Alley cat lunch

You'd only get second-hand smoking if you spent every day in your life in the tourist hellhole of central Amsterdam. Try going to Germany instead, everything and everyone reeks of cigarettes and they even have vending machines for them in plain sight in amusement parks.

I swear, smokers in Europe have atrocious social graces with no concept of personal space. Even at the busiest and most cramped cafes, they will light up at the table with you or standing next to a doorway, and then act like you’re the problem if you’re annoyed or upset about second hand smoke. Beer gardens and outdoor seating almost universally include a carcinogenic haze, it just ruins the meal/drink imo to be tasting the air between bites
At least in America the social stigma is strong enough where they scurry off to their ~~opium den~~ smoking area and get their nicotine hit with their brethren. Go in peace friend, you do you over there to y’all’s lungs
- Sweet summer child, you should have seen Europe at the turn of the century.
  I've seen doctors pulling out a cigarette and start smoking in the middle of a ward. Any place you'd go at night - a cafe, a bar, a pub, a disco - and you'd nearly vomit at how your clothes smelled the next day.
  Everything and everyone smelled like tobacco.
  Nowadays? It's paradise I tell you.
can confirm (germany), it's gotten better but in my childhood there was literally just a cig vending machine outside my block, like 30-40m away from a playground
- The US used to have those vending machines in bars and some restaurants too, up until the 90s. The smoking section of restaurants was mostly an invisible line that cut the room in half, so you could have a smoking table literally right next to a non-smoking one.
While I am regularly annoyed at smokers in restaurants, at bus stops/train stations and in pedestrian zones, you haven't felt "everything" until you go to e.g. Turkey (as much as I love the country)
What about second hand fish?

And it's damn tasty. herring and raw onions are amazing. That sad pickle slice can screw off though.

I’d try it. Is the skin meant to be eaten after pickling, or does it remove easily?
- It's very soft, you eat it with the skin. The Dutch version of salted herring is the nicest one (compared to Nordic and Baltic versions), it's quite mild flavoured and has a great raw-fish kind of texture. Ones which are pickled longer are still nice but can get a bit floury sometimes.
- No need to remove the skin. It’ll just melt in your mouth.
Yeah, I don't understand why there is a freaking slide of pickle.
I take it this is not available in a tin and must be purchased at some street cart vendor?
- It would have to be cooked to be in a tin. You can get jarred pickled herring but it's nowhere near as good as a fresh salted herring.
- You usually get it at a fish cart or at a supermarket.

Well, there goes my appetite, this Dutch guy hates herring. Can't stand the smell, taste or texture. 🤢

I'm not sure if I've had herring but I feel the same about pickles.

I don't think the IQ is intact

As a Dutch child, we shouldn't assume too much about their starting point.

Fun fact, if you look up "Dutch cuisine" on Wikipedia, this is literally the second picture (right after Gouda cheese).

It doesn't show that for me, but now I know of Bamischijf. That sounds good but so weird. Has anybody tried that?
- The only Dutch food I can vouch for is hagelslag.

What are the little white bits, chopped onions?

Yes, raw white onion.

One of my favorite things about visiting the Netherlands are the herring stalls :D

I prefer mine in a bun, but all forms are delicious.

This meme is timed really well with me being on holiday in the Netherlands. But it’s also true

Put 200 on Herring, this matchup isn't even close.

So… is that good? It doesn’t look awful, but it also does not look good to me, but I’ll try anything twice 🤷‍♂️

It could be good if it's pickled nicely and seasoned well

In Germany, we have pickled herring too, but this German is happy to admit that Hollandse Nieuwe reigns supreme.

Is that fish even fucking cooked? It sure doesn't look like it.

why would it be cooked? it's pickled!
- It's raw herring. They call it Hollandse Nieuwe and they're literally raw herring without guts and head. They add onions and sometimes a pickle.
  But it really is just raw fish and it's quite tasty!
It is cooked. In the sense that it is not raw. There are other ways then boiling to produce safe, accessible calories.
- It looks raw to me...

Seems like a waste of onion. At least get it on there!

Why is that fish raw😶

Its pickled, not raw. Scandinavians have been pickling fish for a very long time and it's worked out OK so far.
- It's been working out a lot better since the invention of flash freezing. For both sushi and pickled fish, the risk of parasites was always present. Now it's just as safe as cooked fish and it doesn't taste any different from raw.
- But no baking, frying, or cooking of any kind?
- We have, the Netherlands aren't Scandinavia though.

Do Americans not eat fish?