Why the Dutch are Different: A Journey into the Hidden Heart of the Netherlands: From Amsterdam to Zwarte Piet, the acclaimed guide to travel in Holland

by Ben Coates

I also harboured suspicions that the wartime experience of hardship and destruction might have encouraged Dutch habits of thrift and frugality. It was not for nothing that the practice of splitting restaurant bills down to the last penny was known internationally as ‘going Dutch’. Amsterdam had its snappy dressers, for sure, but overall the Dutch had a strong inclination to frown on conspicuous consumption. Tipping in restaurants was viewed as unspeakably decadent; there were strict limits on daily withdrawals from cash machines; and the Dutch word for ‘debt’ (schuld) was the same as the word for ‘guilt’. The Netherlands was even the proud birthplace of the ‘bottlescraper’, a long-handled plastic spatula designed specifically to remove the last traces of mustard or mayonnaise from the bottom of the jar.