Observations on Dutch Culture: October 2026 edition
It’s been a while since I’ve talked about Dutch culture and the things we find… er… interesting compared to the US.
More on Food
We’ve mentioned before that the food here is quite bland. Someone told us this goes back to the country’s deep Calvinist roots. As I understand it, Calvinism prized sobriety and modesty and frowned on indulgence and showing off, and that “eat to live, don’t live to eat” attitude seems to have stuck around in the kitchen long after it faded from the pulpit. (Historians will also point to things like wartime scarcity and early-1900s cooking schools that taught thrifty, plain cooking, but “blame the Calvinists” is more fun.)
We have definitely seen this play out. As we’ve said before, it can be hard to find food here with much flavor (see the previous blog post about fruit basically being crunchy water).
Except in one case. Whenever the Dutch put a sauce on something, they REALLY put a sauce on it. Chicken satay arrives as a giant bowl of peanut sauce with two or three small pieces of chicken bobbing around in it. Mike got fries with spicy sauce the other day, and the fry-to-sauce ratio was about 1:3. At that point it’s less “fries with sauce” and more “sauce with potato garnish.”
I don’t know why they do this, but it’s definitely a thing: anything that involves a sauce will have way more sauce than Americans expect. I’ve gotten to the point where I carefully read the menu to make sure what I’m ordering doesn’t come with one.
Used Car Sales
Another interesting thing we’ve run into recently: private sellers here very often sell their cars to dealers rather than to other individuals. We’re selling the electric car we bought for Mike’s commute, since he no longer needs it. Mike listed it on Marktplaats (basically the Dutch Craigslist). All but one of the responses came from dealers. The other was from a consignment company. Not a single regular person. We felt very popular, just not with the right crowd.
What we now understand is that buying a used car from a dealer typically comes with a warranty, often six months or more, plus consumer protections you don’t get in a private sale. So most people would rather buy from a dealer, and dealers are happy to scoop up cars from private sellers (always at a discount, of course). Very different from the US.
The Dutch Economy
Finally, with the protests in France and the general angst I hear from folks in the US about rising prices, I’ve been thinking about how things are here in the Netherlands. In general, I haven’t heard much complaining about the cost of living or a shrinking social safety net. The big exception is the price of housing, which is a constant topic of conversation.
There have been news stories about teacher shortages, and people grumble that there aren’t enough doctors or dentists, but overall people seem quite content. When I talked to a Dutch friend about this, he said he thinks the Netherlands will eventually go through the same things as France and the UK, just several years behind them. That rings true for me too. For now, almost no one I talk to complains about inflation or prices. Mike and I went to a “fancy” restaurant last night, and an appetizer, two entrees, and a nice glass of wine came to $90 including tip. And there were enough leftovers for Alex to have lunch today. [We did not order anything with a sauce.]
Anyway… I thought folks back home might enjoy hearing our latest observations on Dutch culture.
I get it with the lack of flavor. I suffered the same living in South Africa. I got used to simply going everywhere with one of those small bottles of Tabasco in my pocket and snuck that on food. I assume, however, that their food it at least healthier than what we mostly get in the US. At least their meals out seem to be much more reasonably priced than here. I stopped into a store recently and saw a regular package of Kraft Singles for $10.49 and had a moment of disbelief.
Even after living in Amsterdam for going on 3 years you guys are still learning new things about how things work. I love the sauce story. Sounds more like soup than sauce. Always a new adventure to explore. Sorry to hear you’re selling your electric vehicle. I love mine; should’ve got it years ago. At less than 12 cents per KW to charge I still smile when I pass by all the gas stations.