Winter is fast approaching us here and Holland, and with that comes the age old Dutch Tradition of 'Stamppot'. What this can roughly be translated to it 'mashed pot' where potatoes are boiled and mashed followed by adding fine chopped up vegetables and letting that soften in the mix. Once the meal is dished up on a plate, slices of smoked sausage or 'rookworst' are placed ontop and sprinkled with bacon. What I find somewhat bizarre is that some families eat this dish with 'appelmous' or apple pure' on the side as if its some sort of desert. It is a very simple dish that the Dutch take pride in and I have found myself digging in for seconds, minus the appelmous thank you very much.
Although the basis of any stamppot is potatoes, almost any vegetable can be added as a filler. Carrots and sauerkraut are a favourite in my household, as is andijvie (a green leafy vegetable similar to lettuce)and kool (a sort of kale like vegetable). The first few times I ate this dish, I could barely stand the fact that there was almost no seasoning and flavour and most of all no SALT. However, the more I began to eat this dish the way the Dutch do, I started to realise the 'rookworst' and 'spekjies' (bacon) was so salty itself, that they didn't bother to season the rest of the dish, quite ingenious if you ask me.
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