‘Sinterklaas is coming to town’ - versie 2

Two weeks before St. Nicholas Eve (December 5th) Sinterklaar arrives the fest  has started

Every year around the holiday season people go crazy in the Netherlands to celebrate ‘Sinterklaas’. Everyone knows who ‘Sinterklaas’ and ‘Zwarte Piet’ are. Sinterklaas is actually kind of like the Dutch version of the American Santa Claus.

He looks like a bishop and holds a crosier. Sinterklaas, Zwarte Piet and the horse Americo deliver presents to the children. Although, the feast is created for children, I have to admit I’m crazy about it too. However, the kids get most of the presents so why would I celebrate the feast as well? It’s because of the fun and especially the food.

People abroad often wonder why the helper ‘Zwarte Piet’ is black in the story and not white. Therefore, it’s called racism but before I’m going to write more about the feast I want to let you know it isn’t. Zwarte Piet is black because he has to go through the chimney to stock the shoes of the children. In my opinion, we all need to stop looking for stuff and building up grudge over nothing.

Last St. Nicholas Eve

December 5^th of this year I was with my family to celebrate the feast. My sister has two children, which make this feast a big happening. She bought a lot of candy and that’s what makes it even more fun. I think it ‘s just like Christmas; you love spending time with your family nevertheless, good food makes it even more fun right? Most of the ‘Sinterklaas candy’ is only available near the Netherlands. Therefore, I am going to describe how to make the candy by yourself.

Pepernoten recipe

In English it’s pretty much the same as ginger nuts and St. Nicholas’s Day isn’t complete without pepernoten. That’s why I’m going to describe the recipe for you. The pepernoten are delicious. Furthermore, it’s actually really easy. However, first you have to do some shopping. You got to have 200 g self-raising flour,

100g Dark brown basterdsuiker or pure cane sugar, 100g butter, 3 tablespoons milk, 3 teaspoons speculaaskruiden or pumpkin pie spice and 2 teaspoons baking soda. Oh almost forgot you also need some extra flour to dust the work surface.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Oil a baking sheet. When you did that, you should mix together all the ingredients in a bowl and knead it. Cover the dough with plastic and put it aside for an hour.

Press your dough into a flat coating. You can use a cookie cutter to cut shapes. The pepernoot is traditionally a small ball. Hence, you could roll the dough in your hands as well. Place the balls you made on the baking sheet. Brush with egg white and sprinkle some brown sugar on each cookie. Bake for about 20 minutes.

mm... I'm getting hungry seeingthis picture

And that’s all. Pretty easy if you ask me. I hope you enjoy the pepernoten. Perhaps it is nice as a Christmas treat for the upcoming dinner parties. Well maybe that’s a bit too much but I just can’t get enough of it haha. Anyways, I’m sure that the food will make your St. Nicholas Day a good one, even as an adult.  Enjoy the holiday and please leave a comment below.

537 words

Boer, J.H. (5 December 2011). Caving in to misguided political correctness. Vancouver Sun. Editorial, P. A12.

Holiday Gift Giving Around the Globe. (2 December 2009). Prince Rupert Daily News. Winterfest 2009, p. 16.

Larsen, V. (17 December 2008). Cooking up tradition during the holidays. Marin Independent Journal. Food; Lifestyle.