Eetsmakelijk!

That is how every meal started - eetsmakelijk!  (It is pronounced ate-smack-u-lick.) It is the Dutch way to say Bon Appétit. While there is no direct translation, I always tell people it is a way to encourage others to enjoy their meal. And it was such a normality at our house that a meal felt strange if it was not said by each person.

There are a number of variations, perhaps a regional phenomenon, something my husband and I discovered one time on a bus tour through Holland. As the bus driver dropped each person off at the end of the day, he yelled out “smakelijk eten!” My Canadian husband looked at me in confusion - he understood the word, but recognized it was mixed up. Imagine his further surprise when he heard someone call back “eetse!” My favourite version is the one my youngest brother came up with. He went through a strange stage where he said everything backwards. Now, I am younger than him, so this is my recollection: I do not think he walked around speaking backwards, he would just hear a word and instantly say it backwards. One night it happened during dinner. As we called out “eetsmakelijk!” he answered with “kijlekamstee!” It stuck, he continued to say it, long after every other backwards word was abandoned. This had to have happened over 35 years ago. Today, the tradition continues as my 10 year old wishes us “kijlekamstee” before we eat! I love it!

Oh goodness - back in 1978 I was ready to have some eetsmakelijk!  It is the wrong way to use the term, but come on!  Look how excited I am to dig into that... yes, a ham, covered with strange fruit formations!