Yes, we do love our kroketten. And if you’re ever in Amsterdam and you want a local lunch, go for the ‘twee kroketten met brood’. Any self-respecting lunchroom serves this classic. And it consists of a few vital important elements, when done right. Yes, these things are important!
- No broodje!
If you think a ‘broodje kroket’ is the same as ‘twee kroketten met brood’ … No, no, no. Big difference. Well, to us. A ‘broodje kroket’ is a soft, cheap white bun, with a kroket on it. This is served in snackbars. But in restaurants, you get the fancy Twee Kroketten met Brood: two slices of bread, with two croquettes. Because one croquette does not make a lunch. - White ‘boterhammen’
Yes, white. You can have brown bread, but don’t be a foodie-hipster with this one. Some bars have dared to use fancy wholemeal artisan pits-and-seeds bread. Blasphemy! The real deal is to have your kroketten with two slices of cheap, white bread. Don’t think this lunch is going to be a tat healthier because of your choice of bread. Let it go. Get that white stuff, you can totally handle it. - Sad side salad
A real Twee kroketten met brood has a teeny tiny side salad, on the rim of the plate. It serves as some sort of comfort-giver to the person who ordered it. It tells you, yes: you are eating something healthy, because look! Salad! But don’t mistake this heap of greens for actual food that you have to enjoy. You can eat it, but it is perfectly fine and socially accepted to leave it right where it is. Because nobody orders kroketten for the salad. - Mustard
Plenty of mustard must be provided when served kroketten met brood. Which kind? Grany or smooth, mild or fiery? Doesn’t matter, just smuther your croquettes in it fearlessly, so you can regret it after the first bite. - Real butter
Keeps getting better huh? Because that cheap white bread and those fried up, crispy croquettes are not complete without some good old, fat milky butter. So spread that layer on thickly.
So that’s a Dutch lunch explained. What do you think of kroketten? Let me know in the comments!
