# Ask the Dutch guy! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 17, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480 "2010-04-17T20:46:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/41 "2010-04-18T16:32:07Z")
What makes Dutch french fries (frites) so good? Are they fried in lard? Do you like raw herring? Those tiny shrimp(the ones caught in brackish water)-how much per kilo are they? Finally, what are the beaches on the island of Texel like? ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/42 "2010-04-18T17:55:33Z")
I’m back. I just finished typing all the replies and then my browser crashed. Grrrrr. > [@Polly\_Glot](#): > > 1. Given the option of renting two perfectly acceptable flats for the same price, you’d choose the smaller one, right? Because it’s more _gezellig_, right?!? No, we go with whatever is considered the “best deal”. 🙂 > [@](#): > > 1. While you’re over here improving our American bike paths… I would like our slums to look and feel like living in a fricking park (a la the Bijlmer)! I’ve lived in the Bijlmer and didn’t like it much. Recent renovations might improve matters, though. > [@](#): > > 1. Who makes the best stroopwafels? There’s a little shop in Arnhem that makes them fresh when you order them. Those are pretty good. I don’t really like stroopwafels all that much. > [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > How are prostitutes perceived? Is it acceptable to say to friends or acquaintances that one is a prostitute? If you’re a good friend, I guess yes. Otherwise, it’s not exactly something to brag about. It’s not seen as something completely immoral if that’s what you’re asking. > [@](#): > > The Dutch military is unionized. How does that work? Can they strike? AFAIK the military can’t strike. The unions are mostly there (as in other heavily unionized jobs in the Netherlands) to act as council in (legal) disputes and to handle the collective negotiations regarding rules and pay. > [@ralph124c](#): > > What makes Dutch french fries (frites) so good? Are they fried in lard? Traditionally, horse fat for Belgian fries (which are what the Dutch consider to be the best kind of fries). Hydrogenated fats have been pushed as a healthier option the last decades so good luck finding any. Recently people seem to be coming to their senses. > [@](#): > > Do you like raw herring? I love it. It’s my treat when I visit the market on Saturdays. Raw, with a little chopped onion is the best way to eat a herring. [Like this](http://www.rosd.nl/images/100_1324.JPG). > [@](#): > > Those tiny shrimp(the ones caught in brackish water)-how much per kilo are they? About 40 euros a kilo. Much more expensive than the large ones (because there are less of them and they can’t be peeled mechanically). > [@](#): > > Finally, what are the beaches on the island of Texel like? Nice and sandy and fairly busy (but not nearly as busy as Schevening) during the high season. [This is pretty much as I remember it in the late summer](http://www.zeeinzicht.nl/vleet/images/hq/2857-texel-recreatie-strand.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/43 "2010-04-18T18:03:22Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > You say that in practice pot is legal. Could you smoke a joint in front of a cop? An anecdote: just today I learned that a man I know from the pub was arrested for smoking weed _while driving_. The fact that there were people arguing that he shouldn’t have been arrested tells you something about the general attitude WRT marijuana. ---
**Author:** ![Containing\_Iron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/57b2e6/32.png) [@Containing\_Iron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Containing_Iron)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/44 "2010-04-19T12:06:58Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > As far as I know, mechanical (wind) power made possible the construction of large timber ships. Also, an influx of intellectual & merchant immigrants from catholic countries and the founding of the VOC (the first stock-traded company in the world) helped. Exactly how we lost that status isn’t very clear to me; Neil Stephenson insinuates that once the English got a grasp of stock trading the end was inevitable for the Netherlands, but he’s a fiction writer. My personal WAG is that when the Dutch prince Willem III (king Billy) took the English throne some of the Dutch rich merchants went to London to be with the court and took their banks and economic might with them. This was the beginning of the end of the Dutch might imho. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/45 "2010-04-19T13:32:35Z")
Do you think it’s possible for another country to be any more pro-gay than the Netherlands? You seem to be winning hands down so far. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/46 "2010-04-19T13:56:47Z")
About 1.5 years ago there was a best selling book in the U.S. call [Netherland](http://www.amazon.com/Netherland-Novel-Joseph-ONeill/dp/0307377040) (Amazon link) - heck, even Obama was noted as reading it. It is kind of a modern-day Great Gatsby, with the narrator a Nederlander banker stuck in personal and professional limbo in NY. But we spend a lot of time in his head and get a sense for the author’s take on a Nederlander mindset, if you will. Did you read the book? Any sense of whether it gets into the Dutch mindset very well? ---
**Author:** ![maplekiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@maplekiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maplekiwi)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/47 "2010-04-19T20:14:28Z")
Most of my questions have already been asked so… Which Dutch (sorry if you hate that word!) cheeses do you eat/recommend? Are you an admirer of any of your famous artists? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/48 "2010-04-19T20:37:30Z")
So just how do you pronounce Scheviningen? ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/49 "2010-04-19T21:00:44Z")
> [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > Do you think it’s possible for another country to be any more pro-gay than the Netherlands? You seem to be winning hands down so far. Politically, we’re doing well. It’s almost certain political suicide to have any kind of “less than full rights” position on homosexuality. Except for the small set of hard core Christian parties. It’s probably telling that the popular right wing parties (and those aren’t the Christians) are all for acceptance of homosexuality, though at least in some cases it’s probably more a case of “those damn Muslims should keep their hands of our gays”. It’s complicated. :-/ > [@WordMan](#): > > About 1.5 years ago there was a best selling book in the U.S. call [Netherland](http://www.amazon.com/Netherland-Novel-Joseph-ONeill/dp/0307377040) (Amazon link) - heck, even Obama was noted as reading it. Haven’t read it. Sorry. > [@maplekiwi](#): > > Which Dutch (sorry if you hate that word!) cheeses do you eat/recommend? “Dutch” is fine, it’s just confusing when the Germans are Deutsch. 🙂 I love cheese of many countries, but for straightforward Dutch cheese, I’d recommend an aged cheese like Old Amsterdam; dry and salty and just barely soft enough to slice. Personally, I’m not that fond of the regular young cheeses since they’re very mild in taste, but the texture is a lot softer and creamer, so it depends on what you want. There’s also some very nice goat cheese (not the soft French or Feta style but more like Gouda) that’s pretty good on sandwiches or with salads. And you have to try “komijnenkaas” - cumin cheese; very tasty and you can get it in any age from young to very old. Also, the traditional Frysian “nagelkaas” - old cheese with whole cloves. And “brandnetelkaas” which is made with stinging nettles; a lot subtler tasting than you might expect. Note that most of these cheeses are traditionally eaten sliced on sandwiches (or on Frysian rye bread) - possibly with some apple butter - for breakfast or lunch, or cubed with mustard as a snack with a glass of beer. > [@](#): > > Are you an admirer of any of your famous artists? I love MC Escher. And it’s hard not to be impressed by van Gogh (I visited Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, where he was institutionalized for a while, and it’s amazing how well the colors in the landscape match his paintings from the period - they’re much more true to life than I realized). Rembrandt and Vermeer made amazing paintings but I’m not really into them. Oh, and [De Stijl](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Stijl) is interesting and some of the stuff is very pretty, but Rietveld’s chairs are awful to sit on. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/50 "2010-04-19T21:02:06Z")
Have you ever stuck your finger in a dike? Did it help? ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/51 "2010-04-19T21:08:52Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > So just how do you pronounce Scheviningen? It’s “Scheveningen” and it’s pronounced just like you write it in Dutch 🙂 Sga-vuhn-ing-un. With a gutteral G (that sound you make when you clear your throat) and A as in “a”. [Like this](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Nl-Scheveningen.ogg) (link to ogg audio file that should play in Firefox). ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/52 "2010-04-19T21:19:25Z")
> [@Encinitas](#): > > Have you ever stuck your finger in a dike? Did it help? I don’t think they’d appreciate it. 🙂 Anyway the Hans Brinker/Hero of Haarlem legend is an English invention and not very well known in the Netherlands. The Dutch wikipedia page states that the few statues that we’ve got are “mostly there for the American tourists”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![maplekiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a4c791/32.png) [@maplekiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maplekiwi)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/53 "2010-04-19T21:29:12Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > Oh, and [De Stijl](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Stijl) is interesting and some of the stuff is very pretty, but Rietveld’s chairs are awful to sit on. 🙂 I checked out your link & that chair looked like it would be at home in a torture chamber! I blush to say I didn’t realise that **Mondrian** was Dutch! ---
**Author:** ![This\_Just\_In\_2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@This\_Just\_In\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/This_Just_In_2)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/54 "2010-04-19T23:42:07Z")
Do Dutch people of today still have any special affinity towards Canadians? I mean, WW2 was a long time ago and I’m curious if any of that still applies after 65 years. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/55 "2010-04-20T00:52:10Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > It’s “Scheveningen” and it’s pronounced just like you write it in Dutch 🙂 > > Sga-vuhn-ing-un. With a gutteral G (that sound you make when you clear your throat) and A as in “a”. > > [Like this](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Nl-Scheveningen.ogg) (link to ogg audio file that should play in Firefox). My cousin’s wife (who is Dutch by birth) told me that the pronunciation of this town was what was used to trip up German infiltrators in WWII. ---
**Author:** ![Perciful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b38774/32.png) [@Perciful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Perciful)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/56 "2010-04-20T01:12:31Z")
I had a friend whose parents were Dutch. Anna Metta was very pretty with the blond hair and blue eyes. She was tall like her Mother. I was envious of their family because they were so close. Her Mom stayed home and kept the house spotless and cooked and took care of the kids. She was a very loving Mother and seemed to be very much in love with her husband. Coming from my upbringing it was unusual to watch such closeness. They were also very polite and I never heard any yelling. Is this the typical Dutch family or were they an anomaly? This was in the 70’s. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/57 "2010-04-20T03:15:30Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > Anyway the Hans Brinker/Hero of Haarlem legend is an English invention and not very well known in the Netherlands. The Dutch wikipedia page states that the few statues that we’ve got are “mostly there for the American tourists”. 😃 This is the most shocking thing I’ve read all day. I thought I was pretty savvy to these things, but I was positive that Hans Brinker/the boy with his finger in the dike were real Dutch folk tales. (And nitpick: Wiki says they’re of American origin, not English.) ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2010, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/58 "2010-04-20T21:54:08Z")
> [@This\_Just\_In\_2](#): > > Do Dutch people of today still have any special affinity towards Canadians? I mean, WW2 was a long time ago and I’m curious if any of that still applies after 65 years. I’ve moved (about a year ago) from Arnhem where the 5-yearly remembrance ceremony is taken pretty seriously, but it’s not a “special relationship” like the British have with the US. In general we just think the Canadians are less pompous and more likable than the Americans 😃 > [@Chefguy](#): > > My cousin’s wife (who is Dutch by birth) told me that the pronunciation of this town was what was used to trip up German infiltrators in WWII. It’s a popular tale. I’m still not convinced it’s true, but the word is pretty hard to pronounce if you don’t know the language well. > [@Perciful](#): > > I had a friend whose parents were Dutch. Anna Metta was very pretty with the blond hair and blue eyes. She was tall like her Mother. I was envious of their family because they were so close. Her Mom stayed home and kept the house spotless and cooked and took care of the kids. She was a very loving Mother and seemed to be very much in love with her husband. Coming from my upbringing it was unusual to watch such closeness. They were also very polite and I never heard any yelling. > > Is this the typical Dutch family or were they an anomaly? This was in the 70’s. My parents were like that in the late 70s and early 80s (I was born in 74). Affection between partners is not something to be hidden. At least not in the circles I frequent. House cleaning is where opinion (or execution) differs in my experience. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/59 "2010-04-21T00:17:57Z")
Can you understand the East Frisian dialect? It is supposedly the ancestor of english. Also, those people who live on barges (in the canals) -do they have to pay property taxes? ---
**Author:** ![lshaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e36b37/32.png) [@lshaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lshaw)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2010, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480/60 "2010-04-21T06:24:59Z")
Superfluous Parentheses, what do you think about **Maastricht** ’s assessment of Dutch guys (and gals) [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11148980&postcount=26)? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-dutch-guy/536480.md?page=4)