Tere!

Do you remember that I prefer choosing local souvenirs to typical souvenirs? Here’s the Netherlands trip version!

The article’s volume isn’t a lot as the trip was only for a few nights.

Here I’m going to talk about three Dutch + local souvenirs, and hope it will be helpful for your Netherlands trip.

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Table of Contents

     1. Verkade’s chocolate
     2. The Dutch people’s favourite sweets – “Drop”
     3. The Dutch people’s breakfast ingredient – “Hagelslag”
     ★Summary

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1. Verkade’s chocolate

Let’s begin with a typical souvenir choice – chocolate!

Verkade is a Dutch brand.

My university friend in Japan and I give birthday gifts to each other every year, so this year (in 2023) I asked her what she wanted, and she said Verkade’s chocolate. At that time, I had two trip plans: to the Netherlands and to Sweden. This is why I asked whether she had something she wanted from one or both of the countries.

I had never heard of Verkade before, so I was not confident to find their chocolate, and yet I found Verkade’s chocolate at the supermarket I randomly went to in order to find souvenirs.

Plus, they had different flavours!

I chose the flavour of “hazelnuts and caramel” as well as “cappuccino”. The former was a new flavour and the latter one sounded unusual, and this is why I chose them. My friend can’t drink coffee, but I thought she could eat it if it’s just a flavour in chocolate. (I assume she just can’t handle the bitterness in black coffee. What is more, cappuccino itself has more milk than espresso.)

I once gave her Ukrainian sweets on her birthday, and her granny ate without knowing it, but it won’t happen this time again as Verkade’s chocolate is not a bar but a slab.

2. The Dutch people’s favourite sweets – “Drop”

When Japanese people hear of “drop”, they will definitely imagine sweet candies called “Sakuma drops”, but Dutch “drop” isn’t like that.

It’s a liquorice candy, and in Finland they call it “salmiakki”.

The Japanese person who thinks salmiakki is tasty I know of is only Mr. Aizawa (Eraser Head) from “My Hero Academia”…

When my Dutch friend came to Japan for the first time, she brought a bag of “drops”, and she gave me one, which was the beginning and the end.

It’s worth trying though.

I decided to have this for my friend’s birthday as a joke. 😂

I tend to have “a surprise” when giving someone a gift.

However, it’s completely up to her to try to consume all or throw it away after trying it. (I personally don’t like “drop” so it’s okay even if she wants to throw it away this time.)

3. The Dutch people’s breakfast ingredient – “Hagelslag”

The last thing is “Dutch home breakfast” you can enjoy at your own home, which is “hagelslag”!

Whenever I stayed at my Dutch friend’s parents’ place before, they had this. She taught me it was

“mice’s poops”

At her parents’ place they always had Belgian chocolate and colourful sugar, but in fact there are more types. Like her parents’ choices, I bought chocolate for my friend in Japan, and chocolate and colourful sugar for my company.

The way to eat them is very straightforward.

Spread butter on a slice of bread and scatter hagelslag as much as you want.

Then eat it.

That’s it!

Personally this colourful sugar one goes well with greek yoghurt.

★Summary

The first two souvenirs could be typical, but I think no travellers would buy the third one unless they know.

It’s not healthy, but it looks fun, so I like them. Be careful with the calories because you consume it with bread and butter…

Aitäh! 🙂