Poffertjes, who doesn’t love them? By now we know them as a true Dutch delicacy. Yet many wonder why we actually eat such mini pancakes. Because how did they actually originate? Today we take you through the history of this delicious Dutch delicacy.
Poffertjes, what do we mean by it?
Poffertjes is a fairly well-known phenomenon in the Netherlands. You can get poffertjes at any major event in the Netherlands.. Children love them, and adults also melt for this delicious delicacy.
Poffertjes are little more than a dough dish. So it is traditionally eaten in the Netherlands. They are mini pancakes. They are just a lot thicker than ordinary pancakes. That’s because they rise. Poffertjes are made of buckwheat flour and wheat flour, just like pancakes. However, what is different: with poffertjes, a raising agent is used in the batter. This is usually in the form of yeast. Unlike pancakes, poffertjes can be turned over during preparation when they have not yet solidified. This makes them nicely round, and as a bonus, they are deliciously soft inside.
The traditional Dutch portion
A traditional portion in the Netherlands is around 10 to 12, served on a plate with a knob of butter in the middle and sprinkled with icing sugar. You can finish them off with delicious toppings such as ice cream, fruit, Nutella, syrup, or liqueur such as advocaat.
They are also very easy to make. Poffertjes batter today is very simple: milk, pinch of salt and yeast. Those are the main ingredients. However, it often also contains an egg, and there are also many ”custom recipes” that allow you to bake filled poffertjes. Very tasty! It is a dish with endless possibilities that you can make even more delicious entirely to your own taste.
So, where do they come from?
Poffertjes is originally an informal nickname first found in Jan van Riebeeck’s diary in 1651 for ”sackpistols’, quite something else in other words. The name was first mentioned in reference to food at the 1736 Amsterdam fair. A recipe for its preparation could then be found in the handbook for ”De volmaakte Hollandsche keuken-meid” which was first published in 1746.
The basis comes from France
We know poffertjes as a typically Dutch delicacy, but what if I told you that poffertjes are not originally Dutch? In fact, poffertjes do not have their origins in the Netherlands, but in France. In fact, they were made at the end of the 18th century in a monastery where the Hosties for the church were also made.
Due to a shortage of wheat flour, the monks started experimenting. The basis for the old Dutch poffertjes comes from here. So they were actually discovered by accident. The basis was laid in France, but poffertjes are still a truly Dutch dish. How exactly they came to the Netherlands from France is not entirely clear. In the Netherlands, however, they were adopted and constantly improved. So the basis was laid in France, but surely poffertjes are really typically Dutch!
In the past, they still are
They were already a ”craze” at the beginning of the 19th century. Back then, they were already eaten at maternity parties under the name ”kraampoffertjes”, in Overijssel, ”poffertjes” were baked as rye flour biscuits to celebrate that the harvest had been brought in, and in Woerden, biscuits very similar to Dutch poffertjes used to be baked by monastery friars. Hence, in this area, it is still called a little brother.
By now they are known as a quick snack that is easy to make and of course, it doesn’t cost too much, but everyone still has a soft spot for them. Hence, they are mostly sold at fairs but are also widely made at home.