Pack-your-passport.com - OCTOBER 18, 2014 FILED IN: THE NETHERLANDS - BEVERLEY REINEMANN
Picture the scene. It’s my birthday, the sun’s shining, and I’m sat outside a cafe in the Jordaan area of Amsterdam waiting for a food tour to start.
Does it get any better than this? Seriously?!
I knew, when I first booked my trip to Amsterdam for my birthday in July, that I’d have to do a food tour while I was there. Firstly, doing a tour of any kind gives you a much deeper understanding of a city than just wandering around on your own. Although I definitely do a lot of that as well.
Secondly, after taking part in a food tour of London earlier in the year by the same company, I knew the Eating Amsterdam food tour would be amazing and I couldn’t wait to get my first taste of traditional Dutch food.
I don’t want to spoil it for you by telling you about every single stop on the tour, but I am going to give you a sneak peek by focusing on my personal highlights.
The tour l went on lasted for around 3 or 4 hours, with 12 different food tastings along the way, and included a boat trip through Amsterdam’s heritage canals.
The tour doesn’t take in all of Amsterdam, but instead focuses on the Jordaan neighboured to the West of the city centre. The Jordaan is one of those neighbourhood’s that you’d totally want to live in if you moved to Amsterdam; it’s full of restaurants, cosy little cafes, and speciality shops, and obviously wherever you are in Amsterdam, there’s a canal nearby to sit next to and read.
Perfect.
Anyway, back to my highlights, of which there were so many that it was difficult to choose just a few.
APPLE PIE AT CAFE PAPENEILAND
Let’s start with the first stop; apple pie at Cafe Papeneiland, one of the oldest cafes in Amsterdam. This gorgeous little cafe right next to one of Amsterdam’s many canals is typically Dutch and one of Amsterdam’s oldest bruin cafés, or brown cafes.
Photo: Eating Amsterdam
Brown cafes are a huge part of the culture in Amsterdam and Cafe Papeneiland was the perfect introduction to this – it was small, cosy, and the apple pie?
Well, I’m glad I didn’t have any breakfast…
HERRING AT MEER DAN VIS
My second highlight was a dish that, beforehand, I really didn’t think was going to be a highlight.
As in, I was really a bit scared about eating this dish. Herring is a Dutch delicacy that many tourists shy away from, having read about the traditional method of eating it, which goes a little something like this: grab the Herring by the tail (which will have been partially gutted, salted, and frozen), throw your head back, gently lower the fish and…..bite off the rest.
Silly me. This is not how you have to eat it.
Most people in Amsterdam eat the Herring cut up into little pieces, served with diced onions and pickles. Now that I could handle.
It’s probably not a delicacy that I’d be falling over myself to order again, but it was one of my highlights because I was surprised that I actually like it and that’s the whole point of a food tour isn’t it? Trying things that maybe you wouldn’t normally eat.
DRINKING BEER ON THE CANAL
Sampling Dutch delicacies and learning all about the culture and history of Amsterdam was amazing, but when I got on the boat and started gently floating down the canal, this is basically what I was thinking:
“Oh my God it’s my birthday and I’m on a boat on a canal in Amsterdam and I’m drinking Dutch beer and the sun is shining and could I BE any happier right now??!!”
Seeing Amsterdam from the water was a real treat. I’m not the best on boats (case in point) but Amsterdam’s canals are so sheltered and calm that I just sat back and enjoyed.
Then the Eating Amsterdam crew gave me mini Stroopwafels as a birthday present and I wanted to burst because I couldn’t think of anywhere I’d rather have been spending my 29th than in that moment. And then we had champagne….
Anyway, back to the food!
BITTERBALLEN ON THE CANAL
You know if you went to the pub in England and wanted a snack with your pint you’d probably order a packet of crisps? In Amsterdam you order bitterballen. Bitterballen are small round, breadcrumb-covered balls that are filled with a sort of thick gravy-like substance (traditionally made with beef) and then deep-fried. They’re basically crunchy on the outside, gooey on the inside and normally served with a good helping of mustard, some pickles, and a beer.
I think the fact that, after trying bitterballen on the tour, I ordered them at pretty much every pub I went to in the days following is a testament to how good they were.
Seriously, if I was ever going to travel anywhere just for the food, it would be back to Amsterdam for bitterballen. They’re amazing. In fact, I had them the day after the tour at Cafe De Prins, my next highlight.
POFFERTJES AT CAFE DE PRINS
Photo: Eating Amsterdam
Made with yeast and buckwheat flour, Poffertjes are small, pancake-like, treats with a light, spongy texture. They’re normally served with powered sugar, and butter, and are especially popular in Amsterdam during the winter when street carts will sell them in portions of one or two dozen. That’s a lot of poffertjes!
As it was the height of summer, though, we sat in the coolness of Cafe De Prins and enjoyed our poffertjes with a coffee.
Cafe De Prins actually turned out to be one of my favourite cafes in Amsterdam. It’s got a lovely relaxed atmosphere and, as it’s right opposite the canal, it’s the perfect place to sit back with a beer and watch the world go by.
Cafe de Prins, Amsterdam
TIPS FOR DOING THE EATING AMSTERDAM FOOD TOUR
- As you’re going to be trying 12 different kinds of Dutch delicacy I’d definitely advise against having any sort of breakfast beforehand. If you do you’ll be way too full to enjoy everything the tour has to offer.
- Be open-minded and try a bit of everything, even if you don’t think you’re going to like it. I didn’t like every single thing on the tour but I tried it and learned a lot about Dutch culture because of it. Immerse yourself in the entire thing while you’ve got the chance!
Disclaimer: I was a guest of Eating Amsterdam but, as always, all opinions are my own. I think I’ve made it pretty clear by now that I think doing a food tour is a great way to learn about a new place and would have been happy to pay for the tour if I hadn’t been invited specifically.
You might also have noticed that some of the photos used in this post belong to Eating Amsterdam and not me. This is because some of the photos I took on the tour were lost when my flat got burgled. All other photos are mine."
