SOME DUTCH FOODS

                                        Rijsttafel  and Cheese

Rijsttafel is a Dutch word that literally translates to rice table. It is an elaboration from Indonesia and typically consists of many (forty is common) side dishes served in small portions, accompanied by rice prepared in several different ways.  A rijsttafel also features an array of flavors, colors, degrees of spiciness as well as textures including crispy, chewy, slippery, soft, hard, velvety, gelatinous, and runny.

I ate my first rijsttafel in Amsterdam, Holland on my first trip to the city. Generally today these meals are served buffet style where one can help himself to whatever foods he desires. They are great fun with a group of people vs dining alone.

The Dutch have been producing cheese since 400 AD. In the Middle Ages official dairy markets and weigh houses were introduced that controlled both the quality and weight of cheese.

I have visited many cheese factories or enterprises over the years, but at one a docent gave us an interesting insight on an old custom.

She told us, “Today most cheese production has been taken over by factories, but there are still over 600 cheese producing farms left. Dutch cheeses include Gouda, Edam and Leiden, with Gouda accounting for 50 percent of all cheese production.  Edam is the only cheese in the world that is perfectly round and is the second cheese product. Leiden cheese is distinguished by the addition of cumin seeds.

“Soft cheese (jonge kaas) is ripened for three weeks, sharp cheese (belegen kaas) ripens two to seven months, and very sharp varieties (oude kaas) ripen at least twelve months.”

She continued, “Years ago the farmer would take his cheese to market once a week where he would partake in a sort of game. A buyer would make a bid the farmer refused, and the bidder walked away. The bidder returned, the farmer would raise the price, and the buyer would walk away again. The third time a price was agreed upon and the cheese officially weighed. Meanwhile the bidder would bang the palm of his hand on the cheese to see if the holes in it were the right size. That was called cheese bashing. With each slap either the farmer had reduced his price or the bidder had increased his offer.

“When this ended the buyer sampled the cheese. Then the cheese porters, dressed in white uniforms and lacquered straw hats, carried the cheese to the weight house on barrows painted the color of their section. The weigh master called out the weight marking it on a blackboard. There were 80 cheeses to a barrow weighing about 353 pounds. Finally the cheese was loaded onto a lorry or taken to a warehouse.”

Today larger production and more efficiency endure but lost is the fun, color and custom.

KUNA INDIANS of PANAMA

Kuna Culture

            The Kuna live in large extended family groups in thatched huts with dirt floors. They sleep in hammocks and hang their clothes from the rafters of their huts. They are a well organized people who are commercially aggressive, but not pesky.

            When a boy marries he moves in with the girl and her family. The woman owns the house, property, and wealth which makes it desirable for the hard working men to maintain it. They transit daily via cayuca (small boat) to tend their crops. Men weave large utilitarian baskets.  Women do not go into the jungle or work in the fields; they are strictly domestic and dominate their men.           

            The Kuna are physically small. Women usually stand shy of 5 foot.  Men dress European style in shorts or long pants and tee shirts. The women always wear a blouse decorated front and back with a mola. They also wear either a short or long sarong. Their short hair is always covered with a red and gold head scarf. Multi strands of seed necklaces are worn around their neck as well as rows of beads on their arms and legs. Women also wear a gold band through their nose.

            The women are creative and artistic. They spend many hours doing very fine needlework on the reverse cut appliqué called mola. Mola means cloth. The molas are colorful, unique and are used as clothing decoration, accessories, as well as wall hangings. Coconut is a large barter crop which pays for the material and thread from either China or Columbia. They use fine quality goods to make their molas.

            All cooking is done in a separate cook house and is done in large quantities in 5 gallon pots over large fires. Fires are generally made of seven-foot long mangrove logs in the shape of wheel spokes. Mangrove is the wood of choice because it is smokeless. Rice, rum, and sugar are also imported. The men fish and fish is a stable in their diet. Fresh fruit is plentiful, especially bananas, papaya, and coconut. Fresh water comes from the rivers.

            The immediate Kuna family unit is small, usually two or three children. The infant mortality rate is high, but if a child survives the first couple years of life he has a good chance of  living to be 70.  Eye problems are common at a fairly young age. It also was interesting to learn that the Kuna have a 1:25 chance of being albino compared to a 1:28,000 for whites. Society accepts the different—homosexual, albino, or whatever. If a male, he most often will work with the women.

Kuna cemeteries are on the mainland and always near a river. The dead are buried in their hammock, with all their personal possessions. The funeral is the day after death but no later  than the second day.

Kuna use a witch doctor and pay him if they are satisfied with his treatment. They practice monogamy; in fact adultery is a felony. The Sahila is the leader and has authority over the community. The national government provides schooling through junior high. The Kuna have adapted but continue to keep their beliefs, myths, legends and traditions.

The Kuna do a complicated dance which really is a sport and in which they have regular competitions. The language is Spanish as well as a local dialect.

Because these people are commercial it is customary to pay a dollar to take their picture. General pictures of the village are ok, but if you take a picture of individuals or of  children you must pay.