Learn Hardcore Dutch: In dat recept moeten de groenten langzaam garen. - In that recipe the vegetables have to cook slowly.

moeten is a modal verb expressing obligation or necessity—equivalent to English must or have to. In recipes it tells you what steps you need to follow. Grammatically, it’s the finite verb here, so it sits in second position (after the adverbial In dat recept).

Why is there no te before garen?

In Dutch, when you use a modal verb like moeten, you directly attach the bare infinitive (garen) to it. You never add te (the infinitive marker) in this construction. If you weren’t using a modal, you might see te: e.g. “Ik probeer te garen,” but with moeten it’s simply moeten garen.

Why does garen appear at the end of the sentence?

Dutch follows a V2 (verb-second) rule for the finite verb and then pushes any non-finite verb (infinitive) to the end. Here:

In dat recept (adverbial)
moeten (finite verb, position 2)
de groenten langzaam (subject + adverb)
garen (infinitive, final position)

This ordering is mandatory in main clauses with auxiliaries or modals.

What does garen mean, and how is it different from koken?

Both garen and koken relate to cooking, but:

garen means “to cook through” or “to simmer/gently cook until done.” It focuses on the process of bringing food to the right doneness.
koken usually means “to boil” or “to cook” in a more general or higher-temperature sense.

In recipes you might say “groenten garen in bouillon” rather than “groenten koken in bouillon” if you want a gentle simmer.

Why is langzaam placed before garen, and can its position change?

Adverbs of manner (like langzaam) typically come directly before the verb they modify:

… de groenten langzaam garen …

If you move langzaam elsewhere, you can still be understood, but it sounds less natural:

“de groenten garen langzaam” (possible, but uncommon)
“langzaam moeten de groenten garen in dat recept” ( grammatically OK, shifts emphasis to langzaam )

The default, most idiomatic order in a recipe is the one you saw.

Why is it In dat recept instead of op dat recept or bij dat recept?

Dutch uses in with recept when you mean “in a recipe” (as a set of instructions).

op dat recept would suggest “on the printed page of the recipe.”
bij dat recept can mean “together with” or “concerning that recipe,” but is less precise.
You can also say volgens het recept (“according to the recipe”).

Why is dat recept used, and could you say dit recept or deze recept?

Recept is a het-word, so the corresponding demonstratives are dit (this) and dat (that).

Use dit recept to point to something physically or conceptually very close (“in this recipe”).
Use dat recept to refer back to a recipe already mentioned or somewhat further away.
You never say deze recept because deze is for de-words.

Why is the article de used with groenten, and can you omit it?

In Dutch, plural nouns typically take de, so de groenten means “the vegetables” specified by the recipe. Omitting the article (moeten groenten) sounds odd unless you’re making a very general statement (“vegetables must cook slowly” in any dish). If you want a more generic sense, you could say groenten moeten langzaam garen, but recipes usually specify de groenten you’ve just listed.