As a second generation Canadian, I find it interesting how strongly I feel pulled towards my families Dutch heritage. I definitely feel Canadian, but I refer to my self as Dutch as well. I don’t think Im alone either. Many of my friends coming from different cultural backgrounds would probably say the same thing. Traditional dishes, quirky cultural stereotypes, and national soccer teams are automatically celebrated with out question. People love to joke about their cultural quirks. We are proud of them. My parents were born in Canada, I was born in Canada, but if anyone were to crack a joke about how cheap I am….I’d be laughing it off, blaming it on my dutch heritage. All the while still stubbornly holding on to a shred of inner pride over my 50 cents saved.
Shaun has a mix of Ukrainian in him as well as Scottish. He, along with the rest of his family definitely enjoy celebrating their culture. The holidays provide opportunities to do this every year, just this past Easter Shaun and I were treated to a delicious Scottish Easter breakfast. Consisting of haggis, and a few things I’d never tried before. Black Pudding and Royal Porriage (Thick hot oatmeal mixed with brown sugar and topped with a splash of Chivas Regal Whiskey..mmmm). They were presented and served to us with pride. Even if a dish isn’t a particular favourite of the host, it is presented with the same level of enthusiasm. This is the way I am when I have the opportunity to share with others my love for dutch food.
There are numerous dutch meals I could share with you. Some I’ve had to grow an appreciation for, others I still don’t even really want to try (Pickled Herring, that you basically have to swallow whole…YUCK), many that I love and then my absolute favourite. Pannenkoeken. Translation: best pancake ever. It can be served for breakfast as well as supper. Its made similarly to a crepe but is thicker and stronger. Its made strong so that it can hold hold and include different toppings inside of it. Typical breakfast topping include fresh fruit, bacon, eggs, ham, mushrooms and of course a healthy portion of Gouda cheese. They can be lightly dusted with icing sugar and or have thick syrup (Stroop) drizzled all over, as the finishing touch. I remember having them made for me by my grandma when I was little. My Grandma used corn syrup because it held the same consistency as stroop. It tasted great to me. I’ve tried my hand at making these for shaun and friends a few times. Usually a few out of each batch have been good enough to call ‘almost the real deal’ but I definitely still need to practice my frying method and badder consistency.
In Holland you can find Pannenkoken houses scattered through out the cities. They are open usually only for breakfast and then sometimes reopen for supper, but never on Sundays. There is a great little Pannekoken house in Kamloops BC. It’s open from 8am until 2:30pm. Its called the Amsterdam Pancake house. Their Pannenkoken is delicious. Perfect consistency with many yummy toppings, and outstanding service. My family discovered the location years ago and have made a point of stopping there on almost every BC vacation we take just for the breakfasts. It’s owned and operated by a lovely dutch family who love to share their heritage. Today, I finally got to take Shaun there. Obviously I was a little more than excited about this…I’ve written a whole blog post on it.
Like every restaurant we go to, we chose our two favourite options and split them down the middle. I chose the fresh fruit with whip cream option, and he chose the Amsterdam special. (Bacon, eggs, ham, onion and mushroom, topped with Hollandaise sauce). MMMM. Filled us right up and Shaun is definitely on board with helping me perfect the recipe. He enjoyed it as much as I knew he would. I’m sure you all will too. Eet Smakelijk! ;)
-Stephanie
Thanks Erik, It was very nice of you to let us take pictures of you. Your family’s restaurant is one of my favourites.
Ever since Shaun got his iphone and the wikipedia app a couple of years ago, Ive teased him about being an actual walking encyclopedia. To be honest, its not a bad thing, I can actually say that I learn something new every day.
Today’s piece of knowledge is about food:
Shaun was impressed with the quality of the hollandaise sauce served and said it must be because people from holland would obviously know how to make it best. I’d never put two and two together before. I thought it came from France. It turns out, that it is in fact a French sauce, but is believed to have mimicked a dutch sauce used for a state visit to France by the King of the Netherlands. Just though you all might want to know that.
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