaway staple.
Eierbal
Groningen's proud snackbar oddity — a whole boiled egg wrapped in savoury ragout, breaded and deep-fried, split open and eaten with mustard or piccalilli.
Spekpannenkoek
The savoury Dutch pancake — smoked bacon fried into the batter until crisp, the whole plate-sized round eaten with a thread of dark syrup over the salt.
Wortelstamppot
A sweet, sunset-orange mash of carrot and potato shot through with crisp bacon and onion — softer and sweeter than hutspot, a plain winter comfort.
Tompoes
The Dutch pastry impossible to eat with dignity — two sheets of puff pastry, a thick slab of crème pâtissière, and a lid of glossy pink fondant.
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.
Hopjesvla
Pourable Dutch custard flavoured with hopjes — the burnt coffee-caramel sweet born in The Hague — a grown-up vla the colour of strong tea.
Kippensoep
The Dutch chicken soup made when someone is under the weather — a clear homemade broth with shredded chicken, vermicelli, leek and a little parsley.
Konijn in 't Zuur
A Limburg braise of rabbit in a sweet-sour gravy — vinegar-marinated, simmered soft, and thickened with gingerbread and apple syrup like its zuurvlees cousin.
Garnalenkroketten
Zeeland's finest croquette — sweet North Sea brown shrimp bound in a delicate bisque ragout, breaded and fried, served with lemon and deep-fried parsley.
Pannenkoeken
The wide, thin Dutch pancake that fills a whole plate — supple, lace-edged, eaten sweet with stroop or savoury with bacon and cheese. A meal, not a stack.
Sambal goreng boontjes
Green beans stewed in a chilli-and-coconut sambal until glossy and fragrant — the little side dish that turns up on nearly every Dutch-Indo rijsttafel.
Gevulde Koeken
The bakery-window classic — a fat round of buttery dough packed with almond spijs, glazed with egg and crowned with a single blanched almond.
Hete Bliksem
"Hot lightning" — a Brabant mash of potato with sweet and sour apples, part savoury, part fruit, sharpened with bacon and a warning to blow before you eat.
Tomatensoep met Balletjes
The Dutch tomato soup of childhood — a smooth, faintly sweet tomato broth with tiny meatballs and vermicelli, the plate-lunch classic done properly.
Zeeuwse Mosselen
Plump Zeeland mussels steamed open in a pot with leek, celery, onion and white wine — the autumn ritual of the Dutch southwest.
Griesmeelpudding met Bessensap
A turned-out semolina milk pudding, pale and quivering, flooded with tart red bessensap — the frugal Dutch dessert that outlived austerity.
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.
Gado-gado
The Indonesian composed salad of blanched vegetables, egg and tofu under a warm peanut sauce — a fresh, generous plate that found a lasting place on the Dutch-Indo table.
Kaasstengels
Crisp, savoury cheese straws of buttery pastry and aged Gouda — the tidy borrel bite passed round with a cold glass, snapping cleanly and gone in two.
Wentelteefjes
The Dutch way with stale bread — slices soaked in spiced egg and milk, fried gold in butter, and dusted with cinnamon sugar. Thrift turned into breakfast.
Speculaas
The deep-brown spiced biscuits pressed into carved wooden moulds for Sinterklaas — dense with speculaaskruiden, snapping crisp, scented of the VOC.
Andijviestamppot
Cooked curly endive wilted into buttery mashed potato — a soft, faintly bitter green stamppot finished with crisp bacon and a knob of melting butter.
Gerookte Paling
Freshwater eel hot-smoked to bronze, its fat rendered silky and its flesh richly savoury — the great delicacy of the Dutch inland waters.
Mosterdsoep
Groningen's creamy mustard soup — a light roux loosened with stock and cream, sharpened with coarse mustard and strewn with crisp bacon and chives.
Draadjesvlees
The Dutch Sunday braise cooked until the beef falls into fine threads — draadjesvlees, simmered low with clove and bay in its own dark gravy.
Vanillevla
The pourable vanilla custard every Dutch fridge holds — thin enough to drink, rich enough to be pudding, the dessert of a thousand weeknight tables.
Appeltaart
The tall, deep Dutch apple tart — a buttery cinnamon crust packed with spiced apples, raisins and a lattice top, baked in a springform and served in wedges.
Broodje Kroket
The Dutch lunch of legend — a hot, crisp beef croquette crushed into a soft white roll with a stripe of mustard. Crunch, molten ragout, and cool bread.
Frikandel
The Netherlands' most-eaten snack — a smooth, skinless minced-meat sausage deep-fried dark, split and loaded with mayo, curry and onion as a frikandel speciaal.
Rendang
The Minangkabau beef simmered for hours in coconut milk and spice until dark, dry and intense — a West Sumatran masterpiece that anchors the Dutch-Indo rijsttafel.
Stroopwafels
Two wafer-thin waffles pressed hot and sandwiched with molten caramel syrup — the Gouda market treat, best warmed over a cup of coffee until the middle goes soft.
Groentesoep met Balletjes
The clear Dutch vegetable soup — a good beef broth bright with carrot, leek and celery, dropped with tiny gehaktballetjes and a handful of thin vermicelli.
Kibbeling
Golden nuggets of battered white fish from the market stall — crisp outside, steamy within, served in a paper cone with garlic-herb sauce.
Zuurkoolstamppot
Tangy fermented cabbage crushed through floury potato, the sharpest of the stamppotten — laced with smoked bacon and crowned with rookworst.
Nasi goreng
The fried rice that came home from the Indies and became Dutch — day-old rice wok-tossed with a spiced bumbu, ketjap manis, chicken and prawns, crowned with a fried egg.
Hangop
Yoghurt or buttermilk hung overnight in a cloth until thick as cream, then sweetened with sugar and cinnamon — the Dutch dairy nation's oldest dessert.
Zuurvlees
Limburg's sweet-sour braise — beef marinated in vinegar then simmered with apple syrup and gingerbread until the gravy turns dark, glossy and tangy.
Kaassoufflé
The snackbar's molten heart — a slab of Dutch cheese sealed in crisp breadcrumb, deep-fried until it billows and the centre runs to stretchy gold.
Saté ajam
Skewered marinated chicken grilled over fire and drenched in a warm peanut sauce — the Indonesian satay that became the star of the Dutch rijsttafel and snackbar alike.
Tosti Ham-Kaas
The Dutch toasted sandwich — ham and Gouda pressed between white bread until the cheese runs and the crust ridges golden. Café comfort in ten minutes.
Bitterballen
The crown of the Dutch borrel — crisp breadcrumbed spheres of slow-cooked beef ragout that ooze when you bite them, served with sharp mustard and cold beer.
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.
Boerenkoolstamppot met rookworst
The definitive Dutch winter plate — potatoes crushed with curly kale, a well of gravy, and a coil of smoked rookworst laid across the top.
Erwtensoep
The Dutch winter soup thick enough to stand a spoon in — green split peas, smoked pork, celeriac and leek, finished with sliced rookworst on dark rye.
Gebakken Goudse Kaas
Slices of young Gouda in a crisp breadcrumb coat, fried until molten inside — the Dutch cheese country's simplest, most reckless pleasure.
Bami goreng
The fried egg noodles that came home from the Indies — wok-tossed with a spiced bumbu, ketjap manis, chicken and cabbage, and served across the Dutch table beside nasi.
Bruine Bonensoep
A thrifty Dutch brown bean soup — kidney-brown beans simmered soft with smoked bacon, root vegetables and a spoon of vinegar to cut the richness.
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.
Hollandse Nieuwe
The first young herring of the season, mild-cured and lightly salted — tipped back by the tail with raw onion, the most Dutch bite there is.
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.
Kroketten
The crisp-shelled Dutch croquette — a slow beef ragout set firm, breaded, and deep-fried, eaten from a paper cone with mustard or crammed onto a soft roll.
Poffertjes
The tiny yeasted pancakes of the Dutch fairground — puffed in a dimpled iron, turned with a fork, and buried under butter and a snowfall of icing sugar.
Uitsmijter
The Dutch lunch-counter classic — two or three fried eggs over ham and cheese on buttered bread, edges crisp, yolks loose, ready in minutes.
