Eat Your Way Around The World
Written by Mikaela March 14, 2016
A traditional English breakfast
Patat Oorlong
Dutch Apple Pie
Cafe and Friterie
Before I left to explore Europe, I received some of the best travel advice: eat my way around the world. Every country’s culture tells a story about their history and the people who reside there. As I learned, food is large piece of each culture. Each new place has their own local food so why not learn through your taste buds? Without any resistance, I followed this advice to every last bite and it has been a tasty travel life.
For example, when I was in London, I ate my way through a piece of history from the english countryside where the English breakfast grew to be. Once London’s ancestors crafted the art of cooking a hearty breakfast, they would share their special meal with friends, family, and neighbors. Now the round plate full of greasy bacon, sausage, baked beans, roasted tomato, eggs, and hashbrowns is a symbol of hospitality, which I was able to experience with some funny London locals.
In Amsterdam, I nibbled on some Dutch delicacies. My absolute favorites were the Dutch apple pie and the fry cone, which exist perfectly on both the salty and sweet flavor spectrum. When I was on a food tour with Eating Amsterdam, we went to a small cafe called Cafe de Punt where we ate a hefty helping of apple pie. I learned that, firstly, I now love specifically Dutch apple pie and secondly that the Dutch traditionally prefer a thicker cake-like crust. The thicker breading criss-crossed as topping is the signature for Dutch apple pies.
While still on the Eating Amsterdam tour, I went to Cafe and Friterie. It was the most taste bud-arousing foodie stop! Not only did I eat a fry cone smothered in sauces, but the fries were double-fried. Perfection! 41 million kilos of fries are ate each year by the Dutch and now I know why. The fry cone that I ate was called “patat oorlog”. “Patat” means “potato” and “oorlog” means “war” and the war part is for the sauce, “war sauce”. It was a layering of a peanut sauce and a mayonnaise-based sauce. Since both sauces are delectable, Dutch foodies used to have a hard time choosing between the two; causing a war between the sauces, until Cafe and Friterie layered them deliciously.
Though traveling has been flavorful, the waitresses, waiters, locals, and my Eating Amsterdam tour guide have taught me even more about the food we shared and about their home pride. We all had a common love for the national tasty treats and meals which is what joined us together for a quick moment of appreciation and my learning of the local history and traditions. Without a foodie passion to eat my way around the world, I would have never met the people who made their culture a reality for me through their national foodie passions.
Ciao!
Mikaela
Blogger: Mikaela, University of Minnesota
