Juan Colmenares Bitar, Plus3 Netherlands, Summer 2026
One of the biggest surprises during my time in the Netherlands was the country’s food culture. Before I got there, I expected to spend two weeks eating mostly traditional Dutch dishes. Instead, I found out that the Netherlands has one of the most diverse culinary scenes I have experienced, and that diversity gave me a new perspective on the country’s identity. While talking with our tour guide, Enno, I asked what foods were considered truly Dutch. His answer surprised me. He explained that there are relatively few dishes that are exclusively Dutch, especially compared to many other countries. Instead, much of the food that people enjoy reflects centuries of immigration, trade, and the Netherlands’ historic past. Indonesian cuisine, specifically, has become a deep part of everyday Dutch food culture because of the historical relationship between the two countries. That being that for over 300 years, Indonesia was a Dutch colony. It is quite common to find Indonesian restaurants throughout Dutch cities, and many Dutch families regularly enjoy Indonesian-inspired meals. Beyond that, foods from neighboring European countries, as well as cuisines from Turkey, Morocco, Suriname, and many other cultures, are easy to find and widely appreciated. One of the styles of food that we had the most of on the trip was African food. As we traveled through different cities, I noticed this diversity everywhere. On one street we could find Indonesian food, while just a few blocks away there were Turkish bakeries, Italian restaurants, Middle Eastern cafés, and Surinamese eateries. Instead of one dominant national cuisine, the Netherlands felt like a place where many different culinary traditions existed side by side. That was something I had not expected before the trip. Experiencing this variety changed the way I thought about Dutch culture. Instead of seeing national identity as created by its own traditions, I started to understand it as something that has been reformed by centuries of interaction with the rest of the world. Food became a reflection of the country’s openness to new influences, as well as a reminder of the history behind those influences. The meals we shared were not just opportunities to try something new, but they also became a chance to learn about migration, trade, and the large impact of historical connections between countries.
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