Saturday, 31 August 2013

Dutch Supermarket

I love visiting new supermarkets when I travel, they can be new and wonderful even when just travelling within Australia or New Zealand. But excitement peaks when you leave the antipodes, particularly if you're travelling to somewhere non-English speaking. I've shown my supermarket fascination before after my 2010 trip to France- when I  was popping down to the shops.

So I was vastly interested in the one and only Dutch Supermarket I managed to visit in June. So much fascinating stuff.

Of course preprepared foods are taking over the world. And it's no different in Holland.

Salads
But naturally there are some local idioms. 





Of course there were walls of cheese.



And other local specialities filling the shelves. The vlokken (pronounced something like flocker) section.

Chocolate sprinkles, the kids eat on bread for breakfast
they're crazy for them
The coffee milk section. I don't drink coffee, so I didn't sample this, but it's a special milk for putting in coffee.

The liquorice section.


Bitter pudding, remained sadly untried.


The egg section made me gasp out loud! They had so many different sized cartons. 3. 4. 6. 7 I think (when do you need 7 eggs?). 9. And more. Such a simple idea! But so fantastic. Why do we only have 6 or 12? What if I want 9 eggs? Or 7?


We tried an intriguing local product, filet americain.

An unusual raw meat spread
But it's delicious!
Clearly, they must love their pomegranates in Holland.


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13 comments:

  1. skiourophile31 August 2013 at 23:01

    I think foreign supermarkets are one of the best bits of being overseas - so fascinating. The yoghurt aisle in France is jaw-dropping. I also confess to always visiting the cat food aisle (tho' not for personal consumption).

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  2. Susan Lindquist1 September 2013 at 00:38

    Ha! We do the same thing when we visit a foreign country! You learn a lot about the people's habits by looking at what they buy for their children and their pantries!

    Very cool post!

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  3. Elizabeth1 September 2013 at 01:16

    Very interesting. THANKS.

    I don't think I would like the raw meat spread, though.

    THANKS for sharing.

    Elizabeth
    Silver's Reviews
    My Saturday Snapshot

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  4. DoingDewey1 September 2013 at 03:19

    I think this is a great idea! I think seeing what people eat could start to give you an idea of what local culture is like and help you feel less like a tourist :)

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  5. grammajudyb1 September 2013 at 06:15

    I am not a world traveler. But it is fun to visit supermarkets in other regions of the US. Some things are very familiar, and others not so much. We can't buy alcohol in our supermarkets in Wyoming, so that always amazes me.

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  6. Ginx Craft1 September 2013 at 06:58

    What an interesting post. We noticed a lot of differences in the supermarkets in France on our holiday. The large liquorice section is unusual.

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  7. Jackie McGuinness1 September 2013 at 07:55

    I love supermarkets also and the cheeses in Holland were amazing!!

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  8. Brona1 September 2013 at 09:02

    I judge a supermarket by it's cheese section :-)
    I still remember being overwhelmed by processed meat in a supermarket in Spain...

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  9. Paulita 1 September 2013 at 11:20

    You found some really interesting things in the market. Good for you that you tried so many. I would not have tried the raw meat spread. Here's Mine

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  10. Leslie (Under My Apple Tree)1 September 2013 at 16:44

    I love to do that too! I never thought to pull out the camera, and without photos, the memory fades. Although I would definitely remember the wall of cheese and the odd number of eggs.

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  11. Peggy Ann3 September 2013 at 12:43

    What a great post! I love visiting supermarkets where ever I travel too and I will never get to see a Dutch one so thanks!

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  12. Jeanie4 September 2013 at 13:03

    I loved the supermarkets in Holland, too -- they were so clean and so much divine cheese! Wonderful wines... and even the supermarket chocolate was miles ahead of any here! Oh, now you're making me all nostagic!

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  13. Anne in Oxfordshire30 September 2013 at 07:22

    I think the supermarkets in Holland are brilliant , spend hours in them ,, sad but just love them :-)

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