There are books you can’t put down, books that make you think, and books you buy as a present because they are quirky and you think the recipient might like them.

The Hague Cookbook falls into that last category. It is a concise, nostalgic, and rather odd mix of information about days gone by, combined with recipes for traditional dishes from The Hague.

So after a short chapter on “typical The Hague”, you’ll find recipes for meatballs, bitterballen and egg rolls with onions – yes, egg, chives, onions and mayonnaise on a roll.

The section on seafood and Scheveningen includes “herring sushi” and stewed plaice in white wine sauce, while there are plenty of Indonesian recipes in the chapters exploring the legacy of the Dutch East Indies, complete with notes about the ladies who made them and wrote them down.

The “Sweet Treats” pages have the usual poffertjes and various biscuits, as well as what author Nelly de Zwaan describes as a “simplified” version of the classic hazelnut gateau, made famous by Maison Kelder and, for me at least, an essential part of any visit to The Hague.

The book ends, rather oddly, with a short text about The Hague as “Dutch beat city number 1” and large photo of Golden Earring – but no recipes, as you might expect, for space cake or magic mushroom omelettes.

All in all, The Hague Cookbook is a rather charming combination of anecdotes and recipes, and would make a lovely gift for anyone newly arrived in the city, or a keen cook with an interest in history. The English text doesn’t feel like a translation either.

Publisher Het Zwarte Schaap previously published The Amsterdam Cookbook in a similar style, and has Dutch-language versions for Rotterdam, Utrecht and the Achterhoek.

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