Dutch Language Blog

Photo Credit: Teunie

The number of days before we ring in the New Year is getting less and less.  So, now is the perfect time for you to get to work practising your Oliebollen making skills.  These round doughnut like food items are made with yeast and deep fried before being covered in powdered sugar and are an important part of New Year’s celebrations in the Netherlands.

As mentioned before, some people prefer their oliebollen without the currants and raisins, so feel free to leave those out if you are one of those people.

Oliebollen Recipe*

Voor 16 stuks – Serves 16

• 0.5 sinaasappel – ½ orange, zest only
• 30 g. verse gist, verkruimeld – 30g fresh yeast, crumbled
• 0.5 liter lauwwarme melk – ½ litre lukewarm milk
• 500g tarwebloem – 500g wheat flour
• 2 theelepels suiker – 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 theelepel zout – 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 theelepel gemalen kaneel – 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 100g krenten en rozijnen, gewassen – 100g currants and raisins, washed
• 25g sukade, gesnipperd – 25g candied peel, finely chopped
• 1 appel, geschild en in kleine stukjes – 1 apple, peeled and in small pieces
• olie om te frituren – oil for deep-frying
• poedersuiker  - powdered sugar

Boen de sinaasappel onder stromend water schoon en rasp de oranje schil er dun af.  Roer de gist met 3 eetlepels van de melk los.  Roer de bloem met de suiker, het zout en de kaneel door elkaar.  Maak een kuiltje in het midden en schenk het gistmengsel erin.  Voeg al roerende met een mixer met deeghaken de rest van de melk toe en roer het tot een egaal beslag.  Schep de sinaasappelrasp, de krenten, de rozijnen, de sukade en de appel erdoor en laat het beslag afgedekt met een schone theedoek of met huishoudfolie op een warme plek 1 uur rijzen.  Bak van het beslag 4 porties van 4 flinke oliebollen in hete olie van 190C.  Laat ze op keukenpapier uitlekken en bestuif ze dik met poedersuiker.

Scrub the orange in cold water and grate off the zest.  Stir 3 tablespoons of mil into the yeast to loosen it up.  Mix the flour, sugar, salt and cinnamon in a bowl.  Make a slight hollow in the middle and pour in the yeast paste.  Add the rest of the milk, continuously turning with a blender with dough hooks to produce an even dough.  Stir in the orange zest, currants, raisins, candied peel and apple, and allow the dough to rise under cling film or a clean tea towel in a warm spot.  Then fry four portions of the doughnuts in hot oil at 190 degrees Celsius.  Allow them to drain on paper towels and sprinkle them abundantly with powdered sugar.

*From Deliciously Dutch

Photo Credit: Udo Ockema

Can you believe that another month is upon us and that before we know it, 2012 will be knocking at our door?  I know I can’t.

Fall and winter are actually my favourite times of the year.  I love the cold, the scented candles, the festive atmosphere and of course the food.  The Netherlands during the last few months of the year can be a dangerous place to be if you are looking to count calories – what with all those chocolate letters, Christmas cookies and oliebollen about.

So just what is there to look forward to for the month of November in the Netherlands?  Here are some things that make my list:

• Museum Night Amsterdam (November 5^th) – I’ve mentioned the Rotterdam version already on this blog but if Amsterdam museums are more your thing, then November 5^th is your big chance to visit more than forty museums in the city.
• Chocolate Letters – How many have you consumed already?  If you don’t know all the details of chocolate letters than stay tuned because I’ll be covering that this month.
• Crossing Border The Hague (November 16^th – 19^th) – Holland.com describes it as “the festival where literature, music, film and the visual arts are combined. For several days writers, poets, musicians, filmmakers and artists will reign over The Hague’s cultural center. Crossing Border The Hague is one of Europe’s main international literature and music festivals.”
• The Sinterklaas Build-up – Sinterklaas will be arriving in mid-November with his steam boat filled with gifts and helpers but what (near) disasters will happen during the journey?
• International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (November 16^th – November 27^th) – One of the world’s most prestigious documentary film festivals with over 300 documentaries shown over the festival’s eleven days.
• Oliebollen – The stands have already started popping up around the city.  Will your local stand score in the top 10 of the oliebollen test?
• GLOW Eindhoven (November 5^th – November 12^th) – GLOW is the International Forum of Light in Art and Architecture. Artists use artificial light to change or enhance parts of the city of Eindhoven. This year’s theme is ‘illusion and reality’.

Know of an interesting, unique or fun event happening in the Netherlands (or Belgium!) during the month of November?  Been waiting all year for a special food item that only comes out at this time of year?  Share them with us on the Transparent Language Dutch Facebook page.

At first glance, there is nothing that spectacular about a stroopwafel.  It’s thin, it’s round and it’s brown.  But hidden behind that waffle grid exterior is a gooey, sweet, caramelness that challenges even the best home cooked meal from your childhood.

Stroopwafels are a waffle made from two thin layers of baked batter with a caramel-like syrup filling in the middle.  The batter for the waffles is made from flour, butter, brown sugar, yeast, milk, and eggs and is then shaped into balls and cooked on a waffle iron. Once the waffle is baked, and while it is still warm, it is cut into two halves. A warm filling, made from syrup, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon, is spread in-between the waffle halves, gluing them together.

According to Wikipedia, “the stroopwafel originates from Gouda in the Netherlands. It was first made during the late 18th century or early 19th century by a baker using leftovers from the bakery, such as breadcrumbs, which were sweetened with syrup. One story ascribes the invention of the stroopwafel to the baker Gerard Kamphuisen, which would date the first stroopwafels somewhere between 1810, the year when he opened his bakery, and 1840, the year of the oldest known recipe for syrup waffles. In the 19th century, there were around 100 syrup waffle bakers in Gouda, which was the only city in which they were made until 1870. After 1870 they were also made at parties and in markets outside the city of Gouda. In the 20th century, factories started to make stroopwafels. In 1960 there were 17 factories in Gouda alone.”

Stroopwafels are pretty wonderful.  When I used to work in Amsterdam they were in one of the vending machines outside the office.  We would often have people from the States over to work on projects and they would buy one, wondering what it was.  From that moment on you would find that they had cleared out the machine and were living basically on a stroopwafel diet with regular announcements of “wow, these are really great.”

Just before it is eaten, the stroopwafel is often placed on top of a cup of hot drink (e.g. tea or coffee) in order to soften it up. The filling then melts making the stroopwafel extra delicious.  This is a (messier) way to become addicted quicker.

Have you had a stroopwafel?  What did you think of it?  Does it rank in your top five of Dutch foods (if not, what does)?