Longer lasting and far healthier than a 12-course Christmas feast are the hours of pleasure awaiting
food enthusiasts in galleries and museums across the Netherlands. Anna J. Kutor highlights some of these Dutch gastronomic delights

One need only follow their nose to the source of the seductive scent of freshly-baked pastries to locate
the Dutch Bakery Museum in Hattem, a tiny town in the province of Friesland.

This sweet-tooth sanctuary operates in two adjacent buildings - one with a sunny showroom filled with a
baked breads, cakes, savory goodies and soul-warming caffeinated drinks and
the other focusing on the preparation techniques and application of bread, candy, chocolate, pudding and ice cream.

Another nod to the Baking Gods is “The Old Bakery” in the northern Dutch town of Medeblik.
Operating in a small red-brick townhouse since 1988, this small sliver of a
salon bills itself as “the tastiest museum in the Netherlands” and it
might just be that, with mouth-watering displays themed around sugar, marzipan,
chocolate and tools of the trade.

The Big Cheese

Cheese may have been discovered in the Middle East, but the art of cheese-making was perfected in
Holland, so it is here on must come to understand the history and popularity of
this diversified household delicacy.

Bon vivant stores and cheese specialty shops populate nearly every corner of the country, making it easier
to find a slice of cured goodness than a parking spot, but real fromage
fanatiques should head to The Dutch Cheese Museum in Alkmaar where all facets
of cheese productions are explored.

House in a 16th-century weigh-house in the center of the city, the three-level exhibit traces the
evolution of cheese and butter preparation through a collection of authentic
household and new-age factory utensils, clothing, painting and multimedia
imagery alongside a little corner for degustation in the on-site shop.

Focus on Fruit

Health-food fanatics and tree-huggers will want to visit the Orchard Museum in Kapelle, an outdoor
eco-agro exhibit highlighting the ins and outs of cultivating fruit trees from
Roman times to today. There’s also a sizable selection of fruit-picking,
process and pruning machines and a library carrying over 2,00 books, brochures
and magazines on the practice of horticulture.

Equally eco-friendly but a lot more interactive and fun (for the kids under the age of 10) is the
Strawberry Land vast strawberry theme park near Eindhoven, open from April to
October. It’s a charming affair altogether - criss-crossing footpaths,
playgrounds, whimsical houses filled with fresh strawberries and sweet and a
pick-your-own strawberry field.

Liquid Therapy

Dutch alchemists in the 16th century were the first to create jenever, a clear sweet spirit distilled from
grain and malt and flavored with juniper berries.

Arguably, the best place to sample this traditional tipple is at the Jenever Museum in Schiedam. Beyond the
obligatory taste-test, an array of distilling machinery, advertising posters,
packaging materials and glassware depict the rich tradition of the so-called
Dutch gin. The recently-opened House of Bols in Amsterdam celebrates not only
the country’s liquid source of pride but also its oldest distillery brand,
established in 1575.

Part chemical wizardry and part intoxicating journey, this interactive and multi-sensory museum lets
visitors smell, touch and taste their way through the brand’s past and present.