Ah, waffles. The Netherlands, unlike Belgium, is not really known for the culinary qualities of its cuisine. Mind you, there are very good international restaurants, but traditional Dutch dishes consist mainly of stamppot; hotchpotches or mashes, any kind of vegetable or cabbage with potatoes really. Nourishing, but hardly a feast for the taste buds. However, we do have some quite good sweets and pastries. Foremost, for me at least, are stroopwafels, treacle waffles. Two thin waffles with a little layer of treacle or syrup in between. Delicious both cold and lukewarm, and of course freshly baked, the true Dutchman will place his stroopwafel on top of his cup of coffee for some time to soften the treacle. No market in The Netherlands is complete without a stall, stroopwafelkraam, where they are freshly baked. The Dutch would not be the Dutch if they did not sell the crumbs that are left when the stroopwafels are cut into shape too!
As always, Belgian waffles are a little more refined. Although the Belgians know stroopwafels, the most well-known Belgian waffles are Luikse wafels (from Luik or Liège) and Brussels waffles. Luikse wafels are a little thicker and more compact, and contain more (caramelized) sugar, while Brussels waffles are lighter and crispier. Luikse waffles are often eaten plain, although they can be served with toppings of (Belgian!) chocolate, fresh fruit or whipped cream, while Brussels waffles are nearly always eaten with generous toppings of powdered sugar, strawberries, or again fresh fruit and/ or whipped cream. Both variants are very, very good.
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| Brusselse wafel |
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| Luikse wafel |
Having whetted your collective appetites, its time to turn to today's main course: the production of the Tuesday troopers. We continue to be in a somewhat quiet spell, but we do still have some very nice and tasty entries today. We will see at least:
- from SaraHC: "The continuing exploits of Elfio"
- From TomG: "Orc Dentistry; a guidebook"
And who knows what may come up during the day? Enjoy!
Have a good day Martijn. Nothing from me this week, but next week for sure.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to it, Peter!
DeleteThanks for standing in on Monday! These all look very nice and I know they taste good but it's Lent so I'll just move along rapidly!
ReplyDeleteBest Iain
Hello!
ReplyDeleteI took a quick glance at this post much earlier today, but decided I needed to enjoy with some chocolate and coffee in lieu of stroopwafel and koffie 😊
Looking forward to Team Tuesday
I hope you're having a wonderful day Martijn, and thank you again for stepping in as guest-minion yesterday. Sarah and I have very fond memories of meeting you in Arnhem and you gifting us some wonderful local treats, including some delicious stroopwaffels. They were much enjoyed over the remainder of our trip. (I wonder how they'd hold up in the mail from Holland to Canada? Hmmm.) :)
ReplyDeleteThe Coop in Harbour Landing carries them. They even have a yummy gluten free version
DeleteGreat tip (and we'll check them out), but not the same.
DeleteMy pleasure! There used to be a service to provide goodies from the Old country to immigrants in Canada, that might still be the case. I’ll have a look 😉
DeleteOoh I do love a stroopwafel. My morning snack of choice with my coffee.
ReplyDelete