Keukenhof ("Kitchen Garden"), also known as Garden of Europe, is one of the largest gardens in the world. The land used to supply herbs to a local aristocrat, hence its name.
Before even entering the garden, we were greeted with rainbow after rainbow of tulip fields. Our arrival in the Netherlands was near the end of the tulip season, so most of the flowers had already been harvested. The green fields are for bulb harvest later on.
From this point on, it's going to be flowers, flowers, flowers (mostly tulip, because you know, it's the Netherlands). So hold on to your hats, folks, for a tulip explosion of every colour, shape, and form imaginable.
We enjoyed some waffles and appeltaart in one of the garden cafes. The dutch apple pie is drier than its american counterpart. The apples are cut into chunks instead of slices, offering a slightly chewier texture, which I prefer.
The Keukenhof garden is vast. Even after two hours, we only saw about one-third of its grounds. Just imagine all the work needed to maintain the flowerbeds. After all, Kenkenhof runs from late-March to mid-May but a tulip blossom only last a couple of weeks at most.
It would definitely be nice to be able to come back in the future, rent a bike and ride through the tulip fields all the way to the sea.
Before even entering the garden, we were greeted with rainbow after rainbow of tulip fields. Our arrival in the Netherlands was near the end of the tulip season, so most of the flowers had already been harvested. The green fields are for bulb harvest later on.
From this point on, it's going to be flowers, flowers, flowers (mostly tulip, because you know, it's the Netherlands). So hold on to your hats, folks, for a tulip explosion of every colour, shape, and form imaginable.
Van Gogh says goedemorgen.
Some of the oldest cultured tulip varieties, dating back to the 1600s (Tulipmania).
A mistake? Or a mutation?
We enjoyed some waffles and appeltaart in one of the garden cafes. The dutch apple pie is drier than its american counterpart. The apples are cut into chunks instead of slices, offering a slightly chewier texture, which I prefer.The Keukenhof garden is vast. Even after two hours, we only saw about one-third of its grounds. Just imagine all the work needed to maintain the flowerbeds. After all, Kenkenhof runs from late-March to mid-May but a tulip blossom only last a couple of weeks at most.
It would definitely be nice to be able to come back in the future, rent a bike and ride through the tulip fields all the way to the sea.
It's amazing how much flowers were still left after the harvesting!
ReplyDeleteInteresting how different countries do the same food and how it's similar in that country. Like did everyone in the Netherlands just decide to make their pies drier than the American counterpart?
I never even thought about making them chucks (or anything) instead of slices! I'm some kind of pie sheep (not to be confused with sheep pie)
The bike ride sounds really, really nice. I hope you get to do it one day and you take lots of photos!
Isn't it? Really fascinating on how different regions have their own unique spins on common dishes.
ReplyDeleteBut I think to make the deep-dish Dutch version properly, the apple variety is important. I had actually thought that the apples were dehydrated/treated prior to baking in order to achieve the balanced chewy-soft texture, but none of the recipes I've seen would suggest so. Then again, what would I know. I'm no baker.