Right in the heart of The Hague there is a unique shopping centre. It is not so much the shops that are special, it is the architecture which is most unusual. It is a mixture of old and new styles which go very well together.
If you have been wandering through The Hague some of the buildings may look very familiar to you. And you are not mistaken. They are copies of some existing The Hague buildings. There is a copy of the Pagehuis the original is at Lange Voorhout, a most impressive avenue lined with historic buildings, a walkway in the middle with old trees giving shade. There is an Art Deco facade, the original can be found in the Denneweg, a street famous for its antique shops.
The real facade at Denneweg
Fake Facade
If you look closely at the buildings in this shopping centre you will see that the facades, perfect replicas of the originals, are put against the concrete fronts of the shops. The two fountains are not fakes -- they are real 18th-century ones and come from France.
The name of this shopping centre is very appropiately: Haagse Bluf.
People from The Hague are famous for keeping up appearances.
Haagse Bluf is also a traditional Dutch dessert: red currant whip.
This is the recipe:
Ingredients:
5 egg whites, 130 grams of sugar, 400 ml red current juice, sponge cake.
Method:
Separate the egg yolks from the whites. Beat the egg whites until stiff, fold in the sugar. Gradually add the red currant juice while beating the whites. Put a layer of sponge cake in a bowl and scoop the mixture on top.