Migrant Cuisine, Cookshops and Elite Catering: Eating Out in Metropolitan Amsterdam (1650-1815)

Abstract

The Dutch Republic (1588-1795) is not well known for its cuisine. On the contrary, historians mock the primitive dishes, combined with excessive drinking, smoking and other bad habits. Yet some contemporary travellers paint a more positive picture. New research confirms that Amsterdam, the Dutch metropole, offered plenty culinary experiences. Up-market establishments - like the Garnalendoelen - catered for the ruling class, yet ordinary people such as foreign students and local artisans were also welcome. At the bottom of the market, gaarkeukens provided a hungry crowd with cheap freshly baked snacks. Between these two extremes, innkeepers and their kitchen staff cooked set menus for fixed prices as well as expensive delicacies, served at flexible dinner times. A number of French chefs - Protestant as well as Catholic - served the acclaimed cuisine of their homeland. The distinction of these early eateries with the modern restaurant is therefore often exaggerated: Amsterdam inns already offered separate tables, private cabins and flexible dinner times. During the Batavian-French era (1795-1813), innovative proprietors also introduced printed menu cards, longer opening hours, individual portions and more exquisite dishes.