Oliebol
An oliebol (plural oliebollen (
pronunciation (help·info)) is a traditional Dutch food. Oliebollen (literally oil balls) are traditionally eaten on New Year's Eve[1] and at funfairs. In wintertime, they are also sold in the street at mobile stalls. In the Flanders part of Belgium and Brussels they are called smoutebollen (literally lard balls although the real "smout" is of rapeseed oil) In English they are more commonly known as Dutch Doughnuts.
Oliebollen are a variety of dumpling made by using an ice-scooper or two spoons to scoop a certain amount of dough and dropping the dough into a deep fryer filled with hot oil. In this way, a sphere-shaped oliebol emerges.
The dough is made from flour, eggs, yeast, some salt, milk, baking powder and usually sultanas, currants, raisins and sometimes zest or succade. A notable variety is the appelbeignet or "appelflap", which contains only a slice of apple. The dough needs time to rise for at least an hour. Oliebollen are usually served with powdered sugar.
They are said to have been first eaten by Germanic tribes in the Netherlands during the Yule, the period between December 26 and January 6. The Germanic goddess Perchta, together with evil spirits, would fly through the mid-winter sky. To appease these spirits, food was offered, much of which contained deep-fried dough. It was said Perchta would try to cut open the bellies of all she came across, but because of the fat in the oliebollen, her sword would slide off the body of whoever ate them.[2]
A very similar type of doughnut can be found in the Walloon part of Belgium, Brussels and northern France. Croustillons are deep fried dough balls served hot and liberally sprinkled with powdered sugar. They are usually served in a paper cone with a little plastic fork to eat them with. They are typically found at fairgrounds in Belgium and in Lille, France.
The Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad holds an annual highly publicized oliebollentest at the end of each year. In 2011 Richard Visser won this test for the eighth time in the 19th year the test was held.[3]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Sijs, Nicoline van der (2009). Cookies, Coleslaw, and Stoops: The Influence of Dutch on the North American Languages. Amsterdam UP. p. 135. ISBN 9789089641243. http://books.google.com/books?id=qIsDdUSYJMIC&pg=PA135.
- ^ Oliebollen en oliekoeken (Dutch)
- ^ (Dutch) "Visser opnieuw winnaar oliebollentest". NOS. December 27, 2011. http://nos.nl/artikel/325647-visser-opnieuw-winnaar-oliebollentest.html. Retrieved December 31, 2011.
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