I mean, it made sense. It was part\nof the reason why I\u2019d had to use a plastic sandwich bag to transport my crisps\nto work. Regular one person sized packets of crisps don\u2019t exist in this\ncountry. I know because I\u2019ve looked, and then come away with a share sized bag\nand a look of confusion (which was further displaced by a look of sheer glee)\nover my face. It\u2019s just not a thing here. The Dutch don\u2019t reach for a packet of\nChipsticks when they\u2019ve got the urge for something vinegary. They don\u2019t offer\nthe multipack of \u2018favourites\u2019 like you get at Granny\u2019s house when you\u2019re over\nfor a cuppa and you\u2019re already out of Hobnobs. They certainly <\/em>don\u2019t eat crisps with their sandwich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It dawned on me that there probably\nisn\u2019t a single Dutch person who\u2019s eaten a crisp sandwich in their day. Talk\nabout the pinnacle of culture and cuisine. Imagine not having eaten a salt and\nvinegar crisp sandwich (white bread and with butter if you\u2019re wondering about\nthe recipe) ever. Imagine going to the pub and being served with an extra-large\nside salad rather than the wilting lettuce and anaemic tomato plus crisp combo.\nIt\u2019s unbelievable. But it\u2019s reality over here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n *<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few weeks later, I was teaching\nmy small group of students about English \u2018cuisine\u2019. My apparent act of treason\nwas mentioned again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMevrouw, eat English people chips <\/em>with their sandwich?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Someone sniggered. Eyes were\nsquinted and heads cocked inquisitively. The room actually went quiet for once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cJa\u201d I answered, a little too \u2018Duh\u2019\nfor even my own liking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhhhhy?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Can you believe the cheek of it?\nAsking why <\/em>we eat CRISPS with our\nlunch?<\/p>\n\n\n\n I mean I don\u2019t know the reason, we\njust do. It\u2019s the crunch. It\u2019s for the extra carbs which we clearly don\u2019t need\nalongside bread. It\u2019s the fact that it\u2019s an extra potato portion. It\u2019s the\nsweet sweet tang of vinegar. I didn\u2019t dare suggest that sometimes we even eat\ncrisps as a sandwich filling\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n *<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is known over here as being \u2018a\nvery English thing to do\u2019, and I\u2019m unsure about whether that statement is\ncomplimentary or not to be honest. I\u2019ve certainly not seen any Dutch people\nconsider it even briefly as being something they could add to their own lunch,\nso I guess I\u2019ve just answered my own wonderment there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I recently brought a multipack of\npickled onion Monster Munch back from England with us. They don\u2019t exist here\nand I clearly couldn\u2019t handle that fact. It was a glorious 6 days of\nconsecutive Monster Munch, although I now understand what my mum meant when she\ntold me they \u2018repeat\u2019 on her, and suffered from chronic Monster Munch breath\nfor the remainder of the days I forgot my minty fresh chewing gum. Still, I bet\nthat this is the only bag of Monster Munch to have ever been photographed in\nthe Netherlands, and I\u2019m pretty proud of that fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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