Kapsalon is a Dutch street food dish consisting of fried potatoes topped with meat (usually doner or shwarma), cheese (usually gouda), sauce (usually garlic), and vegetables. It is named after a hair salon owner who ordered fries topped with shwarma beef. Falafel can be used as a vegetarian substitute for the meat.
Kapsalon is a dish that covers fried potatoes with various toppings. Main toppings include meat varieties as well as certain types of cheese, sauces, and vegetables. This street food is common in areas of the Netherlands.
One of the most distinctive features of the kapsalon dish is the meat that is added to the fried potatoes. This is often called doner meat or shwarma, which refers to meat shavings from large, spinning spits. This meat is usually lamb, goat or a combination of these with chicken or beef. The words doner and shwarma come from the local names of this food which was brought to the Netherlands and other Western European countries by immigrants from Middle Eastern areas.
Along with meat, many varieties of kapsalon also use cheese. The most common cheese for this dish is gouda. This cheese is melted over the meat and chips, then topped with additional toppings.
On top of the cheese, cooks making kapsalon often add a gravy or sauce. For this dish, this is commonly described as garlic sauce. On top of the garlic sauce or gravy, cooks add lettuce or other greens.
Kapsalon is part of a larger category of dishes that involve the topping of fried potatoes. One of the most common dishes resembling kapsalon is the dish called poutine which is popular in French Canada and other areas. While the routine usually involves hearty gravy and cheese, the kapsalon dish relies specifically on meat, cheese and vegetables, for a slightly healthier end result.
Those who understand the origins of Kapsalon describe its translated meaning as “hairdresser”. Reportedly since the creation of this staple, a hair salon owner originally ordered french fries topped with shwarma beef. This type of dish caught on and is now commonly offered in Rotterdam and other cities.
In addition to the aforementioned types of meat, this savory treat can also sometimes contain other Middle Eastern foods such as falafel. Falafel is a ground flour made from chickpeas. It offers a vegetarian substitute for shwarma meat, as many who may want to try the dish may not eat the meat varieties used for doner and shwarma.
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