Muiderslot offers something you won’t find anywhere else in the region: dining just as the castle’s residents did centuries ago. Every other week, on Saturday afternoons, the museum hosts a Historical Tasting, where you first take a walk through the castle and gardens, and then sit down to a meal featuring dishes based on forgotten recipes from the Middle Ages and the 17th century. The experience lasts 90 minutes, and you’ll literally get a taste of how people used to cook back then.
The Muiderslot castle chef stands at the stove and decides what will be served. That selection changes constantly: each edition revolves around its own seasonal theme. In January, the focus is on ‘Preserving and Canning’; in February, it’s ‘Love and Lust.’ March brings ‘What the farmer doesn’t know…,’ and April is all about ‘Fish Must Swim.’ May’s theme is perhaps the most unique: ‘Rats, Coughs, and Beans,’ about how the castle weathered wartime.
The guided tour before the tasting takes you past the castle’s round corner towers and moat; the castle was founded by Floris V shortly after 1285 and was thoroughly restored between 1895 and 1910. If the weather is nice, you’ll also stroll through the historic gardens, laid out in the 17th-century style, complete with a plum orchard. From the grounds, you can look out over the harbor of Muiden and the former Zuiderzee—a view that has changed little since the castle’s residents themselves gazed out upon it.
A Keti Koti special will follow in June, and the summer will then be dedicated to ‘Plum Season’ for three months: July, August, and September will all revolve around the plums from our own orchard. Next comes October with ‘Superstition,’ November with ‘Cakes and Pies,’ and the year wraps up with ‘Winter Castle’ in December. Each season brings its own story and its own flavors, directly linked to what was served at the time.
What sets this tasting experience apart from a regular tour is that history isn’t just explained here—it’s also tasted. The castle chef works with forgotten recipes and old techniques, so you don’t just get something historically inspired, but a reconstruction of how people actually ate back then. For those who are already familiar with Muiderslot from the guided tours, this is a different way to experience the castle: through the nose and the mouth, not just through the eyes.