{"id":7037110,"date":"2026-08-10T22:09:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T22:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/anthropology\/why-do-the-dutch-never-get-tired-of-everyday-sandwiches-the-boterham\/"},"modified":"2026-08-10T22:09:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T22:09:15","slug":"why-do-the-dutch-never-get-tired-of-everyday-sandwiches-the-boterham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110","title":{"rendered":"Why do the Dutch never get tired of everyday sandwiches, the boterham?"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

At lunchtime on university campus one thing stands out: the boterham (sandwich). Coming from Japan\u2019s elaborate bento culture, I was puzzled that so many students eat the same thin sandwich every day. I kept wondering, “Don\u2019t they ever get tired of it?”. This blog is a brief participant observation of that daily ritual.<\/p>\n

\n

Beginning of the boterham <\/em><\/strong>journey<\/strong><\/p>\n

I worked in Japan for about 10 years, but I never made my own lunch box. Although Japan has a profound bento <\/em>culture, packing many small items in a box, I must confess I never did that. Seeing Instagram images and having an inflated image of what bento should look like, I lacked confidence and resorted to buying lunch outside.<\/p>\n

A 7-Eleven rice ball costs about one euro, and restaurants offer a variety of decent hot meals under six euros. Why would I bother to prepare a shameful lunchbox? But that changed when I arrived in the Netherlands in 2024 as a pre-master’s student. Eating out here is expensive, and even buying a simple sandwich at Albert Heijn to go costs four euros. Suddenly, making lunch became essential. <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Bento
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n

Probably for the same reason, many people bring their lunch to work and school. When I walk around the campus at lunchtime, I encounter countless slices of bread. A bronze-haired, neatly dressed female student takes out a big box that looks like a tissue box, along with an apple, and bites into a thin brown boterham<\/em>. A male student with cool headphones sitting in a corner of the canteen takes out a crumpled bag of supermarket bread and pulls out a boterham<\/em> from it \u2013 it seems he reuses that plastic bag as a lunch box. <\/p>\n

Styles vary, but the basics are the same \u2013 boterham<\/em>. It’s not just a sandwich, but a very humble one consisting of thin slices of brown bread and a simple filling. According to my observation, more than 90% of students use store-bought, pre-sliced soft bread. Sourdough bread is invisible. A single slice of cheese seems to be a dominant filling, which matches an online survey result that cheese is the most popular filling by 71% (multiple responses allowed, meat company Stegemen\u2019s poll 2016<\/a>).<\/p>\n

In my first days in the country, I didn\u2019t have a proper lunchbox and felt ashamed to bring my boterham<\/em> in a zipped plastic bag, but I soon learnt it was normal and nothing to feel ashamed of. This made me feel at ease and started to like this culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cLunch is fuel\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cBut how could you have the exact same food every day and not get bored?\u201d, I asked my Dutch pre-master classmates, who are around thirty years old, about their relationship with the boterham<\/em>. One said, \u201cLunch is fuel! It\u2019s not about taste or getting tired of it. I eat it because I need energy. I sometimes eat it while cycling\u201d. I found this extreme, but apparently she is not exceptional, as I often see people eating a boterham<\/em> or apples while cycling \u2013 very efficient and skillful. Another said, \u201ca boterham<\/em> is easy and good enough. Once I tried to switch to yogurt because it seemed healthy, but that didn\u2019t fill me up.\u201d I relate to that; my body craves carbohydrates. So boterham<\/em> sounds like a great option.<\/p>\n

However, although they seem content with the boterham<\/em>, they don\u2019t praise it either. As time progressed, I started to enjoy it, and the cheese here is incomparably more delicious than in Japan. But if I say \u201cboterham<\/em> is so delicious\u201d, I\u2019m sure they will look at me twice and ask for justification. Boterham<\/em> is not like that. <\/p>\n

Boterham<\/em> demands no love or effort, and keeps the day going. I feel there is absolute trust in a boterham<\/em>, not necessarily because it is excellent, but because it is simple and unpretentious. <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Cycling
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n


Value and trust in simplicity<\/strong><\/p>\n

Does having the same food every day mean my Dutch friends do not care about food? That\u2019s the stereotypical image of Dutch people, but the boterham <\/em>experience uncovered a different aspect. The standard lunch break is thirty minutes in many companies and universities in the Netherlands. That means people have time to do something else. The Netherlands is known for its early end to the workday. <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Boterham\"\/
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n

Through my interview with home chefs (as part of my course study), I got to learn that families place great importance on gathering around the dinner table \u2013 perhaps much more than Japanese people who work until late in the office. Although it is too naive to conclude that the boterham<\/em> allows people to go home early, I still believe the “lunch as fuel\u201d mindset promotes daytime efficiency and puts more emphasis on having dinner together \u2013 not necessarily as an extensive meal but as shared time. It\u2019s not that they don’t care about food. They really cherish the time spent around the dining table. This experience made me realize that I might have been seeing food too narrowly \u2013 focusing on its materiality, such as taste and variety. <\/p>\n

Now, boterham<\/em> is a part of my life. It takes just five minutes to prepare, there is no need to think about the menu, and it is just good enough. This made my life so easy. Through a year of participant observation and embodied practice, I found myself slowly building up the trust to boterham<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Jolijn and Ruth, thank you for sharing your boterham stories. Interviews with home chefs were conducted with Joanne, Ruth, and Yajuan.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At lunchtime on university campus one thing stands out: the boterham (sandwich). Coming from Japan\u2019s elaborate bento culture, I was puzzled that so many students eat the same thin sandwich every day. I kept wondering, “Don\u2019t they ever get tired of it?”. This blog is a brief participant observation of that daily ritual. Beginning of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7037112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11767],"tags":[199731,9213,1184,29066,17810],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7037110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anthropology","tag-boterham","tag-dutch","tag-everyday","tag-sandwiches","tag-tired"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy do the Dutch never get tired of everyday sandwiches, the boterham? - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why do the Dutch never get tired of everyday sandwiches, the boterham? - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"At lunchtime on university campus one thing stands out: the boterham (sandwich). Coming from Japan\u2019s elaborate bento culture, I was puzzled that so many students eat the same thin sandwich every day. I kept wondering, “Don\u2019t they ever get tired of it?”. This blog is a brief participant observation of that daily ritual. Beginning of […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-10T22:09:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/banner-boterham-blog.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"450\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a66cfe5cdcbceba9b5562fe085bcaba4\"},\"headline\":\"Why do the Dutch never get tired of everyday sandwiches, the boterham?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-10T22:09:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110\"},\"wordCount\":928,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/banner-boterham-blog.png\",\"keywords\":[\"boterham\",\"Dutch\",\"EVERYDAY\",\"Sandwiches\",\"Tired\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Anthropology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110\",\"name\":\"Why do the Dutch never get tired of everyday sandwiches, the boterham? - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/banner-boterham-blog.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-10T22:09:15+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/banner-boterham-blog.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/banner-boterham-blog.png\",\"width\":450,\"height\":300},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why do the Dutch never get tired of everyday sandwiches, the boterham?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a66cfe5cdcbceba9b5562fe085bcaba4\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Fsom2nypost.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Fsom2nypost.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why do the Dutch never get tired of everyday sandwiches, the boterham? - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why do the Dutch never get tired of everyday sandwiches, the boterham? - Som2ny Network","og_description":"At lunchtime on university campus one thing stands out: the boterham (sandwich). Coming from Japan\u2019s elaborate bento culture, I was puzzled that so many students eat the same thin sandwich every day. I kept wondering, “Don\u2019t they ever get tired of it?”. This blog is a brief participant observation of that daily ritual. Beginning of […]","og_url":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2026-08-10T22:09:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":450,"height":300,"url":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/banner-boterham-blog.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a66cfe5cdcbceba9b5562fe085bcaba4"},"headline":"Why do the Dutch never get tired of everyday sandwiches, the boterham?","datePublished":"2026-08-10T22:09:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110"},"wordCount":928,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/banner-boterham-blog.png","keywords":["boterham","Dutch","EVERYDAY","Sandwiches","Tired"],"articleSection":["Anthropology"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110","url":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110","name":"Why do the Dutch never get tired of everyday sandwiches, the boterham? - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/banner-boterham-blog.png","datePublished":"2026-08-10T22:09:15+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/banner-boterham-blog.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/banner-boterham-blog.png","width":450,"height":300},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?p=7037110#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why do the Dutch never get tired of everyday sandwiches, the boterham?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/a66cfe5cdcbceba9b5562fe085bcaba4","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Fsom2nypost.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Fsom2nypost.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/som2nypost.com"],"url":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7037110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7037110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7037110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7037112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7037110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7037110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7037110"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=7037110"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/som2nypost.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=7037110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}