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 AZeeuwse bolus with butter | |
| Alternative names | Bolus, jikkemine |
|---|---|
| Type | Pastry |
| Place of origin | Netherlands |
| Region or state | Zeeland |
| Main ingredients | Dough,treacle,cinnamon |
AZeeuwse bolus (Dutch pronunciation:[ˈzeːusəˈboːlʏs]) orZeeuwse bolussen is a sweet pastry ofJewish origin from theDutch province ofZeeland.[1] They are made by baking a white bread dough rolled in dark brown sugar in a spiral shape, lemon zest (rare and only in some parts of the region) andcinnamon.[2] The shape of a bolus differs between bakers. They are often eaten with coffee, and in some parts of the region the flatter underside is covered with butter.
There is also another kind of pastry that is sold under the nameBolus orboles in the Netherlands. These are ginger boles, made of dough filled withginger, andorangeade boles filled with orangeade andalmond meal flavoured with orange and almonds. These boles are a golden yellow colour and in a paper form. They have to be eaten with a spoon because the syrup makes them very sticky.
The bolus was first created in Zeeland in the first half of the 17th century bySephardic Jewish bakers, mainly from the Portuguese region ofAlentejo. There are signs of thePortuguese Jewish community that inhabited Zeeland at the Jewish cemetery inMiddelburg. These Jewish bakers created the predecessor of the Zeeuwse bolus. Later bakers from Zeeland perfected the art of the bolus, sometimes using steam ovens to keep the cinnamon pastry tender.
Until 1998, in baking competitions, boluses were judged as well as bread, cakes and other pastries.
Since 1998, every year during the "bolus week", on the Tuesday of the 12th week of the year, the Bolusbaking Championships Zeeland are held, organised by the Dutch Bakery Centre. Participating bakers may get eight boluses judged. A jury consisting of two bakers and two Zeelandia employees chooses the best ten products and the winner is chosen from these by the audience. The winner receives the Bolus Trophy and may call themselves "Best Bolus Baker" for a year. Some of the winners were: Iman Izeboud fromKoudekerke (2002), Jan Dees fromZaamslag (he won in 1989, 2004 and 2009), Mr. Bliek fromMiddelburg (2005), Wilfred Droppers fromZierikzee (2007) mr. Voordijk fromGoes, 2008.
The bolus is seen as an originally Jewish pastry and has been spread all over the globe during thediaspora. Boluses also get sold inJerusalem,Moscow and inParis and the south ofFrance.
The word bolus comes fromYiddish. The DutchVan Dale etymological dictionary says that the word bolus or boles is the plural of bole, which comes from theSpanish bollo meaning bun, or bola which means "ball".
Media related toZeeuwse bolus at Wikimedia Commons