Half of the Netherlands smells of 'oliebollen'

Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 30 December 2009 - 3:43pm, by RNW English section

At the end of the year, people in the Netherlands start baking a traditional New Year’s Eve recipe.The deep-fried balls of dough, affectionately known here as 'oliebollen', have been a traditional end of year delicacy for centuries.

But they're not to everbody's taste. So below you will find two more suggestions for New Year specialities, courtesy of international colleagues at RNW.

Legend has it that 'oliebollen' (literally oil balls), the stodgy predecessor of the doughnut helped the Dutch survive the cold winter months. In recent years, the tradition has turned into a craze. Once upon a time, every family had its own recipe. But fewer and fewer people can stand the smell of fat or have enough time to make the dough. It is a difficult recipe to follow, Dutch oliebol makers can endlessly discuss the temperature of the milk and eggs, how much yeast to use and which spot in the house is the best place to let the dough rise.

Nowadays, professional bakeries have largely taken over the task. You can place your New Year’s Eve order at the baker’s, supermarket and increasingly at ‘oliebol’ stalls on the street. For a number of years, daily paper AD has published the results of a national ‘oliebol’ test in the last week of the year. Everyone looks forward to it. The winner can expect a huge increase in its turnover. And the losers are publicly humiliated, often with nasty comments, like “pigs wouldn’t touch it” or “this is not an ‘oliebol’, this is a vomit ball".

For the Dutch connoisseurs: the best 'oliebollen' according to AD are to be found in the port of Rotterdam, the worst in the University city of Leiden.

1. Dutch 'oliebollen'

Ingredients:

• 500 grams of flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 30 grams of fresh yeast (or an sachet of dry yeast. Follow the instructions on the packet)
• 4.5 dl luke warm milk
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• 1 egg
• Deep-fry pan with oil

Preparation:

Mix the yeast in half of the milk and stir in the sugar. Place the yeast and milk mixture in a warm place until bubbles form on the surface. Sieve the flour with the salt into a mixing bowl. Make a hollow in the flour, and pour in the yeast and milk mixture. Use a mixer to carefully stir the yeast through the flour until you have a smooth dough. Beat the egg and the rest of the milk into the mixture. Place a clean moist cloth over the bowl and allow the dough to rise for around one hour in a warm place.

Deep fry:

Heat the fat in the deep-fry pan to 170 degrees Celsius. Note: if the oil is too hot the ‘oliebollen’ become too hard.

Take two large spoons and cover them lightly with oil. Scoop a spoonful of dough from the bowl and hold it above the hot fat. Use the second spoon to slide the dough into the fat. Do not fry more than six to eight balls of dough in the fat at the same time and wait until they have turned golden brown. Once they have turned right colour after around 8 minutes, use a strainer spoon to fish them out. Allow the fat to drip off in a sieve, and deep fry six to eight more balls of dough. Taste one now and then to make sure they are baked thoroughly inside. If not, deep fry the next batch for a little longer. If the ‘oliebollen’ are golden brown on the outside, but the dough is still wet inside, the oil is too hot.

Serve with a dusting of icing sugar.

2. Southern Black-Eyed Peas for New Years Day

Davion C. Ford

In the South East of the United States, black-eyed peas are eaten on New Year’s Day to bring good luck in the new year. The tradition dates back to the American Civil War (1861 – 1865). During the final stages of the war, a large section of the south, stretching from Georgia to the Atlantic Ocean was razed to the ground. The northern troops had orders to destroy anything that could sustain the enemy so livestock and crops were either confiscated or burned. Black-eyed peas were the exception because they were used only as animal fodder. With no other alternative, the starving southerners turned to the peas for sustenance.

Over the years, the black-eyed peas came to represent coins and were eaten on New Years day to bring good fortune and wealth. My father always spends New Year’s Eve preparing a large batch of black-eyed peas. The next morning he visits family and friends and distributes the hearty southern stew. Technically, you should eat one pea for every day of the year, but we tend to not count them.

Ingredients

• 450 grams dry black-eyed peas
• 2 cups chopped ham or bacon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pinch garlic powder
• 2 onions, diced
• 500 grams of whole tomatoes

Directions

Place black-eyed peas in 8 litre pot. Add enough water to fill pot 3/4 full. Stir in ham and diced onions, and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Place tomatoes in a blender or food processor, and blend until the tomatoes are liquefied. Add tomatoes to pot. Bring all ingredients to boil. Cover the pot, and simmer on low heat for 2 1/2 to 3 hours, or until the peas are tender.

3. Chinese dumplings

Bei Wang

Chinese dumpling (Jiaozi) is very popular during the Chinese New Year. Nowadays you can easily find ready-made frozen dumplings in the supermarkets in China. But a lot of Chinese people still prefer making dumplings themselves. To them, self-made dumplings taste better, and making dumpling together with other family members just fits perfectly to the festival atmosphere!

For about 60 dumplings:

Ingredients:

Dumpling dough:

• 900g flour
• 1 cup cold water
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Dumpling filling:

• 300g minced pork or beef
• tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
• 3 tablespoon seasame oil
• 3 spring onions, finely minced
• 3 slices ginger, finely minced
• 1 garlic, peeled and finely minced

(these are the basic ingredients for filling. Based on personal preference, one can also add some minced carrots, cabbages, shrimps, etc.)

Preparation:

Add salt and add water slowly into the flour. Slowly stir it until it becomes a smooth dough. Knead the dough into a ball. Put the dough in a big bowl and cover it. Keep it aside for about 30-40 minutes.

Meanwhile start preparing the filling. Add the soy sauce, salt, rice wine to the meat, stir it well. Add the remaining ingredients (seasame oil, spring onions, ginger, garlic as well as other minced vegtables), stir and mix well.

Take out the flour ball, knead it into a long tube form, divide it into 60 pieces, roll each piece into a flat circle wrapper about 6-7 cm.

Use tablespoon to take out a small portion filling and place it into the middle of wrapper. Dip a little bit of water onto the edges of each wrapper. Then fold it over the filling into a half moon shape, pinch its edge to seal. Follow the same way to finish the remaining wrappers and filling.

Place the dumplings on a dry plate, spread some flour over in order to prevent them from sticking together.

To cook the dumplings, use a large pot of boiled water, keep cooking with medium fire. First add 20-30 dumplings carefully into the water, keep stirring gently so that they won't stick together in the boiling water. When the dumplings begin to float, add half cup of cold water, keep cooking until the dumplings boil again. Now they are ready, drain and take out, ready to eat.

Chinese people like to dip the dumplings with some vinegar and soy source. I have seen some western people eating Chinese dumplings with ketchup. Well, it is all about what you like. Last but not least, Zhu Ni Hao Wei Kou (eet smakelijk!)