I likely write too often from my perspective, but to tell a slightly different but totally related story, these Sinterklaas treats were one of the big 'links' to my wife's parents home. Every year her Dutch aunts would put together a giant box of these treats and send them from NL to the USA. The arrival of this box for Sinterklaas rivaled / surpassed Christmas presents themselves. And I have to say when one year, when I got my own chocolate letter from these aunts, it was a very big deal. I wonder if other viewers had a similar remote experience of getting 'the box' at holiday time because of being away from NL?
For a long time we didnt have the Y chocolate letter, so I alway got a V. The one time my grandma found a Y letter and got me one. My excitement was through the roof.
Ironically these days in the Netherlands a Y letter is easier to find than a common letter like a J or K for a first name. I think they overcorrected a bit.
It is important to keep Sinterklaas and Christmas separate. It is not the same celebration unlike what a lot of foreigners say!! (Sinterklaas is the Dutch equivalent of Christmas, because then it looks like we don’t celebrate Christmas at all!!) Most people celebrate Sinterklaas somewhere around December 5th. Christmas is celebrated on the 25th and 26th of December (first and second Christmas Day). Both celebrations have their own treats, foods and traditions. One of the "rules" is that you cannot put up the Christmas tree before or on December 5th 😂. You shouldn’t eat Sinterklaas things at Christmas or the other way around for example. Christmas often has either a big meal (like thanksgiving) or people "gourmet". Some children (and adults) also get presents on both Christmas and Sinterklaas.
Oh g.. our culture is so complicated I realise now. Let's not get started over when you should start decorating your Christmas tree and when you need to get it burned 😂
@@NappaTheInvincible Santa Claus originates from Sinterklaas, and so does the way many Americans celebrate Christmas. So it's no wonder they're confused about this. American kids put socks out in front of the chimney with a treat for Santa; families buy gifts for eachother, and you'll find Santa handing out treats to kids in the city. Sounds familiar doesn't it? That's because it's the opposite of what many people think. American Christmas is the American version of Sinterklaas. It originates from Dutch settlers.
@@NappaTheInvincible its not close to halloween. its celebrating whit saint nicolase dit. he gave his robe to a slave and saved his life. its a childrens feast
Please keep Sinterklaas and Christmas seperated. So during the Sinterklaas part you wore the Christmas headband... and during the Christmas segment you forget... There's a reason you coudn't find christmas and NYE treats in your supermarket yet, they will be there from the start of december: after Sitnerklaas.
De gevulde koek is not realy a holiday treat: you can find them all year round. Gevulde speculaas on the other hand… you missed that one. One of my personal favourites 😋
Oliebollen are not a typical sinterklaas treat. You can buy them all year long during any festive event but they're especially meant for new years eve or funfairs.
You really need to split Sinterklaas from Christmas. Everything you ate is from Sinterklaas, except the crompouce and gevulde koek those are always available. When Christmas comes around there are a hole lot of other delicious treats. 😜😉
the reason you couldn't get the kerst stollen/candy yet is because they're not in most stores. they will be in a few weeks when sinterklaas leaves the country and we go into christmas mode. Appelbeignet/banana beignet as well as the Amandelstaaf are my go to each year.
The apple beignet, made from a slice of a holed apple, was brought by Dutch colonists to America and it evolved into the donut. One of the Sinterklaas treat you missed: the "frogs and mice" chocolates with inside sweet fondant. And there are also "chocolate coins" in the stores in the weeks before Sinterklaas.
De gevulde koek is one of the classic and typical Dutch pastery. Throughout history this cookie was very popular in different regions and had many names such as; vulkoek, gevuld heertje and gevulde herenkoek. It dates all the way back to 1510 and is not only rich with almond paste, but also history. it's my favourite 1000%!
But gevulde koeken are not typicaly a holiday thing, they are sold all year round And you should realy get gevulde koeken from a good baker, not from the supermarkt where the almondpaste is often replaced by a beanpaste with an almondflavouring
This only applies to actual houses, not appartments....also its a dying tradition sadly, since kids are so guarded nowadays.....back in my day, we were sent outside while our parents relaxed a little....
It’s also very regional. In my area this isn’t a thing. I even didn’t know about it until I was an adult and temporarily lived in another part of the country.
@@michielroskam3877not everwhere😅. Some towns in our country they are also going to appartements. They ring on one bell in the hope they open up. Of they open up, they go from door to door and all away up😅.
There is also a sausage version of the amandelstaaf. That would be maybe more your thing. And you still need to try gevuld speculaas. A soft speculaas variation filled with, yet again, almond paste. Furthermore the kruidnoten is only part of what is thrown at the Kids. What is thrown is called "Strooigoed" which consists of kruidnoten, small borstplaat candies, schuimpjes (like you tried) and tumtum, which you haven't tried. It is a normal year round candy, sold at the grocery stores, made from jellied fruitjuice and coated in sugar. Keep up the good work. As I Dutchy, I love your vids.
1:56 the best time to get these is when the holiday is over, meaning they are 50% off. which is a great price if all you care about is the chocolate/ want to eat/use it like regular chocolate.
Taai taai is actually my favorite Sinterklaas candy. Acquired taste I guess. Schuimpjes are usually mixed in with the kruidnoten (just as tum tum which you might enjoy more or some really hard candy) to create "strooigoed" which literally is candy that is meant to be thrown on the floor by Piet for the kids to gather (indoors). That was one of the highlights how I celebrated Sinterklaas at school. Schools nowadays want less of a mess so usually no candy throwing anymore but the scrambeling under desks and chairs to get your hands on as much candy as possible was great fun. Nowadays usually it's Piet that makes a round in the class that deposits the strooigoed on the table for each of the kids.
I've been thinking about a video idea. You have been living in the Netherlands for a while now. What is your experience with the Dutch? Like the (in)famous hospitality, work culture (actually interacting with the Dutch colleagues) and making Dutch friends (like do you have any? maybe they are open to speaking out about how they percive your adaptation to the Dutch life, etc)
I have been living abroad since 2008 but still order my Dutch goodies on an almost monthly base. Just ordered all the Sinterklaas goodies for my kids and obviously the biggest kid in the house.... myself.
For a lot of these cookies and treats there's a big difference between supermarket and bakery versions. I think you did well getting a lot of these from a real bakery.
For my foreign cousins I made a Speculaas recipe in English. From scratch and no special ingrediënts. Speculaas (filled with almond paste) a traditional Dutch winter pastry Speculaas-spices All ingredients are powders • 8 parts cinnamon • 2 parts nutmeg • 2 parts clove • 1 part ginger • 1 part cardamom • 1 part white pepper maybe add a little bit of star anise powder but I don't like that. Almond paste • 150 gr white almonds • 150 gr white crystal sugar • zest of app ¼ lemon peel preparation: When you only have almonds with a brown fleece. Blanche the almonds 1 min in boiling water. Take a sieve and take the almonds out of the boiling water. Cool them instantly in enough cold water. Take the almonds out of the water and now it’s easy to push the brown fleece off with your fingers. Let the almonds dry in the air before processing them more. Put the almonds, the white sugar and the zest in a food processor with knives blades. Let the machine run until you have the almond paste. When too dry, add slowly some water. You can make this paste in advance. I put it in clean film or a clean glass jar. You can store this for a couple of weeks, preferably refrigerated. My mom made the almond paste with the meat grinder and later with a special mill for almonds. Speculaas baking tin 15x30 cm / 22x22 cm dough: • 200 gr all purpose flour • 125 gr dark brown caster sugar • 150 gr butter (cold) • 12 gr / 2 tablespoons speculaas-spices • 3 gr / 1 teaspoon baking powder • 0,3 gr / a pinch of salt • 30 gr/ 2 tablespoons of milk filling: • 300 gr almond paste • 1 egg • ½ tablespoon water garnish: • 1 egg • some whole or half almonds Preparation: 1. Put the baking powder, the flour, the brown sugar, the speculaas spices, the salt throug a sieve in a batter bowl. Mix all ingredients in the bowl and put the icecold butter in little pieces in the mixture in the bowl. You can cut the butter with two knives while the butter is in the flour mixture. Wash your hands in very cold water so your hands are cold too. Dry your hands and knead the dough to a smooth ball of dough. OR (more easy) Put all ingredients for the dough in a food processor with knife blades. Run the food processor till all ingredients are mixed well. Put the mixture on the counter top en form it to a smooth ball. Put the dough in clean film, form it to a 2 cm thick slice of dough and put it in the refrigerator to rest for at least 30 min. 2. Put the 2 eggs with the ½ tablespoon of water in a bowl and make loose with a fork or so. Crumble the almond paste in another bowl and but half the egg-water mixture in that bowl too. Mix the almond past and the egg mixture with a fork until it gets smoochy. 3. Preheat your oven to 175°C 4. Sprinkle some flower on your worktop and your rolling pin. Divide the dough in two even parts. Roll out every piece of dough on a piece of baking paper, until it’s app 15x30 cm (app 6x12”). I have a 22x22 cm (app 8 ½ x 8 ½ “) backing form so I roll the dough in that shape. Spread the almond paste in an even layer over the dough and leave the sides of the dough app 3/4 cm free of almond paste. Put the second piece of rolled out dough over the almond paste. Push the sides well to the bottom layer of dough. 5. Take the egg-water mixture you still have and take a baking brush and coat the top of the dough with this mixture. Decorate with the whole or half almonds and coat that with the egg-water mixture. 6. Put the baking tray in the middle of the oven. Bake the speculaas for 40-45 minutes. The almonds on top should be goldenbrown by then. Let the speculaas cool down on the baking tray. When cold, you can cut it into pieces. It’s also possible to bake the dough as cookies, without the filling. Have fun and enjoy
One sinterklaas- staple you forgot is the "taaipop". I remember getting a king-sized one at school with little baggies of glazing and smarties to decorate it with. And of course their button-shaped counterpart: PEPERNOTEN. While kruidnoten are these tiny fun sized speculaas buttons, pepernoten are tiny portions of "taai". I prefer kruidnoten myself, but pepernoten are THE iconic sinterklaas treat. Dec. 5th tradition also dictates you do some creative gift-giving. Doesn't need to be expensive. In fact it's quite Dutch to keep it cheap. But it's a kind of sport to box it in, in a whimsical way and call it a surprise (pronounced like this: sur-pree-sah). I prefer the artistic approach like hiding a chocolate bar inside a home-crafted optimus prime, but some take the prank approach like filling a huge box with a bunch of tedious or yucky layers to work your way through to reach the tiny box containing the gift. Or just plain old wrap it if you're pressed for time. But you must, must, MUST include a little poem that usually starts with: "Sint zat laatst te denken, wat hij Alex zou gaan schenken" I did my best to come up with a simillar opener in English and came up with this: "Saint Nic had Alex on his mind. When he left this lovely gift behind." and you do the rest. Usually a few lines that hint what the gift is and maybe a bit of good natured ribbing thrown in.
Never before have I seen the "Sinterklaas gedichtjes" explained so well in English. That is just awesome. I love languages, I'm Dutch, grew up with Sinterklaas en zwarte piet, and made many many surprises and poems, but to translate the feeling that goes with it, I never really succeeded in. You just did that perfectly. Awesome! 😊
No! Not in the microwave, because the pastry gets soft, which should stay crunchy. Using the regular oven is the best. Besides all this, I think its quite amusing how two Americans are tasting Dutch treats. May ben you should get a link advice from a real Dutch person. Now you make bad choices.
You should ask the butcher if he has a saucijzenstaaf. It is the savoury version of an amandelstaaf. Only few butchers sell them and only at sinterklaas-time. Basically it's a huge saucijzenbroodje... 😋😋😋
Even though you are jeopardising your assimilation into Dutch culture by not giving all treats a five-stroopwafel rating, your enthusiasm for and appreciation of the oliebol got you through !!! 🙂
The candy, the cookies and the chocolate letter are eaten for Sinterklaas, from the moment he arrives in the Netherlands until he leaves. The oliebol is typically eaten at New Year's Eve. Nothing of these items have anything to do with Christmas. Gevulde koeken do not have anything to do with Christmas or Sinterklaas. In the Netherlands, Sinterklaas en Christmas are two different events, that have nothing to do with each other. We have Sinterklaas from the day he arrives (somewhere in November) until the 5th of December, then we have Christmas (25th and 26th of December and then of course New Year's Eve. After Sinterklaas has left and went back to Spain, you will find Christmas chocolates and candy and so on in the shops.
You find Xmas candies in stores around Halloween, the Sinterklaas candies are already available in September. They don't wait for Xmas candies in stores at all
Yeah, you're right. Two old guys with long white beards, dressed in red, aided by an army of helpers, who are both named after Saint Nicholas, and who, only once a year in December, give out presents to kids who've been good all year... so different. @@Mazil_5
All the christmas stuff will be in stores on Dec 6th a day after Sinterklaas, same goes for trees and lights and what not in the streets. That's a bit of the tradition, Sinterklaas first then Christmas right after, even though Christmas is catching up on Sinterklaas when it comes to the holiday season.
My favo snack for sinterklaas is Kikkers & Muizen , Sweet but love them! Gevulde koek you can have them the whole year round. I missed the gevulde speculaas, it is one of my favourites as well and when it is really cold, warm chocomel with wipped cream :) In the Netherlands there are Sinterklaassnacks and after that Christmas snacks two different themes that should not be mixed up ;)
Hema chocolate letters are good quality chocolate for a very reasonable price, their amandelstaaf and speculaasstaaf are very nice as well. Btw, the amandelstaaf/letter tastes best when you warm it up in the oven first
Try the "drink" Bessola krentjebrij. It is available at Albert Heijn near the Chocomel. I thought it was medeaval, but it is only on the market since 1974. You have to love raisins though. It is very healthy.
@@casperrozenboom6408 - I occasionally buy krentjebrei. It has a lovely taste, but after one liter I tend to let it rest for a while 🙂 I did not know it was only available since 1974. I also thought it had a medieval origin. So much for mind myths.
You should definitely try the gevulde koek but then the speculaas ones! You can get them in some stores during Sinterklaas. Speculaas gevulde koeken are the best ❤
I think both commenters are talking about different things. More traditionally you have 'gevulde speculaas'. It comes in a thick rectangle shape much like speculaasbrokken, and has three layers: the core one being almond paste. Then more recently bakeries (and the bakery areas in supermarkets) have started selling gevulde koeken with speculaas flavoring,. Flavor wise these might be similar, but I'd suggest getting both and trying gevulde speculaas first.
Gevulde koek isn't a holiday treat but a very nice 'koekje bij de koffie'. Can't believe you guys didn't like it. It's my favourite. The stollen I also think of more for Easter, but that's personal. Olliebollen I love fresh off the kraam with something warm to drink to offset its oily sweetness, but I do think of this as a typically Dutch holiday treat mostly for New Years along with other hapjes, such as 'bitterballen en oude kaas'. Another holiday treat you haven't mentioned is advocaat, which is nothing like eggnog but sort of reminds me of it especially if you add rum to your nog.
Oliebollen arent sinterklaas treats. They are usually eaten around new years celebrations. And Xmas & Sinterklaas are two completely different holidays. Actually Santa Claus is based of Sinterklaas . Below I will name some typical examples of Dutch treats for Sinterklaas & Christmas Typical Dutch sinterklaas treats are : Kruidnoten/pepernoten - Chocolade munten, muis/kikker chocolades , marsepein, gevulde speculaas , amandelspijs staaf , chocolade letter Typical Christmas treats are : krans koekjes, chocolade kransjes, amandelspijs brood.
Since you rating in stroopwafels, place a stroopwafel on a cup of tea or coffee. Wait a few minutes and the stroopwafel is a bit warm and taste better.
Whenever I fly through Schiphol to Thailand I buy stroopwafels and still do that too. That’s how we used to eat them when I was younger. Of course now I also put them in the microwave for about 10 seconds if I don’t have a tea or coffee with it.
Kerstestol find by aldi and lidle, theres big ones, vegan one and nuts version with all raisins, small ones can be find everywhere😅in the bakery and supermarkets
Taai really must be an acquired taste! Albert Heijn actually sells it year round in the bakery section, and I tend to get it few a time during the year when the craving hits
My Oma made large, more cake shaped gevulde koek every Christmas. I wish I still had her recipe. She told me they used to make them in wreaths and decorate with candies. That is 100% Christmas for me.
I would say though, that with any of these treats: get them from a local bakery who makes them fresh. They taste way, way better! (the Milka-pepernoten: no, no 😂)
I Just love the dark and juvenile humor hahaha it's pretty much humor the dutch can appreciate. I don't see you guys as celebs or youtubers more like very personal and real wich is why i love you guys still can't stop laughing about the vibrator with no cream in it 😂😂😂🇳🇱🇳🇱🇳🇱
I love oliebollen! Haven't had them yet this year, but last year, I came across an oliebollenkraam and I bought two to take home. But I had devoured them before I had reached my car, so I had to go back for another two.
You should try deep-frying your own.. it's great fun and brings out the real Dutch patriot in you, and makes your home smell like never before pro-tip: prepare rum raisins (better known as boerenjongens) some weeks in advance and mix them with the dough
the schuimpjes sometimes are mixed in with the kruidnoten and both are for sinterklaas and yes the schuimpjes are tooth breaking sweet. And the soft noten are like the og kruidnoten. Taai-taai is soft and also a sinterklaas treat.
Another well prepared review 🙂 . Although I'm Dutch, I haven't tried the Crompouse yet, but you've made me look forward to try it 😀. The "Speculaas brokken" were not the right brand. You need those with: 3 (x about 1.5 cm) thick (the bigger the better) pieces of speculaas in a package. As the name suggests, they taste like speculaas. They have only one disadvantage: It's hard to stop eating them before they run out :-( You know Sinterklaas and his treats like kruidnoten and speculaas. Next weekend (Saturday) Sinterklaas will arrive in the Netherlands in the town of Gorinchem, somewhere near Dordrecht. You can go visit and watch their arrival (it is also on television) and from that day on children are allowed to "schoentje zetten". Just before going to bed, they may place their shoe by the chimney (sometimes with hay or a carrot for Sinterklaas' horse (called Americo)) and sing a few songs to get his attention and please Sinterklaas. The next day, the children can look for treats in their shoes. You (their parents) can already find these treats at the supermarket. There are many things that Michelle will like (chocolate things). Maybe a suggestion for a rating? Keep up the good work!
There are two treats that are only eaten around Sinterklaas that you haven’t tried and can be hard to find. Kikkers en muizen- frogs and mice, a chocolate figure with a creamy inside, they are awesome and suikerbeest. Usually in the shape of Sinterklaas on a horse- a sugary past that is hard but melts in your mouth. But very very sweet 😂 as for the pepernoten, the ones you buy at a real bakery are soft and chewy, much better than those hard ones
Hi there! Greetings from an Hungarian Dutchie. I love your videos! And I really love all the treats you mention in this video; guess some things are an acquired taste though; I really detested marsepein when I was young and now I really love it. I have to restrain myself … You should definitely warm the amandelstaaf a little, not too hot (you’ll burn your mouth on the almond filling), just so it’s a little warm. So goooood!! You couldn’t find a stol? The bakeries and supermarkets in my neighborhood sell them all year round (may be a regional thing, I’m in the south), only they’re not called kerststol during the year, only around Christmas they’re called that. And around Easter it’s named Paasstol, the rest of the year it’s just stol. I do have the impression that the stols during Christmas and Easter are more richly filled though … Kerstkransjes are indeed only available around Christmas, in all varieties: cookies, but also as sweets and chocolate ones. They are hung in the Christmas tree and as a child you could have one every day (of course we never obeyed and ate as much as we could get away with). Interestingly, a similar tradition exists in Hungary, the Christmas tree over there is filled with szaloncukor, a wide variety of wrapped filled chocolate sweets that you also were also supposed to eat only one a day. Of course every child learned very quickly how to get the sweet out of the wrapping and to put the empty wrapping back in the tree … Nothing beats a good oliebol … but be aware that the quality can differ very much. There’s a yearly national competition for who makes the best oliebollen. My favourite is the raisin and the sukade filled ones from the local market stall, they are so good! Again, thanks for this video, I really enjoyed it.
the oliebollen we had last year from our local gebakkraam in rotterdam wasn't nearly as good as the place we went to in dordrecht in this video... they were SO good. we went back for two more!
I'm convinced that the crompouce was invented to guarantee an even bigger mess after eating it than a tompouce. It's very lucky that your patened rating system doesn't consider convenience.
The speculaas spices that are also in the kruidnoten, are almost the same as the pumpkin spice spices.. there’s a small difference in that one of the minor spices in the mix are different. So if someone wants to make speculaas or kruidnoten in the US you can use the recipe with pumpkin spice.
Ok best Sinterklaas sweets are the little hard glossy sugar thingies they put in Kruidnoten. But maybe i only feel that way cuz there were so few in a bag 😅
The amandelstaaf should be heated in the oven or the microwave before eating, just so its a bit hot, you dont have to cook it. Makes it taste much better.
I think the reason why you thought of lipstick,at the smell of marsepein,is because they spray it with cocoa butter. They do this so it doesn't dry out, and cocoa butter is also used in lipstick sometimes.
Speculaasbrokken: dip them in hot chocolate, hot milk, cold milk, coffee, tea.... You get the idea... soak in some liquid with that cookie, and it becomes quite extra yummy💛
You know that in the better cheeseshops you can buy cheeseletters? Mostly from Gouda cheese. It is nice for people who cannot/may not eat gluten or sugar.
rewatching your video one thing sprung up in my mind, where's the gevulde speculaas? I used to live above a bakery in Utrecht while studying and when they started baking this in the Sinterklaas season, I could not restrain myself. The smells would penetrate the house and fed our craving for it. Make sure you get it from a good bakery though, the supermarket thing is nowhere near. It's my favourite thing, next to oliebollen and kruidnoten and pepernoten and marsepein and, well actually everything really ... It's a good thing the season lasts only for about 1,5 months ...
Fun fact. Most of the storebrand kruidnoten you can buy in the supermarkets are Made by van Delft. So their pretty much the same in a different wrapper.
Later with easter, all those filled chocolate eggs you can buy, but jelly kind nah not realy, But get a bag of strooigoed (AH), there are candies inside for Alex. You have suikerbeestjes, the name says it. And for dinner with the holiday's gourmetten, fondue or any other social self cooking gathering.
Tried a crompouce today.it is indeed great. Plus we starting the holiday season already with Thanksgiving with our American friends. I call it pre- Christmas dinner 😊.
Sint maarten.... i got for more then 50 kids by the door. I love it😅 and every song whas different. Sinterklaas is next and then santa in comming. I like the snacks alot😅.
