The first time I visited Europe, I followed a tour group that advertised "Art Journey" to four European countries in just 14 days. As the itinerary focuses on admiring Van Gogh's paintings, the Netherlands has naturally become the focus of tourism. During the four days and four nights in the Netherlands, a group of more than 20 people not only visited art galleries and museums, but also spent a day watching windmills, cheese factories and wooden shoe workshops.
The place I visited that time constituted my first impression of the Netherlands. At that time, I did not expect that, after a lapse of ten years, I married a Dutch with dark blonde hair and gray blue eyes and moved to Rotterdam. After I settled down, I realized that although the first impression of the Netherlands was not entirely wrong, it was just the general perception of the tourists. At that time, it was only possible to go deep into the essence when I was just looking at the flowers. For example, the traditional windmills and wooden shoes listed as the main points of visit by tourist groups are not part of daily life in the Netherlands. The former has been replaced by modern machinery and technological equipment. Nowadays, most of the windmills scattered in the countryside are either left unused or not used. Refitting as a residence or restaurant makes people feel a little bit old-fashioned.
As for the colorful wooden shoes in specialty shops, that's even rarer. In the past, farmers used to wear hand-carved wooden shoes when they worked, but these days there are more durable rubber shoes. Wooden shoes have lost their original functions and mostly become home decorations.
On the contrary, tulips and cheese are still closely related to the daily life of modern Dutch people.
The Netherlands is the world's largest producer of bulbous flowers. There are nearly 20,000 hectares of land for planting bulbous flowers, half of which are tulips. These beautiful flowers are not only supplied to the domestic market, but are also sold globally, bringing considerable foreign exchange income to the Netherlands.
Spring is the tulip season, and around mid-April is the peak season. At this time, the flower fields are colorful, and there are also colorful tulips on various flower stalls in the market. Five euros, how can people not be tempted, how can they not buy a handful to go home, so that every corner of the house, there are graceful shadows of tulips?
Cheese is indispensable all year round. According to statistics, each Dutchman consumes an average of eight kilograms of cheese a year, of which about six kilograms are Gouda cheese, which is shaped like a big wheel. This kind of cheese with light brown outer skin and golden inner core is good in quality and cheap. Depending on the maturity and quality, the price ranges from RMB 50 to RMB 150 per kilogram. In this country with a gross national production of more than 40,000 US dollars, such a price is really not expensive. Therefore, cheese used to be called "the protein of the poor" in the Netherlands. Its status is a bit like our tofu, and it is affordable for everyone. Civilian cuisine.
In the Netherlands, cheese is a common ingredient and is made in a variety of ways, not limited to sandwiches with bread. People who love cheese can eat cheese three meals a day.
After getting up in the morning, a few slices of white bread or multi-fiber black bread with sliced cheese, and a cup of coffee, hot tea or milk are a simple but satisfying meal. Chinese food is a bit richer. In addition to the dry cheese between the two slices of bread, add one or two slices of ham to add nutrition and calories.
After a busy day, I finally got off work. Drink a glass of wine before dinner to relax the nerves of the tense day. At this time, you might as well have a small glass of Jenever, known as the national wine of the Netherlands, or a large glass of cold draft beer is also good. Anyone who likes to have two drinks knows that it would be more enjoyable to drink with some side dishes; in the Netherlands, what to get with wine? Of course diced cheese.
When it comes to dinner, which is the only hot food of the day, you might as well have a Dutch homemade salad as a starter-diced cheese with boiled eggs, diced cucumber or potatoes. As for the main dish, boiled in water, it looks a bit like a reduced version of bitter cabbage (chicory, witlof in Dutch). Cook until the heart of the cabbage becomes soft and ripe, remove the excess water, and then cover the top of each vegetable. A slice of boiled ham, drizzled with creamy white sauce, sprinkled with shredded cheese, baked in the oven, it is a famous Dutch dish.
You see, with cheese, the Dutch can do it all day. No wonder the Netherlands has the reputation of being the hometown of cheese in addition to the name of the Tulip Kingdom.
