The Dutch have a hard time with their 'traditional' culinary reputation which is often represented as cheese, more cheese and variations on a theme of mashed potatoes and cabbage. In recent years however, there have been radical changes in the restaurant scene and home cooks are becoming much more adventurous. According to renowned food critic (and Amsterdammer) Johannes van Dam, things were actually fine until the 1890s but then a group of Dutch middle class women decided to set up cookery classes for the poor. Out went the herbs, rich sauces and complicated techniques of their solid bourgeois cuisine. In came cheap, simple and nourishing dishes. And because the poor did not actually attend these classes (they were out at work) it was the daughters of the middle class who warmed to food without fuss, and bang went the home cuisine.

Over the years, former colonies have come to the rescue and Dutch citizens from Suriname, Indonesia and the Dutch Antilles have made their culinary mark with some surprising hybrids: Chinees-Indisch-Surinaams or Indisch-Chinees or Javaans-Surinaams, for example. Now Amsterdam's eating scene is truly international. Gourmet shops (the Haarlemmerstraat/Dijk area is a culinary hotspot) attract grateful customers and there are some great guides (try www.iens.nl and www.specialbite.nl) to local restaurants. Eet Smaakelijk!