Oily balls (100 things I love about the Netherlands: 14)

 

I knew oily balls would get your attention. And since I need ‘things I love about the Netherlands’ to get to 100 one day, I’ve included them in the list. Even though I don’t really love oily balls. They give me heartburn.

They will no doubt resemble something your country will have in it’s culinary assortment too. If not… lucky you!

Oily balls are made of a yeasty dough, filled with currants, raisins and/or candied lemon-peel (shock horror) and they are deep-fried. It is tradition to eat ‘oliebollen’ (that’s what we Dutch call them. It literally translates into oil balls, but somehow oily balls sounds better. Makes me think of the Swedish Chef from the Muppet Show. Why? I don’t know.) on New Year’s Eve. With a generous dusting of icing sugar. (Demonstrated here by hubs, who gave the granite worktops a generous dusting too.)

I’ve never really liked oily balls, especially not the ones filled with the disgusting candied peel and such. So my mother used to bake some ‘blind’ ones for me. Oily balls without the raisins etc. are called ‘blind oily balls’. Or my mother baked ‘appelflappen’. I did like ‘appelflappen’. They are made by dipping whole round apple slices, with a hole in the middle where the core has been removed from the apple, in the yeasty oily balls dough and then deep-frying them.

Years of being subjected to peer pressure on the oily balls-subject (“these are very good, you háve to taste one”) resulted in me actually preferring the raisin filled ones to the blind ones and éven to the ‘appelflappen’. As long as they do not have candied peel inside them.

In December ‘oliebollenkramen’ (stalls where oily balls are baked and sold) pop up in parking lots near shopping centres and in villages and city centres all over the Netherlands. During the rest of the year they are probably found at fun fairs, where oily balls and waffles with whipped cream are very popular ‘food’.
I’ve googled ‘oliebollenkraam’ and came across this questionable ‘singer’ with his ode to the girl in the oliebollenkraam. It makes me very ashamed to show it to you, and I assure you this is not an example of the best Dutch music (although certain people in the Netherlands do like this kind of music, but I’m all for keeping them in gated communities and not allowing them to interact with people who have taste) but it also made me giggle. It truly is a horrible song, but the video gives an impression of a Dutch ‘oliebollenkraam’. So my advice will be to turn off the sound and simply watch it for a short while.

(I díd warn you.)

I’m sorry for being such a bad blogger lately Been busy with other things.