A Little Treat from Amsterdam
My friend Shaz emailed me the other day to tell me, “I have a treat for you from Amsterdam—and no it’s not what you’re thinking.” U.S. Customs laws being what they are, I knew it wasn’t what she thought I thought, but I had no idea to expect Kanjers Extra Grote Stroopwafels, mainly because I had no clue that they existed.
The Extra Grote Stroopwafels (translated by Babelfish as “Extra Large Stroopwafels,” with no indication of what sort of modification on waffle “stroop” indicates, even when entered by itself) are a tasty confection consisting of caramel sandwiched between wafer-thin waffles. Exceedingly sweet, these aren’t exactly breakfast waffles. Really, they’re more like a cookie and they match very well with a mug of hot (unsweetened) coffee. I was rewarded when I set my partially-eaten stroopwafel atop my mug for a few moments to take a break from it (like I said, they’re incredibly sweet). When I returned to it, the stroopwafel was warm and the caramel filling had melted a bit; it was a pleasant variation on the theme.
My friend Tom tells me he saw Stroopwafels for sale at Craig Street Coffee here in Pittsburgh (305 S. Craig Street), and a quick phone call to Mon Aimee Chocolate, which specializes in imported confections, confirms that they’re usually available there, too (2101 Penn Avenue in the Strip District). These cookies are definitely something worth checking out when you’ve got a sweet tooth screaming to be satisfied.
It’s nice (though, in a way, it can also be disheartening) to realize that the food products widely available in the U.S. don’t represent the entirety of what’s popular on the world market. Many new tastes are out there (albeit in a niche, foreign-import market) that can help you break out of the mass-market box, if you know where to look for them. One of the more satisfying ways to find out about these things is to travel outside of the country. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the more difficult methods, as well. If you’re on a more limited budget and/or timeline, search out the specialty shops in your city. You might not find what you’re looking for, but you’re bound to find something that you didn’t know to look for, which means you’ll still be expanding your horizons, even if you don’t need a passport.
December 7th, 2006 at 3:25 pm
According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroopwafel), it’s a “syrup waffle.”
The Wikipedia site gives exteral links, and, althoughI’m sure this is not what you want to hear, one of them is to a Martha Stewart recipe for them.
December 7th, 2006 at 6:38 pm
babelfish agrees– though it will only translate “syrup” from English to Dutch, for some reason it doesn’t know the word in reverse.
December 11th, 2006 at 6:37 am
You can get them in some Starbucks in the UK I believe, or was it Pret A Manger? Luckily I have unlimited access to many varieties of stroopwafeln, living as I do in Amsterdam which is otherwise, apart from some wonderful markets, a bit of a food desert.
Syrup is stroop, and can be bought in squeezy bottles for use on pannekoeken and poffertjes, which are tiny versions of the pancakes. I have recipes…
Lekker blog, btw.
December 13th, 2006 at 4:20 am
Yes, stroop is the Dutch word for syrup and yes, they are meant to be eaten with coffee, preferably dipped into coffee to get the effect you reached accidentaly.
On Dutch markets you can often get fresh stroopwafels, still warm from baking or wafel crumbs with warm syrup, which we used to do on market day during lunch at high school hmmm…
The stroop used on pancakes is not quite the same as in the wafels btw, but usually either apple syrup (slightly sour tasting, an acquired taste) or plain sugar syrup (not so nice).
December 13th, 2006 at 11:30 am
If they’d only use Tate & Lyles Golden Syrup in the middle, stroopwafeln’d be the perfect sweet snack.
December 13th, 2006 at 11:56 pm
Just came here from Linday Beyerstein’s Majikthise blog. I’m sure I’ll be coming back often!
I lived in the Netherlands on a couple of occasions as a kid, and I can vouch for the superiority of the fresh stroopwafeln from a stand.
It never ceases to amaze me that a people who can invent the stroopwaffel, the above-mentioned pofferje, the uitsmijter, and Hopjes candies (in addition to perfecting the frite met saus) can choke down hard, salted licorice, which is the single vilest thing that passes for candy in the known world. I guess no one is perfect.
December 5th, 2007 at 9:16 am
Hi there,
Is there anybody who can tell me how to reach those delicious waffles? I’m living in Turkey and when I was in Amsterdam I just bought some packs of waffles and brought them here. If someone knows how to reach the producer and demand some packs to be sent by international courier please feel free to write here or please e-mail me
Have a delicious day.
Erdinc
August 20th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Corduroy Orange » Blog Archive » A Little Treat from Amsterdam great article thank you.