Dutch Cooking Reviewed

Still life with ham, lobster and fruit/Jan Davidsz. de Heem

Have you ever tasted Dutch food? Have you ever visited a Dutch restaurant? Probably not if you live in the U.S. A recent article in the New York Times reflects an overly critical view of the Dutch culinary experience: it describes the visit of their journalists to Amsterdam restaurants alongside Mark Schiefelbein, a 44-year-old native of Germany who moved to Amsterdam from Strasbourg, France and has a local food blog. Don't take me wrong, mr. Schiefelbein has a nice blog and seems very aware of quality food, but his views on Dutch food are a bit harsh.

Personally, born and raised in the Netherlands and having lived for a long time in Amsterdam - and also in New York -,  I agree that the offering of many average Dutch restaurants could be improved, especially when compared to Schiefelbein's Alsatian experience, which by the way is a region with one of the richest culinary cultures. I find it quite exaggerated, when he describes his first experiences coming to Amsterdam in 1999 as follows: " Amsterdam was a food wasteland at the time....And I talked to people and they said, "Oh, it's really improved." I'm thinking, "My God, how bad could it have been?'".........

Alan Watts on What If Money Was No Object?

Serge Melki/Wikimedia Commons

I stumbled upon a YouTube clip of a lecture by 20th century British-born  philosopher and writer of Eastern philosophy, Alan Watts  about what's your purpose in life, or as he posed the question: what would you do if money was no object? Listen to this fascinating excerpt of his lecture:

And as we're starting a New Year, ponder for yourself over the question Watts raises: