You can hardly imagine it now, but around 1800 there were dozens of sugar factories along the canals in the Jordaan. There, so-called 'master journeymen' and 'attic journeymen' made sugar from condensed cane sugar juice for a meager wage, which wealthy Amsterdam ladies used in their tea on the Herengracht. The sugar industry was generally large in our capital. As early as the late Middle Ages, we imported it via Antwerp from Portugal, and later we sourced it from the Caribbean and Brazil. That's why you see many references to the sugar industry in Amsterdam: a gable stone with the name The Three Sugar Loaves and the Suikerbakkerssteeg, for example.
Another historical industry whose remnants you can still see here and there in the city: the gin industry. Nowadays, Amsterdam has only a handful of distilleries, but gin and liqueur are still on the menu in many pubs and cocktail bars. During the walk, you visit one of the authentic tasting rooms in the city, where you feel like you've stepped back in time. You can taste old-Dutch liqueurs with special names like Hansje in de Kelder or Bride's Tears.
And did you know that Amsterdam is also known as the chocolate capital? The cocoa industry was already large here centuries ago. Amsterdam became a real cocoa city when father and son Van Houten found a method around 1830 to tame the bitter taste of cocoa. In their chocolate factory on the Leliegracht – in the heart of the Jordaan – they managed to ferment cocoa. This method was called 'dutching'. Thanks to this invention, a thriving chocolate industry developed in Amsterdam and the Zaan region with manufacturers whose names we still know: Droste, Verkade, and Van Houten.
Discover more during our Delicacies Walk
Our Delicacies Walk – the name says it all – is a city walk through historic Amsterdam where you make six short stops to taste various delicacies. A piece of cheese, a special beer, but there is also sweetness on the program: a Brazilian delicacy of milk chocolate and an old-Dutch liqueur, for example. Meanwhile, our guide will tell you all sorts of interesting facts about the buildings and places you pass. The Suykerhofje on the Lindengracht, for example, founded in 1670 from the legacy of Pieter Jansz Suyckerhoff – a wealthy sugar baker. This charming courtyard in the Jordaan, where only 'Protestant Needy Widows' and single, older ladies of impeccable behavior were allowed to live, has recently been restored and offers a beautiful glimpse – literally – into historic Amsterdam.
This discovery tour is ideally suited to experience culinary Amsterdam in a surprising and relaxed way together with colleagues or business relations. Special detail: we start in our cooking studio, a beautiful national monument, with a short culinary film about our capital to get in the mood, accompanied by a mini-tasting. This way, the experience begins even before you walk into the city. Contact us for the possibilities.
