I am very much a believer as a traveller in the idea of ‘when in Rome do as the Romans do’, and more to the point, as a foodie, eat as the Romans eat! As I’m sure you have all become aware by now when we are on the road I try all of the local dishes that I can get my hands on.
Recently we went to Holland and while we were there one thing we knew we wanted to try was the famous Dutch treat, stroopwafel. This delightfully and deceptively simple snack is a bit of a Dutch institution and literally translates as syrup waffle. Some (or indeed many) of you may be familiar with these courtesy of Starbucks who sell their own caramel version. I have had these on a number of occasions and while they are nice enough, they are not a touch on their traditional Dutch counterpart! The origin of the stroopwafel came from a baker who simply tried to find a use for his daily leftover biscuit wastage. In order to make them sellable he added syrup and sold them as a cheap sweet treat…from this moment of economical and characteristically Dutch waste averse ingenuity the stroopwafel was born! To create the slightly more refined version of a modern stroopwafel, flour, cinnamon, sugar, eggs and butter are combined to make a dough, which is then quickly cooked up in a flat iron waffle press (or similar contraption). As soon as it is cooked through it then has to be sliced in half (this is the tricky bit if being done by hand rather than some kind of industrial machine) and a hearty filling of thick syrup is placed in the middle before being pressed down to fill all the space between the two halves. Job done!! These can obviously just be eaten as they come and are absolutely delicious. However, having tried a fair few of these while in Holland and actually tried my hand at making some myself when we went to a stroopwafel making class in their birthplace of Gouda, I believe there is only one way that these syrupy delight should be consumed! Obviously if you get one that has just been made then the waffle will still be hot and the syrup inside soft and gooey and they are perfect! If they are bought from a bakery or a supermarket they will no longer be in their optimum state…but all is not lost. The Dutch are a smart lot and they have made their standard stroopwafels very slightly larger than the diameter of the average mug, this is no accident! Taking a stroopwafel and leaving it resting over a piping hot mug of your chosen beverage brings all the joy of a warm waffle and melty syrup back to glorious life!! It will not come as any surprise to any of you that my beverage of choice is always a cup of tea, but coffee, hot chocolate and any other number of steaming hot drinks would work just as well! A lot of yummy things come out of Holland, not least their pretty extensive selection of regionally produced cheeses like Gouda and Edam but I think these biscuity wonders might just be my favourite! Go on, try them, you will not regret it! I can promise you with this one
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Follow us on Instagram or send us a messageAbout Foodie FridaysWe love food, as most people do! And when we are on the road this doesn't change. We, like many people, believe that food is one of the best ways to really get to know a culture and it's people, as so much about the way people live their lives around the world is centred around food. This means that when we travel we actively seek out the local foods and delicacies. Sometimes that comes in the form of unusual and exotic produce from markets and sometimes from street food vendors serving an array of barbecued, fried, steamed or entirely indistinguishable goodies. Having tried and tested these goodies for some time now, on our adventures around Asia, Europe, North and South America we have discovered some pretty wonderful treats that we have decided should earn a bit of publicity. So, as the working week drifts away and the weekend winks at you like a naughty temptress we will share with you one of the delights that we have encountered from around the world! We hope you enjoy reading about these as much as we enjoyed eating them! Archives
October 2017
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