Today we're cooking real Dutch classics! The Netherlands isn't just cheese and tulips, but also surprisingly hearty, home-style cuisine with centuries-old traditions.
🥖 Croquettes (Kroket)
Crispy golden croquettes with the most tender creamy beef or veal filling — one of the symbols of Dutch street food and home comfort. Outside — crunchy breading, inside — melting béchamel with meat.
Ingredients:
• Beef (or veal) — 400 g
• Butter — 80 g
• Wheat flour — 80 g
• Milk — 400 ml
• Beef broth — 200 ml
• Onion — 1 medium
• Nutmeg — pinch
• Salt — to taste
• White pepper — to taste
• Eggs — 2
• Breadcrumbs — 200 g
• Vegetable oil for frying — 1 L
Preparation:
Boil the beef in one piece in salted water for 1.5-2 hours until completely tender — the meat should easily fall apart with a fork into fibers. Cool, finely chop with a knife or pull apart by hand into thin fibers 3-5 mm in size.
Make a thick béchamel: melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add flour and cook the roux 2-3 minutes, constantly stirring with a wooden spatula — the mixture should become uniform, light golden and smell nutty, without lumps.
Pour in milk in a thin stream, whisking intensively so lumps don't form. Add broth, continue cooking over low heat 7-10 minutes, constantly stirring — the sauce should thicken to the consistency of very thick sour cream that holds on the spoon in a mound.
Add the shredded meat to the sauce, finely chopped sautéed onion, nutmeg, salt and white pepper. Mix until uniform, cook another 3 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a wide pan in a 2-3 cm layer, smooth out, cover with film touching the surface and put in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours, better overnight — the mixture should completely set and become dense like pâté.
From the chilled mixture form cylinders 8-10 cm long and 3 cm in diameter, lightly moistening your hands with cold water. Roll each croquette first in flour (shake off excess), then dip in beaten egg, then generously coat in breadcrumbs. Repeat the breading (egg + breadcrumbs) a second time for a thick crust. Place on a plate and put in the refrigerator for 30 minutes — this is critical for maintaining shape during frying.
Heat oil in a deep fryer or deep pot to 175-180°C (check with a wooden stick — bubbles should actively appear around it). Fry croquettes in batches of 3-4 pieces for 3-4 minutes, turning, until evenly golden-brown. Place on paper towels.
Serve hot with mustard (traditionally with Dutch 'Zaanse') and mayonnaise. Croquettes should crunch outside and literally flow inside when broken.
💡 Fact: In the Netherlands croquettes are sold in FEBO vending machines on every corner — drop in a coin, open the door and get a hot snack right on the street. This has been national fast food since the 1960s!
🥬 Zuurkool
Traditional winter dish of braised sauerkraut with smoked meat, potatoes and juniper — hearty, aromatic, with a characteristic tanginess. A Dutch table classic that's been cooked for generations.
Ingredients:
• Sauerkraut — 800 g
• Smoked sausage (Rookworst or any smoked) — 400 g
• Smoked bacon — 300 g
• Potatoes — 600 g
• Onion — 2 large
• Tart apple (Granny Smith) — 2
• Juniper berries — 6-8
• Bay leaves — 2
• Caraway seeds — 1 teaspoon
• Butter — 50 g
• Dry white wine — 150 ml
• Water or broth — 200 ml
• Sugar — 1 teaspoon
• Black pepper — to taste
Preparation:
Drain sauerkraut in a colander, squeeze out lightly (don't rinse!), but leave enough moisture — it's needed for braising. If the cabbage is very sour, you can rinse half the portion with cold water and mix with unrinsed.
Cut bacon into 2×2 cm cubes. In a large heavy-bottomed pot or Dutch oven melt butter over medium heat, fry bacon 5-7 minutes until golden crust and smoky aroma appears — fat should partially render, pieces should be covered with browning.
Add to the bacon coarsely chopped half-ring onions, cook 4-5 minutes until soft and translucent — onion should become golden but not brown. Core the apples, cut into large wedges (8 pieces each), add to the onion and fry 2 minutes.
Place cabbage in the pot, level out. Add juniper berries crushed with the flat side of a knife, bay leaves, caraway seeds, sugar and pepper. Pour in wine and water (or broth) — liquid should cover the cabbage about a third of the way. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to minimum, cover and braise 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally — cabbage should become very soft, silky, dark golden in color.
Peel potatoes, cut into large 3-4 cm cubes, add to cabbage, stir. Continue braising covered another 20-25 minutes — potatoes should become soft but hold their shape, slightly absorb the cabbage juices.
Cut smoked sausage into large 5-6 cm pieces, place on top of cabbage without stirring. Cover and heat over minimum heat 10-12 minutes — sausage should become hot through, slightly burst.
Serve in deep plates, placing cabbage with potatoes, on top — pieces of sausage and bacon. Traditionally mustard and rye bread are served with zuurkool. The dish should be juicy, aromatic, with a balance of cabbage tanginess and apple sweetness.
💡 Fact: Zuurkool is the Dutch version of German sauerkraut, but with mandatory addition of apples and juniper. The dish is traditionally cooked in cold months, and used to be eaten on Fridays — the day when Catholics couldn't eat meat, they simply removed the smoked meats.