On the fifth of December we celebrate our own kind of Santa Claus-party here in the Netherlands; We call him 'Sinterklaas' after a bishop I believe from Turkey, and took it with us to America, where he became know as 'Santa Claus', and became much fatter too
But we still have our Sinterklaas, and with the season comes cookies and candy and all kinds of nommy goodness, amongst which cookies with a special spice-mix called 'speculaas'. Seriously, it's in everything these days!
And, seasonal as I am sometimes, I baked a speculaas-cookie (the size of a bakingtray) filled with almond-sugar filling, we call 'amandelspijs'. It's kinda like marzipan, but not entirely, about half sugar half almond. This also is a tradition in the Netherlands; filling things up with this almond-stuff, also around christmas in breads (which I plan on making soon) and around easter.
Ok, class dismissed XD
`anmari has been spreading her infectious positivity throughout our community for over 6 years. Throughout this time Ana has been at the core of all things devious, passionately developing an eclectic gallery, helping organise devmeets, participating in chat events and also recently completed dedicating her time as a Community Volunteer. We are absolutely delighted to bestow the Deviousness Award for May 2013 to `anmari, congratulations! Read More
Sta.sh
I could look up a good recipe for you if you'd like to try it out some time, get some Dutchness in your kitchen
But I agree, I love learning and tasting from other cultures.