Dutch Delights: Feestkruidnoten
What:
Feestkruidnoten – tiny round, hard cookies spiced with ginger, cinnamon, white pepper, cardamom, cloves and nutmeg and then covered in a candy coated layer. Feest means party in Dutch and kruidnoten are the cookies inside.
Why:
Kruidnoten are said to be linked with the Dutch controlled spice trade with the East in the 17th century. Kruidnoten were a way for the ordinary Dutch people to show off all the spices that they were able to easily get their hands on. As I mentioned last year, covering the kruidnoten in a candy coating, caramel or chocolate (see varieties below) is just another way for individual brands to entice the general population to consume the kruidnoten in vast quantities.
Where:
Kruidnoten in general can be found in every grocery store, sweet shop and even some non-food related shops. Karamel Kruidnoten are most easily found in the grocery stores, usually in a special ‘seasonal’ area towards the front of the store. Alternatively, visit any Sinterklaas type event and prepare for the possibility of having kruidnoten and other small sweets thrown at you by Sinterklaas’s helpers, the Zwarte Pieten.
When:
These little gems are found in the run-up to Sinterklaas on December 5th. Like all things seasonal, they appear earlier and earlier each year but you should have no problem finding them from at least the middle of November until stocks run out after the beginning of December.
Varieties:
Kruidnoten in their original form are the most common, however there are chocolate (milk, dark, white) covered kruidnoten, truffle covered kruidnoten and karamel kruidnoten.
How Much [Should I Eat]:
Feestkruidnoten, when you first bite into them, remind me of M&M’s. Since I am not a huge fan of M&M’s this doesn’t bode well. However, the wonderful kruidnoten flavour quickly kicks in, redeeming the colourful cookies.
Pas Op! (Watch Out!):
Don’t confuse kruidnoten with their similar looking cousin, the pepernoten. The pepernoot is chewier and has a more aniseed flavour.
What is this? I have never seen this in my life! What happened to the old fashioned, traditional PEPERNOTEN?! mmm, somebody's getting old here, perhaps:-) Since when do these delicious pepernoten, or kruidnoten if you like, have to be covered by some chemical, artifically coloured substance. Horrible. I now see that in your last phrase you mention that there is a difference between kruidnoten and pepernoten. Didn't know that. I always thought it depended on what one was used to say. Oh well, never too old to learn. happy travels, Karin-Marijke
Yes I did some research because I wondered what the differences were between the two. I can imagine that seeing them all coated in other things must be odd but the karamel ones are good...promise! :)