Ahh, Amsterdam. Sometimes I wish there was a General Foods International Coffee flavor that would transport me back to those gauzy days on the banks of the Amstel — the cool fall breeze, the Nightwatch, the hazy coffeeshop afternoons. Actually, to faithfully recreate those simpler times, a single cup of coffee would have to knock me on my ass and erase my memory for a week. Furthermore, it would have to make me feel like I'd been lobotomized, and send my life into a terrible, slow-motion tailspin. It would also have to empty my bank account, force me to live on nan bread from the Indian restaurant next to my crappy London apartment. (If not for the kindness and infinitely tolerant understanding of Karla Betts, this era of my life would have been nothing more than a platter of cheese cubes drifting silently past me). While it can't faithfully recreate the Amsterdam experience of my vague recollection, there is a cheese which has a way of taking me back to a more ideal place. It's called Old Amsterdam. It's in the gouda family, and it has got a nice salty bite balanced with the requisite gouda creaminess. Does it lead me to spend 72 straight hours in the basement lounge of a hostel? No. But it tastes nice with crispy crackers, tomatoes, and olive oil, and it doesn't give me uncontrollable cravings for falafel that I can't afford.
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