Organic fast food

In South Africa we call them Slapchips (and pronounce it like you're Dutch - slupchips), but they're known as fries/frites/patat/chips/french fries/pommes/freedom fries, you get the idea. By whatever name, I love these things, and have been eating them for a while. The first I can remember came with a decidely beefy burger at the Fish Hoek Spur, and from there the memories range from proper slapchips (slap meaning limp, nothing about a food fight...), drenched in vinegar at junior school sports days, to thick chips fried in fishy oil at university to the discovery of pommes rod weiss (chips with tomato sauce (ketchup?) and mayonnaise) at the ice rink I worked at in Berlin. So having eaten them for a while, and even fried them at the ice rink, I consider myself a fan.

It was therefore with a large dollup of joy that I discovered (or was shown) a stall selling organic chips at the Nieuwmarkt. They were, to put it mildly, special. Made from fresh potatoes, sliced and fried in front of you. Unfortunately the Nieuwmarkt stall is not the topic of this blog - the stall, sellers and chips disappeared - apparently they didn't have the correct licence to sell food at the market - doh!

BUT, enter Natuurlijk Smullen, a totally organic fast food store in Bos and Lommer. Not only do they make the most kick ass chips, they also do a delicious veggie burger (omnivores fear not, they do cook meat as well). The veggie burger is really the antithesis of the modern fast food burger. Don't get me wrong, this is no poncy gourmet burger with strange lettuces and fancy rolls. It is a bog standard burger - veggie pattie, iceberg lettuce, slice of tomato, pickle, mayonnaise and tomato sauce. But every ingredient, besides being organic is fresh and natural - no shredded lettuce here. It also means it doesn't hold together like the frisbees they sell at Macci D's (which I think are used as polo balls in some countries) - get it in both hands and after the first bite it'll begin to break apart into its constituent parts. This, for me, is ideal - my eating pleasure is normally equal to the mess I make during the meal. And believe me, there is a lot of eating pleasure to be had here.

You can find Natuurlijk Smullen on the Jan van Galenstraat at number 78 (it's also on the Eco Amsterdam map - top right of this blog), interestingly across the road from the Alber Heijn that sells the most organic food in Amsterdam - they (a mother and daughter team) have clearly done their homework. The only down side to the store is the décor, I'm not quite sure what look they were going for, but they haven't got there yet. If it bothers you though, you can of course get the food "to go", and the Erasmus Park is just down the road. Being awesome, they are very okay with you bringing your own container for the food - nice.

Important to note is their Wednesday special of paying for two portions of chips and getting 3. I am setting myself the task of seeing if it is actually possible to eat three portions by myself - I'll report back in the comments of this blog.

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Posted by Glen Tyler