What does the Netherlands keep in its kitchen cupboard?
After salt and pepper, paprika powder is the most popular flavor enhancer in Dutch cuisine. Cinnamon (81.5%) and ketjap manis (78.0%) follow shortly after. Research agency PanelWizard, commissioned by meal-kit supplier HelloFresh, investigated which herbs, spices and flavor enhancers are standard items in Dutch kitchen cupboards.
VOC spices
Dutch cuisine is far more international than is often thought. “Dutch food culture has been influenced by places around the world for centuries. During the VOC era, spices arrived in large quantities, and today they are part of the standard kitchen cupboard inventory,” says culinary historian Charlotte Kleyn, author of the culinary reference book Luilekkerland: 400 jaar koken in Nederland.” The research shows that at least half of all households have the four ‘VOC spices’ on their shelves: (black) pepper (90.4%), cinnamon (81.5%), nutmeg/mace (59.4%) and cloves (52.1%). Kleyn: “Dutch apple pie, speculaas and other sweets are unimaginable without cinnamon. Ossenworst isn’t ossenworst without mace, and just think of the boiled vegetables with grated nutmeg at your grandmother’s house.”
Katchop, ketjap, ketchup?
In the sauces category, the Oriental flavor enhancer ketjap manis is found in the cupboards of many Dutch households (78.0%). Mayonnaise (88.0%) and ketchup (81.4%) rank above ketjap manis. Ketchup and ketjap are closely connected. Kleyn: “The earliest known English-language recipe for ketchup can be found in a book from 1727, under the name ‘katchop’. The sauce and the word were borrowed from the Indonesian ‘kecap’ or ‘ketjap’, meaning soy sauce. Kecap manis already existed at the time. As a sweetened soy sauce, it was the forerunner of ketchup.”
Garlic
When it comes to fresh flavor enhancers, garlic is the most popular (65.0%). This was not always the case. Kleyn: “The fragrant bulb was associated with a ‘peasant background’ and was therefore absolutely not chic. It was only with the arrival of Dutch people from Indonesia and the growing popularity of French, Spanish and Italian cuisines that we embraced garlic here.” Basil and fresh mint also rank among the top three fresh flavor enhancers.
Curry powder
After paprika powder and cinnamon, curry powder scores highest among dried herbs and spices. More than a third of the Dutch (37.4%) consider it the tastiest flavor enhancer of all, and more than three-quarters have it in their kitchen cupboard. Curry powder is not actually a spice, but a spice blend. Kleyn: “Curry powder also does not come from India, as many people think, but from England. The English derived it from the Indian sauce ‘curry’, but in powdered form. It is a blend of all kinds of spices, such as coriander, cumin, black pepper, fenugreek, fennel, mustard seed and nutmeg. And turmeric for the yellow color.” The research was conducted among 1,108 Dutch people aged 18 and over.
Read also:
