Stamppot
Dutch Deli Specialities
On a recent trip to Amsterdam, I was introduced to the quintessential Dutch staple - Stamppot (to the right of the chickens in the photo). It’s mashed potato with additions such as spinach or carrots. Dutch Colcannon, if you will. Usually eaten with meatballs, you’ll never find this in a restaurant, apparently, but it was for sale in this deli.
My friend Freek informs me that the average daily Dutch diet is bread and cheese for breakfast, bread and cheese for lunch, and stamppot for dinner. Every day. He points out that this is down to a Protestant austerity in the culture, where eating is considered a necessity, not a pleasure. A stark contrast from, say, the Italians…
Freek sent me this absolutely delectable sounding recipe for a truly posh stamppot. No quantities are given but this sort of dish is not rocket science. Thanks Freek!
Stamppot with quince and sauerkraut
Quinces are peeled and studded with three or four cloves each and boiled in two glasses of white wine with a tablespoon of apple butter and grated nutmeg and cinnamon and sugar until tender.
Cut them in small pieces of the size of dice and saute them in
butter until golden brown.
Boil one kilo of peeled floury potatoes in water with salt until ready.
Boil an equal amount of sauerkraut with three cloves.
Remove the cloves and mash the potatoes and the saurkraut carefully.
Add butter or milk and taste to see if it needs more salt. Gently mix the pieces of quince in the stamppot and add fresh walnuts from the present year. Serve immediately.
Variations: The walnuts may be replaced by almonds or cooked bacon from which the gravy is poured into a hole in the stamppot. The quinces can be replaced by raisins or other fruit. The filtered liquid from cooking the quinces can be used in a dessert, for example on baked bananas. Stamppot is often eaten with smoked sausage. After eating stamppot, a small jenever helps to digest.
Tags: cookery, potato, Recipe, Travel, vegetables
February 10th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Hi Celia,
It’s an honour to see my recipe published on your site! Especially with all the rain and snow these days (and not cold enough for ice-skating), I’m really longing for stamppot. One warning, however, on the above message: Since stamppot is extremely easy to make, do not bother to buy a ready made portion (see photo). Stamppot becomes dry quickly, so you have to eat it immediately after preparing.
Indeed, the average Dutch diet consists of stamppot, but it has to be said that the average Dutch family or person does not eat Dutch meals (especially in the cities). It is not something that is considered gastronomically interesting. That’s probably also the reason that you wouldn’t find stamppot in a Dutch restaurant: why pay for something ordinary that you can also make at home?
The bread and cheese, however, is still sacred in Holland: almost all my friends and family start the day with bread and cheese and make a lunch-box with… bread and cheese.
Another interesting fact that comes to my mind - thinking about Dutch eating habits - is that you normally (unless you are in a restaurant or it is Christmas) do not get something to drink with your food during dinner. My friends from Italy and Germany were surprised when they found out that it was only when I lived on my own that I started to have something to drink with my stamppot.
A last tip for visitors to Amsterdam: try the Bols “jenever” museum, an ancient brand that provided jenever to the Dutch East India Company.
April 10th, 2009 at 9:31 am
FANTASTIC!
August 22nd, 2009 at 10:12 am
We had Stampot in a restaurant off Leidse Plein in Amsterdam. Delicous and tried often at home.