Hi All,
I am all set to travel to Amsterdam in another couple of weeks for a 6 months assignment.
I hail from southern part of Andhra Pradesh and belong to Kannada madhva brahmin community.

I am pure vegeratian and just wonder how comfortable the veggies are in amsterdam.

I request all to list the must bring items while coming there based on your experience. And I am sure this list will definitely help the forth coming expats from India.

Cheers!
Sreedhar

P.S. Please dont list the air tickets, passport..etc.. they are default . he he.. :-)

I was tempted to say 'bring vegetables!' But a few days ago I stumbled across a Kashmir Vegetable shop with lots of exotic looking veg - I know Kashmir is north of India, but maybe they'd supply some of vegetables that you have recipes for?

Or in other words, there is a wider variety of vegetables for sale here than standard western european carrots, peas, potatoes and sweetcorn. This shop wasn't even in a city! so I'm sure there's plenty of them dotted around.

You might want to raid the nearest FoodWorld or other super market for ready-to-cook meals like MTR for the first week or two till you get acquainted with the places around you. Eating out regularly can be costly !

Hi Sreedhar,

Welcome in Netherland. Actually I am also pure vegetarian so I can understand your concern. Here I would like to share my experience with you. In the Netherlands it’s not that easy to find 100% pure vegetarian food. And if you go to Dutch supermarket than it will be quite difficult for you to read and understand about ingredients. Because most of ingredients are in Dutch only.

There are very few food products with English ingredients. My advice is just try to find some Indian shop there you can buy products from India. In Holland we have lots of restaurants that serve vegetarian menus, some of
them run by fellow Indians, but they cook non-veg dishes as well. Obviously, they use the same utensils, so I have never eaten in such restaurant till today. I am here since 3 years, and did not find any difficulty, because we cook at home.

If you live in Holland you have to be very careful what you eat: you can find almost 10-15 type of breads, but even sometimes they put eggs in bread. Therefore you have to ask every time. They always are willing to find out and check for you with the bakery.
Some people here are exceptions called vegans: they do not use any animal products, don’t even wear leather or use milk or honey, eggs, etc.


Beside that you have to know there is special system to know about ingredients and that is E-Numbers. These are number codes for food additives and are usually found on food labels throughout the European Union. In casual language, the term "E-number" is used as a term for artificial food additives, and products may promote themselves as "free of E-numbers" even though some of the ingredients (e.g. bicarbonate of soda) do have such a code.

You can find the e-numbers online, some of them are vegetarian, some not. Sometimes they change the source of the e-numbers, and it can then be a non-veg source or a veg source. It is updated from time to time.

Please find some links on e-numbers.
http://www.food-info.net/uk/qa/qa-fi45.htm
http://www.jainworld.com/society/jainfood/enumbers.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A3103822

You can make a list of the current non-veg e-numbers and their English and Dutch names and keep them in your wallet. This will be a bit tough in the beginning, but you will learn to know which e-numbers you can and can not eat. Vegetarianism is a way of living and in the western world it is not so easy to follow. You will have to make some extra effort to maintain this.

You could take for the first few days your own masala. Supermarkets (C1000, Abert Heijn, Jumbo, Lidl, etc.) will be in your neighbourhood for sure to get some vegetables. Please keep in mind that the regular dal, chawal and vegetables can be found in many shops (even supermarket) here, so that you can cook your meals yourself. In Bijlmer in Amsterdam I am sure you can find all vegetables you need at the weekly market, and oriental supermarkets (toko’s). Also dairy products are available abundantly, but you have to take care to take the ones without additives. Like some yoghurt can be flavored with fruits but many times there is gelatine (animal bones) added.

Products from Haldiram, TRS, MDH masala, Gits, Pathak, are available in Indian shops , also ata can be found. Mathon is a whole seller in Indian products in Forepark near Den Haag:

S.K. Mathon B.V. Taag 1-7 Forepark
2491 CR Den Haag (The Hague)
Nederland
Tel: 070-3019842, 43, 44
Fax: 070-3019968
E-mail: info@skmathon.com.
www.skmathon.com

You can also try “biologische” shops, but the products sold there are a bit more expensive.

Good luck and if you have any doubt feel free to ask.

BKDB

Great to know that the item required to cook our food are available there. I just wonder how are kitchen the facilities in rented houses? I am thinking of carrying a presure / electric rice cooker with me. Any suggestions on this?

Thanks,

Hi Sridhar,

yes if you can bring a pressure/electric cooker. If you are bringing electric cooker dont forget to bring the power adapter (3pin to 2pin), it is expensive here.
Yes as told in previous post you get all the vegeterian food here, but be careful when you buy some new product.

Thank you all for the replies. As the day comes close, my questions are increasing.

1.Are we allowed to carry pickles / ready to eat itesm in our luggage? (check in luggage)
2.How is weather there now? should I carry the thermal wear now? or can i buy it there? which one is cheaper?
3.How about the commuting there? I am already given the address of my stay there. so to reach that place, what is best transport?


Pls advise.

Regards,
Sreedhar

Do you really think 2,99€ for an adapter 3pin to 2pin (for example available at Gamma) is an "expensive" item? As far as electric pressure cookers are concerned, I bought one last year on the The Hague daymarket for 10€ and it works perfectly!

Sreedhar, I am not sure where you gave the address but you can easily find out how to get to where you want by using the site : 92920v.nl [Dutch only]

DISCLAIMER : EXCUSE MY MISTAKES, I AM STILL LEARNING. CORRECT ME IF I AM WRONG, PLEASE !!

reisadvies = travel advice
geef = give
Straat = Street
Huisnr = House Number (Nummer in Dutch)
Plaats = Place (usually the city, may be neighbourhood ??)
Van = From
Naar = To
morgen = tomorrow (also morning as in Goede Morgen)

Days of the week
Maandag Monday
Dinsdag Tuesday
Woensdag Wednesday
Donderdag Thursday
Vrijdag Friday
Zaterdag Saturday
Zondag Sunday

Richting - Direction
Hoe - How
lopen - walk

I guess you can understand what the icons mean, for train, metro, tram and bus

Also most people speak English and helpful, so if you are lost you can easily find your way.

If you want the price for train journeys, try ns.nl

Also be careful in the Schipol-Amsterdam Central journey, if possible spend abt 3 euros more and travel by 1st class. AND make sure you have some euros with you when you land so that you can buy the train ticket in the service centers (50 cents extra as service charge) in case no one is picking you up. Unless you are awash in money, dont take the taxi from Schipol-Amsterdam (may be when you return but by that time you would know which is the cost-effective way to travel)

Cheers !!

Dear emilio416, yeah you are right 2.99euro is not expensive but when you are coming from india you can very well buut it there.

hi! im moving to delft this fall. are there any indian shops in delft or nearby?