“That will be delicious,” shouts a passer-by with a bag from the cheesemonger in the Emiclaer shopping center. Amsterdammer Frederik Schuitema is sniffing through the nuts of Alexanderhoeve and has parked his well-stocked shopping cart at the entrance of the cheese shop. “Good luck,” he says enthusiastically after paying. “I think it is still manageable with the crowds, but I also come from Amsterdam; it’s always busy there,” he laughs. In any case, it will be a nice Christmas from a food point of view. Nothing was finished yet, so I’m completely complete.”
“We’re going to have a gourmet meal,” says Frederik Schuitema.
ⓒ ROOIMANS, THIJS
So what’s on the menu? “We are going to gourmet. A classic Christmas thing, huh? A bit bourgeois actually,” Schuitema chuckles. “Normally we never do it, only this time we are with so many people that it is just more convenient. Can I actually say that?” he wonders aloud.
A little further in the city, there is hardly any parking space at the shops on the Leusderweg. One out, one in: and before the full shopping cart is loaded into the car, you’ll be waiting for another fifteen minutes. Exceptional for a Thursday afternoon; even before the Thursday afternoon before Christmas, says Paula van den Brink of the Neplenbroek bakery. “Because the schools are already closed, customers come a little later in the day and often take their offspring with them,” she explains.
There has been a storm at the bakery for days. “Normally there are two of us at the front of the shop, now five of us. We especially sell Christmas delicacies such as stollen, apple turnovers and oliebollen on the assembly line.” It is the busiest time of the year, but Van den Brink notices that due to the lockdown they have less turnover than a ‘normal Christmas’. “Fewer people are allowed to come to your home, so now they take a small Christmas loaf instead of a large one. And they sometimes took something for the host or hostess, but that is now of course less. But you won’t hear us complaining.”
“Now that the essential shops are closed, you try to find the presents somewhere else,” says Nikki Steenbeek.
ⓒ ROOIMANS, THIJS
Meanwhile, the supermarkets seem to be good for more than just Christmas dinner. “A nice chat spot with question cards, for under the tree,” says Nikki Steenbeek proudly. “Well, now that the essential shops are closed, you try to find the presents somewhere else.” That is quite a job, says Steenbeek: “But luckily the liquor store is essential. Then I can just get a nice drink for the adults”, she laughs.