Speculaas

The weeks prior to December 5th are always a busy period in the Netherlands, because on that day, or rather evening, it is time for Sinterklaas. On the eve of Saint Nicholas's birthday, we exchange presents in his honour. This is one of the biggest Dutch holidays, an evening on which people exchange presents, badly-written poetry, and interesting 'surprises' (Sinterklaas, incidentally, was the inspiration for the American Santa Claus, and there are several similarities between the feasts). It also involves lots and lots of candy, of the type you only eat around this time of year (although supermarkets have started stocking things earlier and earlier, with some shops selling pepernoten as early as September). The important ones are pepernoten (or kruidnoten), speculaas (of which kruidnoten are also made), suikergoed, borstplaat, and taai taai. All Dutch oddities sometimes found in Belgium or Germany, but no further afield than that. Which is a shame, because they're all very tasty.
When I was kid, I loved to make my own pepernoten (a standard thing in primary school), but I hadn't made them for years. When we were in Belgium, we picked up a speculaasplankje, which is a wooden board with figures cut out. Mine has a windmill shape and a rooster shape, figures which undoubtedly have some traditional meaning that I don't remember. But you don't need a speculaasplankje to make speculaas, you can just use a cookie cutter instead.
There are a wide variety of recipes, but I used the following:

175 g plain flour
100 g butter
75 g brown muscavado sugar
baking powder
speculaaskruiden (mixed spice: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom and pepper)
2 tablespoons water
almond flakes

I have not specified the amount of speculaaskruiden as I think these should be added according to taste: it can be quite spicy if you put in too much).

Preheat your oven to 160 C.
Mix all the ingredients together until they form a firm ball. This may take a while. If your dough has become too soft and runny, put it in the fridge for a while to firm it up.
Now you can roll out the dough and cut out the shapes, or if you're using a speculaasplankje, you first put a but of flour in the shape, then press a ball of dough in the shape until it is completely filled, cut off the superfluous dough, and then 'tap' the shape onto a prepared baking tray (this may take some practise).
Sprinkle the almond flakes over the top and bake for about 20-30 minutes until they are firm.

I used my remaining dough to make pepernoten: just roll a small amount of dough between your hands until it becomes round, and press it down gently onto the baking tray. These may need a little bit longer in the oven.

Both are great eaten warm just out of the oven, but you can keep them if you store them in an airtight container. Otherwise they will go soft and chewy pretty quickly.

To kill a mockingbird

There was a time in my life when I decided I would not read any of 'the classics', by which I didn't mean the ancient Greek or Roman texts, but the novels 'everybody should read'. I was going to be different, and original, and only read contemporary stuff that was different, and original.
At some point I realised that to know whether something is original, it might be nice to have read older stuff as well. Also, after reading some of 'the classics', I realised that they are classics for a reason: they actually are pretty good, and still relevant. Since then, I've been trying to mix new novels with classic novels, and have started on Yates and Steinbeck (somehow, I appear to have read more British than American classics, probably due to the British-oriented university I attended), and several 'classic' Dutch authors (Hermans, Mulisch), and acquired some other novels I still have to read.
Upon admitting that I had owned To kill a mockingbird for about a year, but still had not read it, several friends drew a collective intake of breath, so I decided that would be my next novel. I had absolutely no idea of what it was about, and the blurb on the back didn't really help me any further, so I was a complete blank slate going into it.
And again, this novel proved to be worthy of the caption 'classic'. It is one of those novels where everything comes together: plot, style, characters, themes. You just know that the character mentioned in the first line, as a side remark, will come back at the end of the novel to neatly complete the circle. It is completely understandable that this is one of the most important novels in American education, and that it has not been out of print since its appearance.
As you are probably all better familiar with the content than I was, I will just finish by sharing some interesting surprises I discovered while reading some background information on the novel (for me, the author is definitely not dead). First, I discovered that Harper Lee is in fact a woman. Second, I discovered that she is still alive (albeit 89 years old). Thirdly, that the novel is partly autobiographical, and that the Dill character is actually Truman Capote. Finally, that Harper Lee never wrote anything ever again, and has hardly ever spoken publicly about To kill a mockingbird after finishing it.
To me, all these extra tidbits of information just add to the novel's depth and complexity. Without them, the novel is great and brilliant and special as it is, but with them, it just gets an extra layer or shine. Although it does make me sad that there are no other novels by the same author to devour.
Ah well, now it's on to another contemporary novel (Dominion by C.J. Sansom) and then on to more classic literary education.

In Bruges

Things have been a bit quiet over here, because we have been away on a short holiday. Or to be more exact: a city trip. We visited Bruges and Ghent, two beautiful cities in the Flemish part of Belgium.
Now many things are the same in Flanders as they are in the Netherlands: we share a language, many cultural aspects, opinions, and habits. But there are some small things, things that you generally take for granted as being 'normal' the way you are used to them, that made me realise that I really was abroad.
And I don't mean the general stereotype that Belgians are more friendly, polite and welcoming than the Dutch, although in general, that did prove to be the case once again.
No, I'm talking about small things like having to pay for toilet use, even in cinemas where you've paid 9 Euros for a film ticket, or in restaurants, or in department stores. This may be Dutch thrift, or it may not: I read an outraged review by an American visitor who complained heartily about this.
Then there is the complete lack of proper directions on the road: it seems like every department or city council can just decide whether they want to put signs before or after the exit (or not place them at all), and without our satnav, we would have been lost several times. The Netherlands may be overfilled with rules and regulations, at least you can find your way by just relaying on the signs.
In a more positive streak: Belgians do take the time to go out for lunch, generally accompanied by a glass of wine. Even people who have their lunch break alone go to a restaurant or take-out and sit at a table and eat their lunch. In the Netherlands, this is highly uncommon: most people just eat their lunch at their desks, or run errands, or possibly have a short lunch walk: actually taking an hour to go lunch in a restaurant not attached to your building is a rarity. This is one area in which I hope we will copy our southern neighbours.

I could mention many more things, all small and seemingly 'normal', which show the subtle difference between two countries so alike and so well-connected. I wonder whether it's these little things or the big things like religion or politics, that in the end define us more.