Leids Onzet

Today is the celebration of the "relief of Leyden" - in Dutch "het ontzet van Leiden" or "Leids ontzet." The city of Leiden was liberated from the Spanish siege on 3 October 1574 during the Eighty Year's War. The story goes that the cooked bits of potato that were left by the Spanish formed the origin of the recipe for "hutspot," a typical Dutch winter dish made of mashed potatoes, carrots and onions. When entering the city, the liberators ("Geuzen") brought herring ("haring") and white bread.
So if you are in Leiden today and you don't like hutspot, you can still feast on the haring ;-)

Thanks to Dutch Word of the Day