{"id":5254,"date":"2017-12-05T08:00:26","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T08:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=5254"},"modified":"2017-12-05T02:36:06","modified_gmt":"2017-12-05T02:36:06","slug":"chocoladeletters-letters-of-chocolate-for-sinterklaas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/chocoladeletters-letters-of-chocolate-for-sinterklaas\/","title":{"rendered":"Chocoladeletters – Letters of Chocolate for Sinterklaas!"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘T heerlijk avondje is gekomen\u00a0<\/em>(The wonderful evening has come)! It is December 5, the day on which Sinterklaas<\/em><\/a> and his helpers, the\u00a0Pieten<\/em><\/a> distribute the presents they wrapped for all the Dutch. But there is more than just gifts: A lot of\u00a0snoepgoed\u00a0<\/em>(sweets)! Today, we will look at a particular one:\u00a0Chocoladeletters\u00a0<\/em>(Chocolate letters).<\/p>\n

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Chocoladeletters<\/em> spelling Sint, short for Sinterklaas (Image by author).<\/p><\/div>\n

Bread Letters<\/h2>\n

Nowadays, these yummy letters are made of chocolate. However, that has not always been the case with this tradition. It has Germanic roots, and comes from a time when a rune letter was made of bread and given to new-born children. It was a symbol for good fortune. Throughout the centuries, bread letters were used in different settings. Another form used sometimes was the\u00a0koekletter\u00a0<\/em>(cookie letter).<\/p>\n

Only in the 19th century, Sinterklaas started bringing letters.\u00a0Cadeaus\u00a0<\/em>(presents) were covered with a sheet, and a bread letter was put on top to indicate who it was for. At the turn of the century,\u00a0chocoladeletters\u00a0<\/em>were introduced. And of course, those were bound to stay!<\/p>\n

While in the first decades, they were still quite\u00a0exclusief\u00a0<\/em>(exclusive), they are available everywhere nowadays. There was one time, in the Second World War, when chocola\u00a0<\/em>(chocolate) was not accessible very well, and so\u00a0Verkade (one of the Netherlands’ largest chocolate manufacturers) made letters of\u00a0taaitaai\u00a0<\/em>(a sort of gingerbread, which is also very popular around\u00a0Sinterklaas).<\/p>\n

The font usually used for the letters is Egyptienne, which has strong edges, giving the letter more stability. Some years ago, Verkade tried a “digital letter”, with grooves that made it easier to take off a piece of chocolate. That was not very successful, though. One possible explanation for the failure by Theo Kalf of the Verkade museum: “Ik heb liever een gewone letter. Als je daar een stukje afbreekt is dat altijd net iets groter dan je bedoelde.<\/em>” (I prefer the normal letter. If you break a piece off, it is always just a bit bigger than you intended.”)<\/p>\n

Your own name!<\/h2>\n
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Image by chuttersnap at Unsplash.com<\/p><\/div>\n

The idea is to give people\u00a0chocoladeletters\u00a0<\/em>that are the first letter of their name. So, my name is Sten, and so I would get an S. Now, you might think that it can be quite a hassle to find the right letters, and you’re right! Considering that people expect 26 letters of the alphabet, in\u00a0puur\u00a0<\/em>(dark),\u00a0melk\u00a0<\/em>(milk) and\u00a0hazelnoot\u00a0<\/em>(hazelnut), equaling a whopping 78 different letters to produce, it can be really hard to find some letters you need. There are retail points that have all letters available, though some manufacturers also opt not to make certain unusual letters, such as\u00a0u<\/em>,\u00a0x<\/em>,\u00a0y<\/em> and\u00a0z<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In the first picture, I wrote\u00a0Sint<\/em>, short for Sinterklaas. As you may have spotted, the\u00a0T\u00a0<\/em>is actually makeshift, because I could not find a\u00a0T<\/em>! So I bought an\u00a0H<\/em> and had to eat some of it to make a\u00a0T.<\/em>\u00a0I am not complaining!<\/p>\n

If you actually want to give someone else a letter, and not eat parts of it away to form “their” letter, you can buy a generic one. Usually, people opt for an\u00a0S\u00a0<\/em>or a\u00a0P<\/em>, for\u00a0Sint\u00a0<\/em>or\u00a0Piet\u00a0<\/em>respectively. However, you can give a letter any meaning you want to, of course! Creativity always wins!<\/p>\n

De M is toch de grootste?<\/em><\/h2>\n
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Image by Alexandre Godreau at Unsplash.com<\/p><\/div>\n

In most years, the\u00a0m\u00a0<\/em>is the letter that sells best. This may be because\u00a0m\u00a0<\/em>stands for\u00a0moeder\u00a0<\/em>(mother) and\u00a0mama\u00a0<\/em>(mom), and because there is a good amount of Dutch names starting with\u00a0m<\/em>. Another (big) reason may be that the\u00a0m\u00a0<\/em>is perceived as the biggest letter, and so it must contain most chocolate for the same price, right?<\/p>\n

This is actually not the case. All letters have the same weight, some are a bit thicker than others. One particular problem, however, is the\u00a0I<\/em>. If you would give that letter the same weight, it would become unreasonably\u00a0dik\u00a0<\/em>(thick). Some manufacturers therefore opted not to manufacture it at all. Others solved it by putting two letters I\u00a0<\/i>in one package.<\/p>\n

Sinterklaas kapoentje, gooi wat in m’n schoentje!<\/em><\/h2>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=AHoPOuz1AZE<\/p>\n

Nowadays, almost any store that remotely sells food items starts selling\u00a0chocoladeletters <\/em>a few weeks\u00a0before Sinterklaas arrives. When Sinterklaas arrives in the Netherlands, which is mid-November, children “set their shoe”:\u00a0schoenzetten<\/em>. Traditionally, they put it at the\u00a0open haard\u00a0<\/em>(fireplace), though nowadays a radiator will do if there is no\u00a0open haard\u00a0<\/em>available. They put a\u00a0wortel\u00a0<\/em>(carrot) in the shoe for the\u00a0paard\u00a0<\/em>(horse) of Sinterklaas. Overnight, Sinterklaas comes by and gives the children a little\u00a0cadeau\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0wat lekkers\u00a0<\/em>(something yummy) in return. And that can very well be a\u00a0chocoladeletter\u00a0<\/em>of the first letter of their name! Many families actually do\u00a0schoenzetten\u00a0<\/em>throughout the time before pakjesavond\u00a0<\/em>(Package Eve) on December 5, but of course, it is not always guaranteed that the\u00a0schoen\u00a0<\/em>(shoe) is full in the morning!<\/p>\n

Regardless of that tradition, chocolate letters are given throughout the Sinterklaas-period not just to children!<\/p>\n

Groene Sint\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0eerlijke chocoladeletters<\/em><\/h2>\n