rascal
Forum GOD!
Being frugal is the national stereotype, and true to a point. The generation after the war (my parents generation, boomers) were raised with austerity and kept that habit, especially when it comes to food and cooking. Also, Dutch women were largely educated by the 'household schools' which considered frugality a religious virtue and a housewife's duty. This comes from Calvinism, a very popular Dutch protestant traditition.
So being tight on money and always looking for the best deal has long been a national virtue, and it still is ingrained in the nation's psyche because such things don't go away entirely in one or two generations. My friend and my generation (early millenials, 80s kids) are less frugal than our parents and more willing to spend money on food and going out to eat but it's still not quite as common as in other European countries.
My cooking and eating habits are considered exotic by many Dutch people, the usual way of eating here is two meals with a simple sandwich and a simple carb/meat/veg dinner and maybe a dinner out once every two weeks to try something 'exotic' like Chinese or other countries foods. It's certainly a healthy lifestyle, but rather boring.
A famous anecdote is that after the war, the American president came to visit the Dutch president and he got offered a cup of tea and exactly ONE small biscuit as a welcome. That's when the Marshall plan was realised, because we Dutch must have been really short on food!
One Dutch guy I worked for smoked cigars, he was loaded, drove a V8 two seater sports car Mercedes. ( not original motor) I started smoking cigars too. He got me gambling on horses as well. He spoilt his kids and wife. Wife died of an asthma attack. His 4 kids amounted to nothing. Hooker and druggies.
Russ
