Dutch Delight: Roggebrood
Periodically, EM tests typical Dutch foods together with internationals from EUR. This edition of Dutch Delight, third year IBA student Ana Fajardo from Spain tastes and reviews ‘roggebrood’ [Rye bread].The Review
“This looks amazing!” – says Ana sarcastically while opening the box of roggebrood. The product indeed might not look that appealing to eat, as it is a very dark type of bread, and gives the impression of anything but a light meal ahead of you. “It looks like it’s going to taste bitter”, Ana remarks.
It turns out to taste better than Ana thought beforehand, though she’s still not too enthusiastic about the bread: “It doesn’t have much taste, but it’s certainly not bitter. The bread is really soft, and it’s wet, kind of.”
After a few bites, the taste gets a bit more outspoken – probably from the grains in the bread. Ana: “I definitely prefer normal bread. The taste of this roggebrood is far from sophisticated, and also the texture is very different from the bread I’m used to eat.”
“Is it a really healthy bread?”, Ana asks. “It tastes like it’s really healthy. It’s such a heavy bread and it tastes a bit salty. I could never eat this with Nutella for example.” All in all, Ana grants it two out of five stars. Her assessment: it’s not gross, but I would not recommend this bread.
Score according to Ana: 2
1= I flushed it down the toilet
2= If you bought it anyway, eat it, why not?
3= Quite nice actually
4= Really good food
5= Best food I’ve ever tasted
The Product
Roggebrood is a very nutritious type of bread, and used to be the main component of a typical meal for most people in The Netherlands – next to potatoes, of course. However, in later years, the bread lost popularity. Traditionally, it is being eaten with cheese or along a pea soup dish. Roughly, Dutch distinguish two types of roggebrood: Brabants or Fries [Frisian] – Ana has tasted the latter one.
Would you like to participate in a future edition of Dutch Delights too? Taste a bit of Dutch culture, and mail to [email protected]. LJa
