Day 7: Dutch Masterpieces (...the food, not the art)

Yesterday, Whitney and I decided that we hadn't ventured into the local Dutch cuisine enough, so today we were determined to immerse our tastebuds in the flavors of Holland.

Our hotel breakfast was a great start. It included Dutch rolls, cheese, and yogurt. And chocolate sprinkles that were supposed to be for toast but I added to warm milk. I'm a revolutionary.

Then we headed over from Haarlem to Amsterdam to see the sights (and eat the foods).

First on our list: Frietjes. Okay, so it's "just" fries, but the secret is in the sauce. The vendor asked which sauce I wanted, and I replied with "whatever is traditional." He pulled a lever and out plopped a dollup of mayo-like sauce. It tasted a bit like tartar sauce, but without the pickle bits.

The little forks with which we ate weren't the best at frietje retention, so we made some avian friends real quick.

We were told that pickled herring is a thing here, and so we handed over some monies to the first "Nieuwe Haring" stand that we saw. I mean, I like sushi, so a slab of nearly raw herring should be doable, right?

One thing I quickly realized is that the piece of fish in sushi is usually fairly small, and mixes with a blend of flavors from rice, seaweed, and veggies.

When you eat Nieuwe Haring, you end up with a large chunk of mildly pickled herring in your mouth, and it's like, "Welp, now my mouth is full of a sizable cube of raw fish flesh. I guess I'll navigate around the skin and bones and just chew. And swallow."

But I had to retain my Travel Eats Merit Badge, so I finished the bad boy. (Other notable notches include pig brain, Irish Sanya, rhubarb scones, and sea tubes.)

Whitney--not to be outdone--took it upon herself to find a challenging local dish and came up with a worthy competitor: a croissant smothered in chocolate.

oh, the humanity!

Somehow she managed to get--and keep--it down. I was really proud of her.

We strolled through Amsterdam and walked through a charming flower market. They sold tulip and and other plant bulbs, as well as cannabis starter packs. Somehow I think I'd have a problem at US Customs.

We wrapped up our foodie day with Poffertjes, which are like mini ebelskivers or popovers.

First you heavily grease a preheated poffertjes griddle before adding your pancake-like batter.

Let them cook for a few minutes until the griddle-side has been cooked about 1 cm in (the batter will still be wet on the inside and top.

Then take a fork and flip them so that the uncooked batter flips sides with the cooked part. This will create a bit of a shell (like a pita).

When they're full cooked, pop them onto a plate with powdered sugar and butter. The butter will melt and run into the crevices of the poffertjes.

Then try to hold yourself back from eating them too fast.

The rest of the day included a canceled Carillon concert, running into an old friend from Atlanta, watching boats navigate through canal passageways, and an accidental walk along the edge of the Red Light District (Whitney strode between me and the windows, with a "No way, girlfriends. This guy's taken!" kind of strut).