“Dutch problems: Indecision over what bread topping to have for breakfast.”
This is what I was going to put as a Facebook status, before deciding that it was just too weird a Dutch thing to go unexplained. Leading to this, my most trivial blog post ever.
Typically, Dutch people have bread with stuff on it for both breakfast and lunch. We learned it in Dutch class and had a pretty lengthly discussion about it. So, I guess to keep some variety, there’s a lot of options for “broodbeleg,” which Google Translate renders as “spreads” but which really means anything you can put on bread. You have your typical stuff like sliced cheese and lunch meats, or peanut butter and jam, but you also have more uniquely Dutch things, like hagelslag (chocolate sprinkles like we Americans would put on an ice cream sundae) or appelstroop (a molassas-y syrup made of apples).
To prove that I’m not just making it up, here’s some screenshots from the “Broodbeleg” section of the Albert Heijn app. (Albert Heijn is a big Dutch grocery chain.)
I think the “spread” section is what we call sandwich spread http://www.appiehein.com/724-1123-large/sandwich-spread.jpg
I really don’t know how to descripe it… I like it, but there are a lot of people who don’t like it
“Spread” is basically veggies and mayonnaise and spices in a jar. They’re kinda weird, but worth a try.