It
is not that the Dutch no longer drink, but that they now do it with
more privacy.
The travelling temples reserved for the honour of poffertjes and
wafelen are the most noticeable features of any Kermis. They are
divided, quite like restaurants, into little cubicles for separate
parties. Flowers and ferns make them gay; the waiters may even wear
evening dress, but this is a refinement which would have annoyed Jan
Steen; on the tables is white American cloth; and curtains of coloured
material and muslin, with bright ribbons, add to the vivacity of the
occasion. To eat poffertjes and wafelen is no light matter: one must
regard it as a ritual.
Poffertjes come first--these are little round pancakey blobs, twisted
and covered with butter and sugar. Then the wafelen, which are
oblong wafers stamped in a mould and also buttered and sugared. You
eat twenty-four poffertjes and two wafelen: that is, at the first
onset. Afterwards, as many more as you wish. Lager beer is drunk with
them. Some prefer Frambozen lemonade.
To eat them is a duty; to see them cooked is a joy. I have watched
the cooks almost for hours. The poffertjes are made by hundreds at
once, in a tray indented with little hollows over a fire. The cook
is continually busy in twisting the little dabs of paste into the
hollows and removing those that are ready.
Pages:
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150