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The Dutch are famous for a few things: tulips, windmills, klompen. But there’s more to these stereotypically orange-clad cycling fans than meets the eye – including liquorice consumption. As the course Introduction to Dutch gets started, Jess examines a few of the lesser known facts about a surprisingly sweet-toothed nation.
The Dutch love their drop
That’s liquorice to the non-Dutch. The country love this faintly salty sweet so much that they’re estimated to eat 2kg per person per year! Could it be that that which makes them the tallest people in the world – standing at heights of 184 cm for men and 170 cm for women?
Coffee, gin and beer – there’s plenty of all three
Photo by Paul Hermans
We have the Dutch to thank for inventing Gin, which they created from ‘jenever’ (a liquor still popular today) made from juniper berry in the 16th century. But despite their invention, today it’s beer and coffee they’re real fans of. The Dutch can claim the title of biggest coffee drinkers in the world – averaging almost two and half cups a day. And as for beer – that’s 74 litres a year. Maybe this is where the pedal power comes from.
It’s curtains for curtains
If you walk around Amsterdam you might find yourself peering into people’s homes – turns out the Dutch are fans of large windows, and open (or no) curtains. There are a few theories to why this is, from Calvinism to sailors wives showing they weren’t up to no good while their husbands were away.
Come for the culture, stay for the herring
For a modestly sized country the Netherlands packs in a lot of culture – close to 1000 museums in fact, ranging from KattenKabinet (a museum devoted to cats) to the Dutch funeral museum. And what might they be munching on as they peruse kittens and caskets? Herring of course, chopped with raw onions and pickles it’s a national dish – 12 million kilograms of it is eaten every year.
Ready to discover more about the Dutch? Join Introduction to Dutch now.
The post The land of gin and giants appeared first on FutureLearn.
Continue reading...
The Dutch love their drop
That’s liquorice to the non-Dutch. The country love this faintly salty sweet so much that they’re estimated to eat 2kg per person per year! Could it be that that which makes them the tallest people in the world – standing at heights of 184 cm for men and 170 cm for women?
Coffee, gin and beer – there’s plenty of all three
Photo by Paul Hermans
We have the Dutch to thank for inventing Gin, which they created from ‘jenever’ (a liquor still popular today) made from juniper berry in the 16th century. But despite their invention, today it’s beer and coffee they’re real fans of. The Dutch can claim the title of biggest coffee drinkers in the world – averaging almost two and half cups a day. And as for beer – that’s 74 litres a year. Maybe this is where the pedal power comes from.
It’s curtains for curtains
Come for the culture, stay for the herring
Ready to discover more about the Dutch? Join Introduction to Dutch now.
The post The land of gin and giants appeared first on FutureLearn.
Continue reading...
