In 2007, UNICEF released a report on the well being of
children which rated Dutch children the happiest in the world (or at least compared
to other wealthy countries in that study).
In May of 2012, a WHO Study of adolescents in 41 countries put Dutch kids on top again. Interestingly, several summaries of the WHO report highlighted that Dutch kids eat breakfast regularly with family, suggesting this might contribute to those happy Dutch kids. I have been
“studying” these happiness-inducing breakfasts since my first trip here in 1995. I think they may be on to something…
START WITH GOOD BREAD
Dutch families nearly always have fresh bread in the
house – brown bread, white bread, sweet rolls with raisins and currants, or
other delicious breads. After a generous
layer of butter, you are ready for the main ingredient…
ADD CHEESE
OR PERHAPS GO RIGHT TO DESSERT FOR BREAKFAST
 |
| And I didn't even show any jam or honey, and there is much more... |
Of course, even with delicious cheeses, one might grow bored with cheese every day.
And so, much like breakfast cereals in the US, bread toppings for
breakfast have proliferated. From left
to right – the traditional way to sweeten your bread is with "stroop," whose
ingredients read: glucose syrup and sugar syrup. I’ve been assured by many Dutch that stroop
is a good source of iron – really?
Second from the left is a chocolate
hazelnut spread like Nutella. Of course you can, happily, find this in any
large US grocery store. But wait, there's more. The ever popular “vlokken” are chocolate flakes. On top of fresh white bread slathered with
butter, this is virtually like cake for breakfast – yum. Of course, it’s wise to have other sources of protein to
start your day, so peanut butter (pindakaas, which translates as peanut cheese)
is ubiquitous.
Keep looking right and you’ll see what I would call “Jimmies” but these
are “hagel slag”, essentially more chocolate bits to sprinkle on. But wait, there's more! Finally, though it’s not that different from
Cocoa Puffs, Captain Crunch, or Lucky Charms, you see why Dutch children must be happy after a carton full of tiny cookies on bread for breakfast. The name of these particular cookies/breakfast topping, "Schudde Buikjes" translates to something like jiggling tummies.
THEREFORE, DUTCH BREAKFAST = HAPPY KIDS, QED
Dear Ellen,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your humorous art. about happy Dutch children! You made me curious about syrup (stroop), believe already for years that appelstroop contents iron. To verify this I went to: www.voedingscentrum.nl. Helas I didn't found information about this question, only dat they advise applesyrup for a childrens breakfast. (I'll send them an e-mail). On their site: Butter (made from the milk of a cow) is not recommended, but is "halfavarine". I also found an advise for childrens breakfast: "Hartig beleg is niet beter dan zoet beleg. In veel kaas en vleeswaren zit vooral ongezond vet. Kies daarom voor de magere soorten, bijvoorbeeld 20+ of 30+ kaas, een plakje ham, kipfilet, of casselerrib. Als zoet broodbeleg kun je appelstroop, jam of fruit geven. Af en toe ook pindakaas, chocoladepasta en chocoladehagelslag. Niet elke dag, want hierin zitten veel calorieën".
I look out for your next art.
With love
Wieka