The Dutch really ring in the new year with “oil balls” but of course they have a better name for these “delicatessen” only consumed around New Year’s Eve: oliebollen (of which oil balls is the literal translation.) They are deep fried scoops of dough with or without raisins and /or apples and sprinkled with powdered sugar. Oliebollen are best eaten fresh and still warm - soft on the inside and crispy on the outside.
There are many varieties of these fried balls of dough around the world, from European countries, to Asia, Africa and South America: smoutebollen; data angagi; croustillions; zeppole; malasada; Schmalzkugeln; buñuelo; beignets rapides; ölkugel; Gebackene Mäuse; ghul ghula; roti goreng; bofrot; and puff puff. Granted that the Dutch offer some variations (see below) it is said that most of the varieties in other countries are a little more imaginative, flavorful and/or original than the Dutch offerings.
Dutch oliebollen are not the same as American donuts. They are made of a yeast-proofed batter without sugar which makes them slightly savory. They look irregular and especially when they are made at home they often have little knobs and tails sticking out. Photo below is a screenshot of google images.
For me New Year’s Eve is not quite the same without a few oliebollen. When my children were still living at home, I would always make them, typically with a beer batter, apples and soaked raisins. I’d occupy the entire kitchen, newspapers covering the kitchen counter, a few big bowls covered with paper towels to absorb some of the fat and the windows wide open. It was a big production and very messy and the house would smell for days. But it was all worth it! I’d usually make at least 50, if not more, and distribute some around the neighborhood. Here’s my brother cooking them for all of us during one of his visits to Maryland - much neater and more efficient than I ever was and he did it outside!
The last few years I have gone home to my mother after our family Christmas celebrations here in Maryland. Home is a small village - Maasdam- on the island of the Hoeksche Waard in the province of South Holland. I would have been there right now, had there been no COVID restrictions. I was there for New Year’s Eve 2019 and I remember that I couldn’t stop thinking of fresh oliebollen. So on the morning of the last day of 2019 while running some errands in the next small village over (Puttershoek), great was my joy when the town square boasted an “oliebollenkraam”. A true and real “oil ball stall”! So festive, so joyful, such delicious smells! So many people arriving on foot, by bicycle, by car, by scooter and stroller. Such a great gathering! I am afraid I wasn’t much help to my mother completing her grocery lists, so entranced I was with the situation. I had left my camera at home and had to make-do with my unreliable, very old and temperamental little phone. I mingled among the crowds and snapped some quick photos.
Now here I have to backtrack a little. The oliebollenkraam belongs to the well known bakery of De Koning right on that same square. It really isn’t a beautiful square but my familiarity with it makes it so. It’s the place where, growing up as a child, we would go the weekly outdoor market; the annual pony and flea market; and many more town festivities. It’s where the bank, the grocery stores, the cheese store, the drug store, the liquor store, the jewelry store and the shoe and shoe repair store (I still have my shoes repaired there) are, and the butcher used to be. I mention the butcher because it was a favorite place to go as a child as we were always given a slice of delicious sausage to taste. Same with the cheese store. But the most favorite place was, of course, the bakery with the smell of fresh bread, the big selection of breads and an even bigger selection of pastries. They used to have the most amazing hazelnut meringue cake that my siblings and I once ate straight from the floor after it had slipped my sister’s hands and landed upside down - that’s just to explain how delicious the cake was. They used to and still have my one and only true secret (but not so secret) delight that I always enjoy on my visits home: the Bossche bol, also called a “chocolate ball” which is an enormous profiterole filled with whipped cream and almost entirely covered in dark chocolate.
Bakkerij de Koning has been in existence since 1892 and the current owners Alwin and Heleen De Koning have transformed it into something really spectacular: a bread bakery; a pastries bakery; and an open bakery producing fresh goods all day long (so you can see the bakers at work), all under one roof. They won the accolade “Beste Bakker” in 2017 and belong to the very select Echte Bakkers Gilde (real Baker’s Guild).
Back to the oliebollen! Here’s how they are made at the oliebollen stall by Alwin de Koning and his son.
I went back later that New Year’s Eve afternoon, this time with my camera, hoping I would have the chance to photograph the ambiance surrounding the oliebollen truck but it was nearing closing time and the crowd had mostly dispersed. Here are some of the last stragglers.
Kudos to the bakers who, on this last day of oliebollen sales, probably couldn’t stand the sight nor the smell of them much longer. I wonder how many they had already had and how many they were going to take home for midnight consumption. This is what happened to me: when I came home after photographing my mother asked me if I had enjoyed my oliebol and if I had brought some home and…I had completely forgotten! No oliebollen for us to ring in the new year!
Best way to enjoy the oliebollen: fresh, warm and crispy and lots of powdered sugar (as you can tell from the sleeve and coat of the person on the left).
I had promised baker Alwin de Koning that I would send him some photos which I did, with some delay, mid June 2020. The photos meant more to the bakery than I had realized as it was in June due to the COVID scare and restrictions unimaginable that there was a time that the oliebollen festivities could all freely and untroubled happen.
Wishing everybody a happy and healthy new year - may 2021 bring you peace and joy!
Addendum: I asked Heleen de Koning if and how they managed the sale of oliebollen during the Covid pandemic. I was very glad to hear that they were successful in continuing the tradition although it was an enormous challenge and operation. The bakery needed to obtain a variety of permits; extended opening hours; operated the main stall outside just to make the oliebollen but added an extra booth for orders and payments; placed guardrails to maintain 1.5 meter distance; facilitated online ordering through the webshop shop; organized home deliveries on a fairly large scale for which more delivery people were hired; and scheduled time blocks for pick up. The entire concept was used as an example for the food chain in the region of the Hoeksche Waard. Having a very reliable staff who could be counted on and an already smoothly running business in place certainly helped in the success of the oliebollen sales and Heleen and Alwin are very grateful!
