I figured since I am a Dutch living abroad I could give you some advise on the things I take home from Dutch supermarkets because I miss them. The irony then of course becomes that I buy a bunch of stuff, take a photo and only then realise some of the things I love aren’t as good as they used to be, so here are things you should buy at the Dutch supermarket, and some things you shouldn’t. I am omitting the more obvious things like stroopwafels and Gouda cheese (don’t get those weird tourist flavors, I prefer a boeren gatenkaas anyway).
Note I am not linking anywhere cause this is no spon.
Zaanse mayonaise
A must-get cult item, it costs nothing and is one of the best mayos in the world. I rank it right up there with Kewpie and Amora. Though I am trying to cut back on the varieties of mayo I have in the house this would be my golden trio. It’s sold in different types of packaging but I reckon the tube gives you the best experience, as it allows you to make cute dollops of mayo on boiled eggs. But for some reason the tube also tastes best.
Calve knoflooksaus
This is a typical Dutch garlic sauce, I don’t know why the French don’t have a proper garlic sauce in their supermarkets but I guess maybe it’s because they already have all those other sauces? Either way, must have, great with anything deep fried or grilled.
Sambal Oelek
One of the most basic and foundational Indonesian sambals. If I can’t find chilies (like most of this past year), I will use sambal oelek instead. I know it’s been popping up a lot in US and UK recipes as well now, it’s just a great little work horse of a sambal. Just don’t get Conimex! Technically I would normally get my sambals at a toko, but it is widely available at Dutch supermarkets so if you don’t get a chance to visit a toko get it there instead.
Schenkstroop
Dutch syrup is different and I don’t know why. It’s the stuff that comes in stroopwafels as well, in a less runny consistency (schenk means pour). I would range schenkstroop somewhere in the middle of a caramel and a molasses, slightly deeper in flavor than caramel but not as deep as molasses. It’s thicker than maple syrup and Dutch people like to have it on their pancakes, kids will try and spell their name with it, and maybe I still do too.
Euroma Jonnie Boer Chef’s Gehaktbal spice mix
Jonnie Boer was a renowned Dutch chef, who partnered with the Euroma spice brand to release a bunch of spice mixes. The Chef’s Gehaktbal (chef’s meatball) is the only one I get. I didn’t really grow up with Dutch food so for me a lot of that stuff was always quite exotic and exciting. Favorite among those are proper Dutch gravy and meatballs. Dutch meatballs are huge chonky affairs, usually drowning in gravy. I remember asking everyone’s Dutch grannie how they made them and they all used store-bought spice mixes, for both the meatballs and the gravy, go figure.
Since Johnny Boer famously perfected the Dutch meatball, it’s great to have his spice mix at hand to get those proper flavors going. I love how the house smells when we use it, I may have also spiced some oyster mushrooms with it and stuck them on some pita bread with aforementioned knoflooksaus for a completely different affair. If I do make meatballs I like to have mine with hutspot, though I’ve been told that’s not traditional.
Croky Bolognese potato chips
I have no idea why they call this flavor bolognese, flavor wise it has nothing to do with the famous Italian sauce. Like not even in the slightest. It is however, the best flavor going and I have only encountered it in this version in the Netherlands. There are other brands that sell bolognese potato chips but they are not as good as Croky, and one even goes way off the mark and does veer more into vaguely-reminiscent-of-Italy flavors, but get these. You won’t regret it.
Cheeto’s Nibb It Sticks
To my horror after taking this photo, I opened my beloved bags of Nibb Its come to find that they now suck! The flavor is there but the texture went from airy to gross? As soon as you bite into them the crunch goes and it becomes this awkward blob of gloop. Do not buy!
Ziegler Kaaswafel
Another favorite that has gone down the drain or maybe my taste buds just did a little growing up. Either way, skip these.
Hagelslag
The famous Dutch breakfast and lunch chocolate sprinkle! While I hate a sad Dutch boterham breakfast or lunch, I do love me a sprinkling of hagelslag. I personally prefer the XXL pure chocolate variety, but there are so many versions if you can it’s fun to get and try a whole bunch. I highly recommend trying anijshagel (aniseed flavored white sugar hagelslag), the vruchtenhagel (multicolored sugar hageslag) as well as the ‘muisjes’ (literally ‘little mice’ – whole aniseeds coated in white, pink or blue sugar) which we serve on dry thick biscuits with butter to celebrate newborns (so so sad and Calvinist). There are also gestampte muisjes (smashed little mice – a powdered sugar that tastes of aniseed) and vlokken (faux chocolate flakes) which are also great.
Drop
The Dutch love liquorice, I know it’s not for everyone but I also love liquorice. My preferred version is hard and salty. If I have time, I prefer to go to a candy shop and get a little pick and mix going so I get all my favorites in, but needs must so I don’t have time I’ll get a big Venco dropmix box, preferably ‘gemengd’ (mixed) but that is only because they don’t do a hard and salty box. If you’re a licorice beginner I’d go for a smaller bag and maybe start with something soft and gentle like kokindjes.
Not pictured
So not everything fit the frame but some other things I always bring home are Kaki Tiga brand ketjap medja (see this post about Asian supermarkets), appelstroop – a Dutch version of apple butter, very dark and acidic, great to use in stews and wet rubs for barbecue in place of molasses, as well as basterdsuiker, which is akin to turbinado and demerara sugar, it comes in white, light brown and dark brown and I use them a lot in baking and cooking, but also love it on a pancake with lots of butter.
For obvious reasons I will not be translating this post to Dutch. Let me know your favorite Dutch foodstuffs to get in the comments.