This is a rare example of food-related article for this site. I wrote it for Ymag.

One of the first things that struck me when I first came to Amsterdam – once I accumulated enough expertise to find my way beyond the deadly tourist triangle of Damrak/Kalverstraat/Red Light District – was the way the city is so open and globalized, but at the same time manages to keep its own relatively-homogeneous feel. Since one of the symptoms usually associated with globalization are fast food chains, I was also surprised to find several local reinterpretations of the standard McDonald's burger stand. Maybe I'm paying more attention to it because I come from Italy, where burger culture doesn't really exist, but I think Amsterdam burgers can be an interesting allegory of the way the city is allowing the world in, while keeping the door keys at hand. The following examples represent a partial depiction of Amsterdam through the greasy lenses of burger-eating. (more…)