TRAVEL
Dutch treat for food lovers
W
HY, exactly, was I leaving the land of Stilton and Red Leicester to visit the home of Edam? my friends asked me when I told them about my cheese-themed trip to Holland. It was a fair question. But we Brits may not have experienced the real deal when it comes to Dutch cheese. A cheese-themed city break seemed the ideal way to
test the theory they like to keep the good stuff at home. Where to go, then? Amsterdam maybe, but, y‘know, been there, done that. Rotterdam seemed a more interesting alternative, not least for its proximity to Gouda, the spiritual home of Dutch cheese. Rotterdam is surprisingly easy to get to. Just as air travel has become an increasingly tiresome and dispiriting experience, journeys by rail are now faster and more comfortable. Taking the Eurostar from St Pancras International to Brussels and changing to the high-speed Thalys train meant a journey time of four hours.
Both trains provide plenty of leg-room, space to wander around and a remarkably smooth and quiet ride. You arrive in the centre of Rotterdam feeling fresh and ready to explore. The first thing that hits you is the skyline. This is a must for lovers of modern urban landscapes, for which the dubious thanks go to the Luftwaffe, which laid waste to the city on May 14, 1940. What emerged from the rubble is Manhattan on the Maas, a collection of thrilling and unusual high-rise buildings and modern classics such as the iconic Erasmus Bridge. I made my way to one of the most stunning landmark buildings in pursuit of my first cheese hit. Leicester might be quietly pleased with its market hall, but the new Rotterdam Markthal is in a totally different league. A 40m arch containing luxury flats towers over the market hall, the interior walls of which are decorated with immense artworks of fresh produce. The “Sistine Chapel of food” tag does not actually seem that ridiculous. The main floor has lock-up stalls which are open until 8pm. It’s new and smart but this is not about gift food – Rotterdam is a businesslike city and the prices here are realistic. There are several cheese specialists, notably Cromwijk, selling some 150 varieties of Dutch cheese – including the outstanding Oude Rotterdamsche and a super-creamy Graskaas, made from the first milking of the cows when they have grazed on new spring grass. The following day, my cheese pilgrimage really got into gear. A 20-minute train journey took me to Gouda (try saying “howder” – it won’t be quite right, but you’ll get kudos for trying). Every Thursday, from April to August, they recreate the cheese market in the central square, where for some 800 years farmers have brought in their big rounds of cheese and agreed a price with traders through a complex hand-slapping routine. Nowadays, it’s a drama for the tourists, but it’s good fun and crucially, there is a genuine market where you can buy boerenkaas (farmhouse cheese), a world away from the factory produced stuff. You can also buy in De Waag – the medieval weigh house which houses a cheese museum and tourist information centre. Gouda cheese is generally classified into six levels of ageing and each has its virtues. The youngest, Jong, is pale, soft and mild, with progressive levels of maturity creating a darker, firmer and more complex cheese. By the time you get to Oude, matured for at least 10 months, you have got a crumbly, hard cheese with fudgey sweetness and slight crunch from salt crystals. It’s awesome stuff and justified my journey.
Pretty little Gouda is well worth a stroll around for a couple of hours. The Netherlands’ longest church, Sint Janskerke, has a world class collection of 16th-century stained glass windows. Also, get down to atmospheric Museumhaven, where a huge lock provides access from the Ijssel river to the canal network. There’s a glorious little cafe where the ebullient owner, Dick, will tell you stories about the canal’s glory days while you feast on his signature fondue and enjoy a beer. I recommend the fruity Goudsche kuyt, from the local stadsbrouwerij. One more unmissable local treat – Gouda is also home to the stroopwaffel, those biscuits made with a thick cinnamon syrup sandwiched between two layers of dough and baked in a waffle iron. Patisserie Van den Berg on Lange Groeendaal has been baking for135 years and is the ideal place to sample and buy. And my sceptical friends? Let’s just say those who got a slice of what I brought back have changed their tune.
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DUTCH DELIGHTS: Clockwise from top, Gouda’s Thursday cheese market; Erasmus Bridge, Rotterdam; Gouda is home to the irresistible stroopwaffel; Sint Janskerke church, Rotterdam, and the city’s Markthal
More magazine food critic Tim Burke samples the delights of a cheese-themed city break in Holland TIME HONOURED: A 20-minute train journey from Rotterdam, the pretty town of Gouda is famous for its cheeses
TOP TIPS FOR ROTTERDAM
BUYING FROM THE FARM IF you are touring by car or bike, you could try getting out to a farm shop. A good choice would be the family-run Schep cheese farm, in Bergambecht, about eight miles south of Gouda. Their Gouda was champion cheese of Holland in 2010, and since then they’ve doubled the size of their herd of pedigree Friesians and now make 1,300kg a day. “It's fat and protein content that's important,” says farmer Jaap Schep. “That's why our cows are outside all summer and we ensure that at least 50 per cent of their diet is grass all year round.” In the farm shop you can buy top-notch Gouda of all ages, including the flavoured varieties with added cumin or truffle.
FACTFILE BOOK your rail journey at: www.voyages-sncf.com
GET the Rotterdam Welcome Card. Starting from 10 euros, you get unlimited local travel and a handbook with sizeable discounts at restaurants, museums and other attractions. www.rotterdam.info
FOR more information, visit: www.holland.com
WHERE TO EAT Rotterdam has many high end eateries, but if you want to be ahead of the curve get down to Restaurant de Jong, which is in the hip De Hofbogen area. Chef Jim de Jong produces plates of heartbreaking beauty with the emphasis on seasonal vegetables, flowers and herbs. The menu changes every day but I had some remarkable cheese dishes with the highlight being pickled shallots with a goat’s cheese broth, lovage oil and radish flowers (pictured). WHERE TO DRINK Ch k outt B Check Ballroom ll iin the th bustling b tli Witt Witte de d Withstraat area, a gin palace that offers some 52 varieties. Top scorer on my visit was Bobby’s, a massively complex Dutch gin made with Indonesian botanicals including juniper, cloves and lemongrass.