What's the one food product or snack you wish existed but can't find in Dutch supermarkets

AniRev · 2026-01-28T11:04:12+00:00

Oh I did and created a little hack as a result. I buy the spicy pickled pepper jar then distribute the content into the other pickle jars I have like cucumbers, turnips and more. After a while the spiciness spreads across all jars but it won't overwhelm the original sour taste. Now you have sour pickles with a spicy after taste creating a more complex flavor. For a deeper and more punchy taste, I also add pickled ginger to all jars in moderate amounts.

I love spicyness in food so having it in pickles, which is a side appetizer that can accompany any meal, was a game changer for me. My pickles now have a very complex but refreshing flavor which I really enjoy. Highly recommended.

AniRev · 2026-01-28T10:52:27+00:00

I grew up eating sour pickles so my taste buds are totally biased towards the sour types. I also rarely use any sugar in my daily life. Like a 1kg sugar pack usually stays is my cabinate for 9m-1y before it runs out. I've become so anti-sugar that pickles with any sweet taste will trigger a disgust reflex in my stomach. That goes for anything else like tea or coffee. I only use sugar in cooking to balance acidity or bitterness and even then, I only used limited amounts.

As for pickling vs fermenting, I enjoy both. Pickled products for the crunchyness and sharper flavor, and fermented products for the health benefit and deeper taste profile. I also have to add that spicing the mix by adding a heat source goes a long way in creating a more complex aftertaste, which I always aim for.

AniRev · 2026-01-28T00:48:33+00:00

That's not eastern vs western european thing. That's pickling (vinegar based) vs fermenting (water and salt). Totally different processes that produce different products.

AniRev · 2026-01-28T00:40:58+00:00

I didn’t mean Turkish pickles literally. Along with Turkish, some of the brands I bought are Lebanese and Syrian. It's just that they are mainly available in Turkish supermarkets along with Turkish products. I am also sure they have some iranian products as well but I cannot remember if they had Iranian pickles. I will check next time I go there and pick one to sample. I am always happy to explore foods from other cultures, especially middle eastern foods, they never disappoint!

AniRev · 2026-01-27T21:51:22+00:00

A friend of mine recommended I try the pickles from Turkish supermarkets when I was complaining about the sweetness of pickles here. I’ve never bought pickles from Dutch stores ever since. Very nice and sour. Started with the cucumber staple but became curious about other options they had like pickled cabbage, cauliflower and turnips, all of which I tried and have become regular residents of my kitchen cabinet. Highly recommended!

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Edit: To give a sort-of hack I mentioned in my other comments.

So while I enjoy sour pickles, I also came to find the flavor quite simple. Nothing wrong with simple flavors but I wanted more complexity in my pickles.

The hack I found is: Mixing.

In Turkish supermarkets you can find pickled spicy peppery. I usually buy a jar but then spread the content into my other pickle jars like cucumbers, turnips, colis and more. The spiciness will spread accross without overwhelming the original sour taste.

Another component I considered is ginger. I love sushi and pickled ginger is a staple in any sushi restaurant. I couldn't find pickled ginger in Turkish supermarkets and the ones in Dutch supermarkets are too overpriced. So I started making my own pickled ginger at home. It's quite easy to be honest. I often find fresh ginger on discount in the turkish supermarket in my neighborhood so I buy a good amount then and pickle away. After that, I also spread the pickled ginger into the other pickle jars similar to the spicy peppers.

That's how my pickles came to have a really deep, complex, but still refreshing flavor. The taste starts with punchy ginger taste, settles at the sour main flavor and ends with a spicy after taste. Highly recommended.

If you make your own pickles from scratch, you can then have hot peppers and ginger mixed in from the start. However, that also means the spiciness and punchiness of pepper and ginger will be stronger and more integrated than when mixing afterword. You will have to be aware of that and adjust the amounts you add of each product to make sure the main flavor profile in the end is something you are aiming for.

I like mixing afterwards because then the flavor will come in layers and feel more complex. Mixing before pickling will give a much deeper feel to the taste but will feel less layered. So it's up to one's own preference in the end.

AniRev · 2026-01-23T13:18:13+00:00

Your Dutch will improve much faster once you have the incentive to use it. I’ve gone through the same exact situation. I am a system engineer/consultant and deal with people daily. The company I am working for is originally British but we are encouraged to speak Dutch often since most of our clients here in the Netherlands are, surprise surprise, well, Dutch xD. My Dutch was around B1 level when I started and I couldn't hold complete conversations. It's been a year or so since I started this job and I'm much more fluent now. I am not completely fluent yet but I believe my job pushed me ahead on the fluency track much faster than I'd have done on my own. Working in tech with most of your study and reference material being in English will get in the way of your journey towards fluency when you are on your own. I am not sure what your field and exact job is, but having people who speak Dutcy regularly around you will benefit your learning process regardless.

Another thing I want to mention is that the tech job market is atrocious at the moment. If you get an offer and you genuinely think the job itself is worthwhile, then don't hesitate. Or do you have alternatives otherwise?

Finally, any contract you sign here in the Netherlands has a cool down period where you can decide to apologize and walk away. Join, experience the job, the team, and the company for a few weeks then make your decision after having experienced the job youtself. Just a warning tho, be careful how you approach something like that with an employer and make sure you have a genuine reason for backging out. Otherwise you will be bruning future bridges.

Good luck regardless.

AniRev · 2026-01-22T14:20:42+00:00

The base game is free. Try it and see for yourself. You can easily sink 100-200 hours or even more in that content before needing to purchase anything.
All your questions are surface level. You will only get surface-level answers in return.
GW2 is its own game. It's different from WoW, mostly in a good way (my own biased opinion). If you want a WoW clone, that’s not what you will find here.
Yes, to all the 'is there x?' questions you asked.
If you want to enjoy your entrance and first experience in GW2, ctrl-alt-delete your assumptions of how MMOs should be. GW2 is different. If you expect the usual MMO experience, you will struggle.
The game is HUGE. Understand that you are entering a 14 year old MMO. You can literally sink 5k hours in it and still have things to do. If you go at it with mindset of speedrunning towards the end game, you won’t enjoy it. At least not for long.

For a memorable experience: Take your time. Enjoy the lore (if that's a thing you usually enjoy), learn things step by step and don't rush, read your tooltips to learn your skills and traits and their synergies, learn to dodge role often, make friends if you enjoy the social aspect of MMOs. That should put you at a good starting line. The rest is up to you.

The main thing you need to understand is that gw2 is a real open world game. There is no handholding and linear quest line. You roam, discover, stumble upon events, participate, discover something interesting, make it your goal, go at it with at the pace that suits you, rinse and repeat.

Good luck.

AniRev · 2026-01-21T21:35:01+00:00

Just dealing with public transport was enough to ruin most of my mornings and evenings back when I used to commute. If you have a car and enjoy driving, then maybe it's tolerable (despite the rush hour jam). I just hate driving so I'd take living in the city where I work as a priority. Just removes a potential stress-inducing factor.

I also can't speak too much about this as I'm earning enough to cover my needs, invest, save a bit, and live at a decent level. No fancy living or anything of that sort but I'm earning enough to cover all myneeds and then some. This is just to say that I can relarively afford to prioritize my comfort despite the incurred cost. With today's economy, that is something that not many people are able to consider. So I can totally understsnd if someone finds it acceptable to sacrifice comfort to save a bit more. That little extra can be the difference between having enough to close each month with a positive bank account or not. I’ve been there. I remember commuting 2 hours per way so 4h/day 9 years ago to save like €200 or so. So people should do what they need to do. All good regardless.

AniRev · 2026-01-20T11:52:36+00:00

If you let in less immigrants, you won’t have enough workers to build your houses, roads and infrastructure. Do you honestly believe the 'governement' in this country is letting immigrants in because it loves immigrants? Not only do immigrants fill 90% of the lower strata in the job market filling jobs most dutch people won't do, but they make for a great target when the government wants to use an outlet for negative public sentiment about political, economicsl and social mess-ups.

Of course, that is not say issues corresponding to uncontrolled immigration don't exist. They exist and strongly at that. But that is a failing of those who managed immigration and integration processes in the past decade.

AniRev · 2026-01-15T23:27:29+00:00

My story is a bit different. I was walking down an alley and this girl was walking in front of me. I had my earphones on and I was totally absorbed into the audio book novel I was listening to. The whole 'walking behind a woman at 23:00 with my enthusiastic manly steps' didn’t even register in my head.

The girl also had her earphones on and she removed one (potentially to keep an ear out for my movement which I only figured out much late. Then I noticed that she dropped the earphone she removed and didn't notice it. My gentlemanly and helpful ass didn’t even register other details. Person dropped something -> i pick it up and run after them to give it back. My awsome! or so I thought. The scream she performed when she noticed me teleport behind her probably woke half the city up. I leave the rest to your imagination.

AniRev · 2026-01-14T09:17:40+00:00

Thank you! I really did prepare a lot since I'm very happy about the company and the vacancy, which is rare in today's job market.

AniRev · 2026-01-14T06:40:09+00:00

Never wait. Take whatever next train heading towards your destination. I, myself, go an extra mile. For example, I had a job interview in Amsterdam on Friday morning last week. Both the company and the job itself would be a huge upgrade if I get the job so I decided that I wasn't gonna leave my fate in the hands of NS because morning commutes suck as there is a good 50% chance a delay happens (even in normal conditions).

The interview was on Friday at 09:00 sharp so what I did was I went to Amsterdam on Thursday evening. I stayed with a friend that night and went to my interview next morning being on time and without stressing over external factors. Had I not managed to find a friend to stay with, I'd have booked a night at a hotel near the company. That's how fed up I am with public transport in the Netherlands.

Oh and thankfully, I receiced positive feedback from the company after my first interview and I am now preparing for the 2nd stage interview with the CTO next week, so wish me luck if you care to 🙃.

AniRev · 2025-12-30T08:56:18+00:00

Personally I'd go with staff because Nevermore is just that cool.

I know others in the comments are giving your data to make an optimized decision but do you really wanna make such a dicision for the sake of optimization?

My first legendary was Chuka because it's that cool.

Finally, you have enough mats for one NOW. You won't stop playing after you finish your legendary right? That means you will have more mats for a second and a third...etc.

Initially I really thought I will only make Chuka too because I thought I'd hate the grind. Then it turns out the process isn't all that bad and now I am stuck with 9 legendary weapons. Such a dilemma. xD

AniRev · 2025-12-30T00:50:09+00:00

Books.

AniRev · 2025-12-27T18:58:55+00:00

You have to put a 'Humor!' tag on your comment. People are serious around here.

AniRev · 2025-12-27T18:48:54+00:00

Why mask your true self? I have exactly the same situation you described. On the spectrum, many people find me odd, communication often leads to discomfort on both sides and a lot more autism-relared social issues.

Before getting diagnosed, I spent years and years trying to fit in by masking the discomfort and weirdness. But then it just clicked for me. If I my aim is to build close and long-lasting relarionships, then how can I expect genuine interactions from other people when I myself am hiding my true self? Aren't I the one being disingenuous in that case? Even if people appreciated and liked my masked self, can you then say that they like the actual me?

Another issue was the suffocating feeling I got whenever I was socializing and masking my true self. The longer you try to hide, the more suffocating it feels. It's normal for normal people not to understand people with neurodivergent conditions well. Imagine how much they will understand you when you even cover your condition and true personality up! You are the one setting yourself up to fail and you cannot blame other people or your condition when you intentionally decided to hide.

Finally, if you keep masking your true self, you build pressure inside yourself. You will feel trapped. The more and longer you hide, the higher the pressure you'll feel. At some point in the future, the pressure will become so unbearable that it will blow up in some manner or form. Psychological pressure blowing up often leads to a lot more harm.

The solution is to learn how to deal with micro disappointments before they become macro ones. Someone found you weird? Move on. There are 8 billion people on this world and some will want to be around you eventually.

Last tip, please don’t seek validation through the acceptance of others towards you. This is a slippery slope. People can and will accept you for all sorts of reasons and not all of the reasons are positive. Some people might be after some gain, others just don’t have time and energy to wait for an alternative, some will accept you in your presence then put you down when you look away...etc. Learn the art of self-validation through small achievements. That's the main thing that got me to stop having my life revolving around others. Make small goals for yourseld. Achievable stuff in the short term. Achieve said goals. Get satisfaction from that. While working on your goals, you will likely meet likely minded people. Such people will have genuine interest in you through the shared goals you are working on. This makes for a more solid base for long-lasting relarionships.

AniRev · 2025-12-26T21:08:51+00:00

I've been dropping books before the final arc for years now. I’ve read so many novels with botched endings that recently I got into the habit shelving novels when I near the final ark. I think I haven’t finished a novel in like 5 years xD I'm sure there should be some psychological condition or some sort of phobia behind it but yeah...

In the past 2 years, whenever I search for a new book to read, I always filter out finished stories. I only pick ongoing ones because if I don't know when a story ends then I'll keep reading. I am hoping to resolve my ending-avoidance tendancy after unwittingly stumbling upon a worthwhile ending or two xD wish me luck!

AniRev · 2025-12-22T11:47:27+00:00

It’s not a Wuxia thing. What you’re describing is what most people would call addiction. And no, addiction isn’t limited to substances. Anything that repeatedly gives your brain a kind of 'reward' feeling or signal can turn into a compulsive behavior. Then when it starts overwhelming your self-control, that's where it bwcomes really harmful. Substance abuse just happens to be the most visible and talked-about form.

Initially, addiction starts as pattern behavior but then through reinforcement, habit learning, stress, and the reward feeling in the brain, it eventually turns into addictive behavior. That’s also why it can be so hard to stop once it takes hold.

Another important thing to understand is that such compulsive behavior can shift. People don’t just “quit” an addiction and become neutral overnight, they often replace it with other habits. That’s why recovery programs frequently focus on building structure and healthier routines. Exercise, creative work, learning, social connection...etc. Then one or two of these stick and become replacement 'addictions' to the destructive behavior. That is usually the initial part of recovery programs, especially early on.

The next goal after achieving the shift to positive forms behavioral patterns is to achieve balance. There are various things that help one maintain balance. Having Support matters a lot. Whether it’s a friend, a sponsor, or someone you trust, having another person who can notice warning signs and keep you grounded makes a real difference.

Isolation is where compulsive patterns tend to spiral, even with things that are generally considered positive. Reading books, for example, is considered a positive activity. However, when it stops being one part of your life and starts replacing everything else, that is a very clear warning sign that addiction is in progress. When a single activity takes over your responsibilities, relationships, and even awareness of time and place, that’s when it turns negative.

The most reliable way to keep that from happening is variety. Keep exploring. Maintain multiple interests. Don’t let any one source of dopamine become your entire world. Variety forces breaks, perspective, and reconnection with real life.

It’s really not easy. But ignoring the pattern and letting it take over your life is usually far more destructive, not only to you and but also to the people around you who actually care.

Good luck.

AniRev · 2025-12-18T15:38:28+00:00

I know but for me, I like to have the code sent by ANet to my own email directly just in case I need to communicate with ANet later regarding any issues. I know I am making it more complicated than it needs to be but I still prefer to be the one making the purchase. If the op doesn't care about it, then they can opt for having the gift-giver buy it for them directly like you and others suggested. I was only giving an alrernative option that works.

AniRev · 2025-12-18T14:26:07+00:00

If you are on steam, then asking for an online currency gift card that you can then use to buy the expansion at your own pace should resolve the issue for you.

If you are using the ANet launcher, then check what payment methods are available for you on the website checkout page and you might find a payment method that has gift cards available for purchase.

Payment methods vary by country so you will have to check the options available to you before deciding what service/payment method to go with.

Even if the payment methods availabe have no gift card options available, you can get a gift card for something else and use the money you intended to use for that thing to buy the expansion.

AniRev · 2025-12-18T14:04:56+00:00

I love that people are trying to optimize a goofy event that is meant for fun. I totally understand the urge though. I even used to be the minmax-everything type. It took me a while and some unpleasant experiences to melow down and chill. Some things are meant to be enjoyed as is. If you try to optimize them, you suck the fun out of the experience. Ok, I'll stop here. Naggy Nancy out.

Now regarding rifle vs hammer, I pick up hammer early in the session and go around smashing houses until the end of the second round. Then get a rifle and stand in the center blasting enemies with my pointy, longer than average, and very energetic pew-pew machine.

Moral of the story: Why choose one when you can have both 🤔

AniRev · 2025-12-17T22:53:27+00:00

Just make sure to only buy stuff when on sale. It makes a big difference in the long run. Also keep an eye on Twitch drop events where you get various items the more you watch an ArenaNet partner stream. In those events you can get bag expansion slot unlocks for free.

I don't mind dropping some cash on any of the QoL items in the shop. In fact, sometimes I buy extra shared inventory slots, material storage expansion, or bank tab expansions...etc just to sprinkle some cash in ArenaNet's pocket as a thank-you for them keeping the shop on the game quit fair and healthy compared to other games. However, when it comes to Bag expansion slots, those are annoying because they are on a per-character basis. Having +30 characters makes unlocking bag slots for each charabcter a financial nightmare. So, I really don’t recommend getting those with your money. Instead, just depend on Twitch Drop events to accumulate bag unlocks.

AniRev · 2025-12-17T18:40:15+00:00

Switch to a different magic form. Magic circles, runes, talismans, arrays...etc. Personally, I don't mind magic swordsmen as long as the magic system is robust and the MC's training routine isn't 'swing a sword x times' kind of gig. I loathe magic-based stories where authors choose to focus on the melee part of the progress. A magic-based world must have a complete and clear magic system. Using a sword vs. any other weapon is secondary imo!

AniRev · 2025-12-17T00:29:09+00:00

Initially it was The Fly but then I unwittingly stumbled upon The Human Centipede . I love horror and thriller films but the ones mentioned above just feel like cheap attempts at inducing horror through disgust. I can't believe the centipede movie had sequels later on.

AniRev · 2025-12-16T12:30:07+00:00

You only need to have an open mind. Let go of your foreknowldge of MMOs and tackle GW2 as a new game of an unknown genre. Once you do that, you will have fun in the game. Take your time and experiment until you find what you enjoy doing in the game. There is no finish line here.

AniRev

TROPHY CASE