Food culture in The Netherlands

Is there any? – I questioned myself.

It was such a surprise to me when I came to The Netherlands. I have been always passionate about food and cultural cuisines. When it comes to The Netherlands, I asked myself if was there any. If I ask a Dutch person what a Dutch cuisine is, he would tell me about how great the Kroket  is or how Dutch people are known with how they eat their Herring or about the famous Stamppot (the traditional Dutch home-cooked dish of mashed potatoes with vegetables). Trust me, the answer is always identical.

As I have seen so far, the Dutch kitchen provides many deep-fried products. Kroket is one of them. I have tried Kroket several times but it has always been a love-hate feeling.  One fact I do not enjoy it that much because it is deep-fried and it is stuffed with whatever that I have no idea. However, it has presented the Dutch food quite well.

How do Dutch people lunch?

I have to giggle whenever talking about this topic. If you want to learn about the food culture in The Netherlands, seeing the Dutch lunching is a must. I do not criticise them but they really do love their sandwiches. Their daily lunch set includes bread, ham, cheese, hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles) and Pindakaas (peanut butter). Unbelievably, they eat sandwiches every single day. I asked humbly some people how they enjoyed their lunch. Some, in fact, have never changed their lunch set. Maybe once a week Pancake is the substitute and it happens mostly in the weekend. 

I had a chance to chat about how Dutch people lunch with Jasper – the Chef of De Klub Restaurant. He was really open-minded about this topic. As a Dutch man, he acknowledged that the Dutch lunch did not have any change since centuries. Sandwiches have become so important in every Dutch person’s life. The lunch is so different in many countries in Europe. While the French is having a sip of wine next to their warm meal or the German is enjoying a big portion meal that the Dutch only has for dinner, the loyalty with sandwiches of the Dutch is admirable and they enjoy their lunch with a glass of milk.

Jasper, on the other hand, is trying to break the pattern. It is quite a hard work to make the Dutch dine for lunch. However, he is putting an effort to make De Klub an interesting lunch room. A menu with 3 options and changes every day. I believe a creative touch in food as De Klub has been offering could lead the change in the Dutch culture sooner and sooner. Jasper agreed with me on this change.

If you see the first picture, it actually represents this future change. Could you imagine a Dutch guy not eating bread and having a glass of wine beside his lunch meal? – stereotypically saying. Thanks De Klub for letting me capture this moment as well as the open-minded chat.

 

Instameet @ Amsterdam

It was an unexpectedly awesome day!

To some people, you are so familiar with Instagram. This small app on your smartphone has gathered millions of photos and surprisingly it has gathered millions of people together. For the first time, I decided to go to the Instameet (Instagram meet). More than 100 people crossed the river from the Amsterdam Central to the meet-up point – The Eye Film. Some people already knew each other from the last Instameet, some people were happy recognising other Instagramers. I did not expect how exciting it could be. People with cameras and phones in hands. I spotted so many Instagramers that I was dying to meet. I felt so good being surrounded by so many talented and enthusiastic people. I was inspired.

I was surprised seeing all those people. Everyone has their own styles, different perspectives. The meet might be in Amsterdam but we are all from different parts of the world. Despite the difference in nationalities, we share the same interest and we shared so many stories and laugh on that day. That one that I like about Instagram –  it might be a platform for sharing pictures but those pictures show our styles and might be our personalities. It is actually a point that makes people come together so much easier. This community is a safe environment for people to share their perspectives and inspirations.

See more from my Instagram @angelakoblitz

 

Why Blog?

Do you have a purpose to blog?

Today post I would like to tell you my reasons of blogging, what I think about blogging and how you start your own blog.

There are several bloggers on different platforms in different categories (I’m not sure if that is how you call it “categories”). And I’m sure everyone blogs for one or more reasons. I, myself, ask why I blog sometimes. First, let’s take a close look at what blog is all about…

“A meandering, blatantly uninteresting online diary that gives the author the illusion that people are interested in their stupid, pathetic life” – Urban Dictionary

Study can be fun!

I haven’t updated my blog pretty a while. The reason is because after all the traveling I got my first term exams.

I’m not so proud of how successful I am in study because it’s not so. However, I am not a lazy student. There are lots of people make excuses, that they don’t like their study or their subjects are boring, for not studying well and having not good grades. I gotta admit that some of my study subjects are very boring and I really hate studying theories. But, it’s your decision how you want to study it or how high your grades you expect. This post I want to share with you how to make study more fun and some study skills tips.

10 things to do when you are bored

If you are home this summer or waiting for your vacation to come while you’re not studying or having a part time job, you must be probably bored sometimes because there is not much todo. Here are some tips what you could do when you are bored: