Random.org gave me #308.
Which is Kathlyn!
Let me know what address you want me to mail you the package to at Kay@kayotic.nl, or feel free to use the contact form in my site! Hope you’ll like it and thanks for entering!
It’s been a while since my last giveaway. So here I’ve been, pondering the perfect giveaway for a Dutch girl’s food blog, with visitors coming from all corners of the world. Which is a really nice break from pondering the meaning of life, you know? Then it hit me; Dutch food items! Of course! The kinda stuff you can only buy here!
So I’ve prepared a care package with several typically Dutch food items. The kiddo helped me collect them, so if there are little bites taken out here and there, you’ll know who to blame! Because these items might be new to some people, I’ve also printed a few recipe cards for the person who wins the package! Just to give you a few ideas.
To enter, let me know if you’ve ever been to the Netherlands and what your favorite Dutch food item was. Or if you haven’t been here, what food specialty is native to where you live!
Some things need no introduction. No Dutch care package is complete without Blooker Pure Dutch Cocoa. It’s the real deal!
American peanut butter. I’ve tried them all. From Skippy, to Jif, Peter Pan and several others. Turn about is only fair play, time for you to try our Dutch peanut butter.
A personal favorite of mine: Yofresh. You know how I always combine mayonnaise with yogurt, right? They already did it for me, resulting in a relatively low-fat, wonderful fresh sauce that can be used on anything. From salads to bread and french fries.
Speaking of French fries; as the entire world has known ever since Pulp Fiction, we Dutchies eat our fries with mayonnaise. Not any regular ole mayonnaise, though, we use a special french fries sauce that’s slightly different from mayonnaise. This one is spiked with herbs.
I’m also adding Chan’s, my favorite curry masala, an item I still have to buy first thing tomorrow morning, so I borrowed the photo from my Roti Chicken posting. My bad.
We’re quite happy with our Dutch Indonesia connection here, because you see, it gives us full access to amazing products such as Sambal and Ketjap (Kecap) Manis—a wonderfully thick and sweet soy sauce that’s a staple in most Indonesian and Dutch households.
I’m not really sure just how typically Dutch this is, it’s a snack we call borrelnoten. They’re peanuts with a crunchy, savory coating. Very hard to stop eating until you’ve reached the bottom of the bag.
This is ontbijtkoek, a Dutch spiced cake, kinda like gingerbread cake. Literally translated it would mean breakfast cake, but it’s not usually eaten for breakfast. We don’t just eat the cake like this, along with a cup of coffee and lightly buttered, but we also use it to spike up stews with or even crumble some into our ground beef when we make meatballs. My favorite ontbijtkoek is this one, it has caramel and honey added to it. Need I say more?
Hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles), is something I grew up with. Along with everyone else here. Nothing beats a fresh slice of white bread with a thick layer of butter and hagelslag. We eat peanut butter and hagelslag sandwiches here like you guys eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Same effect. This box contains a few small packages with different kinds of sprinkles for you to try.
A white crispy bun with a steaming hot Unox smoked sausage is about as Dutch as it gets.
We use a lot of castor sugar here. It’s a fine sugar that works wonders in cakes because of its quick dissolving properties.
What can I say about Dutch liquorice? You either love it or you hate it. There’s just no middle ground. My favorite is salty liquorice, terrible for my blood pressure, but sooo tasty.
Saving the best for last. No care package without stroopwafels. Crispy waffles with a caramel syrup filling.
Also included are several Dutch fridge magnets and one of my beloved cheese grater planers (oh, how I love that word).
I’ll pick a random winner on Wednesday morning. Good luck!
Tags: Dutch food items, giveaway
July 20th, 2009 at
I’ve never traveled outside of the US, though it would be a dream to go to the Netherlands.
July 20th, 2009 at
I’ve never been to the Netherlands but I’d love to visit someday! I live in Washington state, USA, and grew up around apple, pear, and cherry orchards. I’ll claim that as our local “cuisine”!
July 20th, 2009 at
Oh, I do love the items you picked! I’ve always been a fan of foreign food items. It challenges my culinary skills!
July 20th, 2009 at
I’ve not had Dutch food before, but I have a friend who crows about it constantly…What a fun package! I’ll cross my fingers… ;)
The food item most identified with where I grew up is the one and only Philly cheesesteak. Now that I live on the West coast I’ve tried a few imposters, but nothing beats the first bite of a cheesesteak “wit” (meaning with onions), on a hot crispy Amaroso’s roll from Pat’s or Geno’s. Whew. Makes my heart palpitate just thinking about it. Of course, each one comes with an automatic 5lb weight gain, so maybe it’s better I live across the country now… :)
July 20th, 2009 at
I’ve been to Amsterdam, where I basically lived on frites, and I’m totally drooling over the idea of stroopwafels. In New York I can pick up a mini version at Trader Joe’s, but here in Colorado, I’m SOL.
July 20th, 2009 at
I’ve never been to the Netherlands, and I’ve been trying to think of something that’s native to America that I can’t live without… but I’m having trouble! It seems that everything I can’t live without is either French, Italian, or Asian! Maybe Kentucky whiskey… :)
July 20th, 2009 at
I’ve never been to the Netherlands, but I love those waffle cookies with caramel (Stroopwaffel)! So good!
A great giveaway!
Cheers,
Rosa
July 20th, 2009 at
Ive been to NL and I am still currently here. My favourite Dutch food would be……….(argh this can be difficult) ok, kroketen. You can say that it is an acquired taste.
I love your blog, been following it for a while.
July 20th, 2009 at
I have never been to the Netherlands, but my husband went last year for business, but he was so busy all be ate was hotel food! He does say that from what he did see, he would like to go again for a holiday and take me, so that’s a good sign!
Here in South Africa we have so many local specialities as we have so many nationalities that make up the population – primarily the English settlers, the Dutch settlers and the original indigenous people. I think some of the Dutch influenced food is my favourite, seriously, we have things like koeksisters (a sort of braided sweet dough, fried and soaked in a syrup), vetkoek (sort of a fried bun that can be eaten savoury or sweet, depending on the filling – I like curried mince), rusks (sort of like a biscotti, but not and brilliant dunked in hot chocolate). And across the board, the most popular South African meal is a braai – huge chunks of meat grilled on a proper coal and wood fire. A braai is hard to describe, but is so South African and is nothing like a bbq, but nothing like rugby and a braai on a Saturday afternoon.
July 20th, 2009 at
Well, I came through the Netherlands about 7 1/2 years ago now – in January and boy that’s a cold month there!! I took a train from Berlin to Amsterdam in the middle of the night (And freaked out around 2am that our part of the train was being decoupled and due to the lack of sleep spent a frantic 30 minutes thinking we were all going to DIE, but then ended up in the right place LOL) to catch up with my tour group, since I spent an extra day in Berlin since i loved it so much, and almost a whole extra day in Amsterdam as well! Just gorgeous I loved it so much :) My favourite memory is a simple one: my cone of yummy chips (french fries) with marvelous “OMG this is mayonnaise??? THIS is MAYO!!!” mayonnaise on them. Oh, soooooo good. I’d sure I had other things, but that’s what’s stuck in my head :)
July 20th, 2009 at
Hi Kay,
Love your blog! I spend way too much time here!
I came to visit just this spring. We saw the Keukenhof gardens, but we were a bit ahead of the tulips. The crocuses and hyacinths were the stars of the garden in March. The favorite food that we brought home had to be the seasoned mixed nuts! The nuts themselves were huge and so fresh tasting. And the spice mix that they are covered with makes them irresistable! Everyone who tasted them wants more.
Thanks for the giveaway!
July 20th, 2009 at
Ooh, you had me at Dutch food! :-) Albeit that I’ve spent more time in Belgium than The Netherlands, but I suspect there’s a fair degree of crossover. Whether the food is particular to the country, I remember enjoying waffles with fruit & cream, poffertjes, the most awesome pancakes, speculaas, stroopwaffles (which I can buy here in Sydney – David is now a convert!), chicken cordon bleu (seriously, I’m not adverse to the odd frozen foodstuff!), paprika crisps, and ohhh the chips with mayo. I now can’t have them any other way, why would you?
My aunt & uncle lived in Groeningen for years, and I always enjoyed when they came back to visit, laden down with all sorts of stuff I loved as a young child.
But to be honest, my favourite memory is super fresh bread rolls, beautiful butter, and rosehip jam with several cups of coffee, on a beautiful summers day. Whether it’s Dutch or not, that is my abiding food memory of being there.
July 20th, 2009 at
Oh! Hagelslag met pindakaas! Why didn’t I think of that! Usually I just have the hagelslag on butter. I might pick up some of the ontbijtkoek, which I’ve yet to try. I also need to replenish my ketjap manis, which is good mixed with lime juice and sweet chili sauce as a marinade for chicken pieces.
July 20th, 2009 at
Oh my.. i really want those stoopwafels ! :)
July 20th, 2009 at
I’ve been to Amsterdam twice now but I struggle to think of my favorite Dutch food! The cheeses are to die for, but obviously you can’t send those in the post :D.
July 20th, 2009 at
I live in Duisburg close to the dutch border, so yes I’ve been in The Netherlands many many times. Especially to Venlo like all Germans…
My favourite dutch food is Matjes!! I love it.
We have a funny family story regarding matjes. My mom sat on the pedestrian walk in a dutch beach town and wanted to eat her matjes. She hold it in her hand, lifting it up over her mouth and just wanted to start eating it. Then our dog came and jumped and stole it!! All the bypassers were laughing at her shocked and surprised face.
But this period didn’t stop us from loving matjes and our dog too ;-)
Have a great monday!
July 20th, 2009 at
Hi,
I was in the Netherlands as kid but I never could forget these chips. They were like pommes frites but dried in a red box with ketchup powder. I never saw them here in Hamburg.
Do you know what I mean? :)
A really typical dish in Hamburg is Labskaus. http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Datei:Labskaus.jpg&filetimestamp=20060222204801
It is mashed potatoes with beetroot, matjes and corned beef.
Hope to win this great care package. Love your blog and hope that you will continue for a long time.
Sascha
July 20th, 2009 at
I’ve been to the Netherlands several times and I loved everything new I tasted there, except liquorice! I guess it’s really an acquired taste :-)
July 20th, 2009 at
I’m from the U.S. and I’ve never left the country unfortunately. I live in California and was raised in the agricultural city of Bakersfield. Something that everyone there seems to eat all the time and a lot of people from out of town seem unfamiliar with is tri-tip. The other most common food is basque food. There seem to be many French Basque people who settled here over the years and raise and herd livestock so we have some very well-regarded Basque restaurants as well. :)
July 20th, 2009 at
@Sascha,
perhaps this?
http://www.tastingmenu.com/media/2004/20040326-purimas/imagepages/image10.html
its a condiment like seroendeng with indonesian food, that :)
July 20th, 2009 at
I’ve only been to the Netherlands once (though I really want to go back since my ancestors are from there). We were on a choir tour of Europe and spent a couple of days in the Netherlands. We sang in this really old church in Kampen that had the best reverb.
As far as the best food, I LOVE stroopwafels and I also remember the cheese and the bread being really, really good (and the wine very, very strong). We stayed with some wonderful people there and we have such great memories.
July 20th, 2009 at
I have only been to your airport but I would love to try the foods listed! Let me know if you ever want to be gifted some middle eastern dry goods. Maybe we could swap.
July 20th, 2009 at
Never been to the Netherlands, but would definitely love to go someday!
I’m from India, and although people associate India with food like tandoori chicken, naan etc, I actually come from south India, where its a whole other ball game!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Indian_cuisine
July 20th, 2009 at
one of my good friends lives in the Netherlands so I’ve been there quite a few times. aside from hagelslag and stroopwafels, I love krokets (I think that’s how it’s spelled?).. warm and in a bun with mustard.. so yummy!
July 20th, 2009 at
I live in the Netherlands now, but I’m entering for my family back in Texas! They would love this! Every time I have a visitor, they go crazy for karamel stroopwafels! Yum!
July 20th, 2009 at
Now this would be really exciting! Those stroopwafels sound amazing! With 2 hungry teenagers, I’m keen for anything that will fill them up :-)
Being Aussie, it’s got to be Vegemite as our local flavour. I’m in Port Macquarie, so local seafood is also a favourite: oysters, prawns, crabs etc. And, although most people find it a little distasteful (like Bambi = venison) kangaroo meat is gorgeous.
I’ve never been to the Netherlands, but I’m planning on travelling o/s in the next few years, and Europe is my first port of call.
July 20th, 2009 at
I’ve only been in the Netherlands when I pass thru from Dubai. One time coming back from the States, I had to spend a night outside the airport at the hotel with the big Toucan bird on it. I guess that’s KLM’s hotel. I can’t remember what I ate, but I do know I never ever leave Schiphol without purchasing the stroop waffles or cheese the Reyi… can’t think of the name but it is very similiar to parmesean in texture. Dry.
July 20th, 2009 at
I’ve been to Amsterdam about 10 years ago, when I was 18 – too young to appreciate food really (these days the highlight of every trip abroad is a trip to the supermarket – when I was in Boston a few months ago I went straight from the airport to the Stop & Shop. Total dedication there after a good 20 hours in flights and connections). But I remember the chips (fries) very fondly :).
In regards to “Israeli” food, lots of things are called that but are actually a mishmash of the various cultures that immigrated here. The one thing that is really Israeli to me, and until lately could only be found here is “ptitim” – what’s now available in other places called “Israeli Couscous”. It’s actually toasted pasta in little ball shapes which are a very basic homey food here. I usually fry a load of onions, then add the ptitim ’til some of them turn brown, and then add broth of some type. Great as a side dish or base to anything.
*stops rambling about food and goes to make lunch*
July 20th, 2009 at
Unfortunately, I’ve never been to the Netherlands though I live “right next door” (in Paris, doesn’t take that long in the Thalys..). We’ve been planning to visit with my husband who’s been there when he was younger but he didn’t try any local food. What a pity! And we haven’t found any restaurant offering Dutch cuisine in Paris.. So I’d really love to check out all those tasy Dutch food stuff!
I’ve been living in France for the past few years but I come from Mauritius and am of Chinese origin, so that does add a twist to your question… Mauritian cuisine is basically a mix of all the different people living there so that’s why I’m familiar with many different cuisines like Indian, Chinese and Creole. But to narrow it down, since I now live in France, I’d say that nothing beats good cheese, warm crusty baguette and a very good Bordeaux.. What else can I ask for? ;)
July 20th, 2009 at
I’d love to try all of those yummy sounding Dutch foods! I’ve never tried (or even heard of!) any of them so it would be a truly new foodie experience. I’ve never been to the Netherlands but always had a mental image of it as being a very quaint and clean (!!??) place. I live in Virginia and have been surrounded by wonderful Southern cooks my entire life. I guess the foods that my area is most famous for would be Smithfield Ham, a wonderful salty ham that is to die for if sliced paper thin and eaten on homemade biscuits or rolls (also great for seasoning vegetables!) and peanuts from Suffolk. Got to go – getting hungry!
July 20th, 2009 at
Big fat breaded tenderloins from our area. Now that is some good food! My Mom is from Germany, so we grew up with “the best meals.” She really taught us what good food is about!
July 20th, 2009 at
Nope! I’ve never been to The Netherlands. But I’ve tried some Dutch food like bitterballen, frikandel,.. and not to forget stroopwafels with a nice cup of coffee ;)
I’m originally from Singapore (but living in London) where it is multicultural so there’s a mix of local food like Chinese, Indian, Malay, etc (:
July 20th, 2009 at
WOW! What an awesome give away! Those foods look so exotic and yummy! I have never been to the Netherlands or had the opportunity to try Dutch food sadly enough. :( I’d have to say that “Poutine” would be a food specialty from here! A fry dish with cheese curds and gravy on it. Not for everyone I am sure but sooooo good! lol
July 20th, 2009 at
I have never been to the Netherlands, but I would like to sometime! I am from Nebraska in the US. One “native” food here is a runza, a hamburger and cabbage meat pocket. Very good! I make mine with a slightly sweet bread dough. Yum!
July 20th, 2009 at
Hi, I was in Holland when I was 5 years old and my Opa/Oma had a store where dutch chocolate spread was never ending. I was in my glory, eating it on bread every breakfast. Also we ate eel, tipping our head back and just lowering the long piece into our mouths-it was wonderful. I look forward to going back real soon but for such a young age I have some pretty good memories.
July 20th, 2009 at
Wow, some of those things bring back memories from my summer as an exchange student. I still eat my french fries with mayonnaise. YUM! I would love to find that package on my doorstep.
July 20th, 2009 at
I’m hoping that my 1 in 34 chances can win me that Delicious looking-and-sounding Dutch care package. Have to admit that I’ve never tried any Dutch food, so I’m most eager to try and win this contest.
I’m from Malaysia and Singapore — where our snacks are usually savory, spicy and sinful (fried, that is). A good currypuff will have you always wanting more. Its filling has soft cubes of hot potatoes and tender chicken coated in curry powder and spices. Cherry on the sundae is if you’ll find a hard boiled egg in the filling. The pastry is fragrant, hardy and flaky at the same time. It is an incredibly satisfying snack!
July 20th, 2009 at
I love kroketten as well as bitterballen!
July 20th, 2009 at
Never been to the Netherlands, but here in North Carolina our specialties are BBQ and fried everything!
July 20th, 2009 at
I haven’t been over there, yet, but I do love Dutch cheeses, and I buy them often! :D
July 20th, 2009 at
Have not been to the Netherlands. We were very close to going a few years ago, but life got in the way…
Specialties, now that is a tough one. Not sure that there is anything special in Michigan. I know some people talk up Vernor’s (the original ginger ale) and pasties here. Although I just don’t do the meat pasties at all. My thing would be a strawberry rhubarb crumble made with local produce.
July 20th, 2009 at
I’ve never been to the Netherlands, but would love to visit someday. I live in Florida, so we love our seafood! I love it all, except maybe oysters. But fried, I could eat those too – ha! Great giveaway!!!
July 20th, 2009 at
I have never visited the Netherlands, but have lived in several other countries. In Mexico we have nuts similar to those coated with a spicy layer.
July 20th, 2009 at
I have been (loved it!)! I loved the waffles :)
July 20th, 2009 at
Well my favorite would be frikandellen, dutch cheese, babi pangang, french fries, drop, stroopwafels. To many to mention. :) Too bad there is no Dutch store around here (Memphis) I usually order mine on line. So a care package would always be nice :)
July 20th, 2009 at
I’ve never been to the Netherlands I’ve only been as far as the UK and I have to say the fish was probably my favorite from over there. Here in Ohio I’d have to say Buckeyes are what we’re known for. Creamy peanut butter dipped in rich creamy chocolate…can’t beat that!
July 20th, 2009 at
I have never been to the Netherlands. I would love to go there! I live near Philadelphia and the local fare here is Cheese Steaks. It’s a very yummy sandwich.
July 20th, 2009 at
Out here in the center of North America (Winnipeg, Canada) We have more ethnic restaurants per population than any where else in the world, As far as native foods go I would say right now I’m getting ready to pick and enjoy some wild blueberries: way better than store bought! As far as native dishes go, we have the whole world to choose from because every August we a festival called Folklorama where all sorts of groups and service organizations from all the immigrants who live here set up Pavilions to give people an idea of their culture and a taste of their cuisine.
July 20th, 2009 at
I have been to Amsterdam once, the summer between junior and senior years in high school, about 16 years ago. I honestly don’t remember what we ate there. It’s hard to say my overall favorite food, but right now it’s the fresh blueberries and tomatoes. Can’t really beat something you eat just picked off the vine/bush!
July 20th, 2009 at
Ahhhh, these all look so delish! I’d love to try any of them! I have never been to NL, but we love Europe!