I was very lucky with the weather in Amsterdam as it had been raining in the last few days. It’s still a bit chilly in the morning so I went into a patisserie for a nice cup of coffee and ordered Ossenworst.

Ossenworst (in Dutch: ossen means oxen; worst means sausage)

as seen in #7136 foodgawker, 16.10.08

The waitress thought I could speak Dutch because I ordered ‘Ossenworst broodje’ which is quite a local dutch delicacy, she asked in Dutch if I want to have soft bread (a bun) hard bread (small baguette), and of course I did not know what she meant at the beginning but we managed to figure out.

To me ossenworst is very similar to steak tartare to me. I was told that it is brought in to Holland by the Jewish. My hubby never eats steak tartare but he eats ossenworst, how strange!!! A little background about Ossenworst is that it has existed since the 17th century. This was when oxen became widely imported from Denmark and Germany. There are several spices in the sausages namely pepper, cloves, mace and nutmeg which were imported from Dutch East Indies which has then become Indonesia). You can buy Ossenworst in some Dutch supermarket or butchers but I don’t find that is so easily found. My aunt told me that the most convenient place that you can buy is from HEMA’s food counter. HEMA is a very popular retail store in Netherlands. I love this store especially the stores in Amsterdam which they are much bigger than those outside the city.

I only had two hours in town before meeting my aunt and hubby for lunch in Amstel. So I took tram 9 to Waterlooplein and walked to Nieuwmarkt to check out the chinese grocery shop, it is so nice that they have more choices of chinese vegetables as compared to Switzerland. I bought Pak Choi (the proper ones) and Tong O (I personally would call it Chinese Rocket/ Rucola which has a pretty strong taste as well). I wish I could stock up more back to Switzerland in our car, they even have winter melon but there is no way I can consume that fast.

Left: Tong O; Right: Pak Choi

For lunch my aunt took us to Grand Café Klein Frankendael (It has added Klein which means small in Dutch because there is a Grand Frankendael next block). She is a frequent customer. My hubby has been here once and he likes the chicken satay here, that’s why we decided to come here so he could order the satay again. I ordered the same dish, the portion was just right not too big. I enjoyed the food and atmosphere here, this place is already more than 100 years old but it’s not noticeable at all.

But what I like most was the cappuccino, for any types of coffee you order, they will offer you a small glass of ‘slagroom’ (whipped cream in English) with a little amaretto liqueur at the bottom (for free of charge!!!) and accompany with a small glass of water and a very tasty cookie. Hmm, this cream was so yummy, Dutch dairy is always good in any case. The whole package together is just so unique! 

And that’s all for this visit. I am sure I will come back to Amsterdam from time to time, there are many more for me to discover. Till next time …..