Speculaas always have an image. That is part of the idea of speculaas. Why is that actually the case? What are gingerbread spices? The history of speculaas tells a lot about the history of the world. The Germans, the Roman church, the VOC, many important players in world history have left their mark on the development of the speculaasje. Not to forget the bakers, with their secret recipe. Nobody was allowed to look in their book how they made gingerbread dough. No one was allowed to know that they allowed the dough to ripen for three months and what the proportions were of the spices contained in this acclaimed biscuit to this day.
Content:
- Baking cookies is a pagan custom
- The Roman Claes herbs
- Amsterdam, center of gingerbread spices
- The mechanization of speculaas baking
- What are the gingerbread spices?
- Speculaas variations
- Etymology speculaas
- Other etymological explanations
- Further speculation
Baking cookies is a pagan custom
Speculaas originated from a pagan custom to bake cakes with herbs with the aim of offering them to the gods. People who used not it Roman Catholic Faith adherents were called pagan. The Pagan Teutons offered cake and bread by a sacred oak to appease the gods for a good harvest. The Germans depict animals with their cakes. The only difference the Christian church made is that it depicted saints in the cakes. So there was a Claeskoek or Klaaskoek. This was not yet known from all the spices that would later give speculaas its typical taste. The reason that especially the bishop of Myra or Sinterklaas was depicted is that he was quite popular among the population as he helped the poor.
The Roman Claes herbs
Speculaas contains biscuit spices that are also called gingerbread spices. The ancient Romans already knew some gingerbread spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cardamom and mace. The ancient Egyptians knew coriander so the Romans must at least have known it. These were known in the Netherlands because on the one hand the Romans took their food everywhere and spread it over Europe and on the other hand there were some crusades through which men of nobility became acquainted with the expensive herbs in Europe and decided to trade in them. . It was mainly sold to monasteries that started experimenting with it. The herbs were very expensive because they came from far away and had many middlemen.
Amsterdam, center of gingerbread spices
In the 17th century, the spices entered the Netherlands in large numbers by sea. Amsterdam became the great warehouse for spices in Europe. All exotic herbs became a lot cheaper due to the large supply. The Netherlands obtained the spices from the so-called spice islands. This included the Banda Islands and the Moluccas, in what is today Indonesia. The Moluccan islands where spices were bought were: Ternate, Tidore, Makian, Motir, Mareh and Hiri. Some historians think that the Netherlands owed its great wealth at that time to the spice islands, but it was mainly a few families that became very rich from the spice trade. Spices had always been very expensive for bakers. Due to the larger supply in the 17th century, the price dropped. All bakers started experimenting with making gingerbread spices. They kept the exact recipes secret. Some started making gingerbread dough as early as September so that it could ripen and then be baked in specially designed ovens. It was secretly stored so that it could be preserved and had just the right bite in December.
The mechanization of speculaas baking
Until the 19th century, speculoos were baked by hand and the figures were very beautiful and detailed. In the 19th century, the industrialization and the making of speculaas was mechanized. The speculaas machines that were used required a different type of dough, namely with more butter. The old dough was too stiff and did not fit nicely into the speculaas molds on the machine. The softer dough made the images less beautiful. Before the 19th century, the images were very detailed. Unfortunately, the buttery dough caused the images to run and tear. The transition to industrially prepared gingerbread cookies has not only brought benefits. The fact is that they can now be made much faster, which makes them cheaper. Now we can indulge ourselves in eating speculaas every day.
What are the gingerbread spices?
Officially, the gingerbread spices are as listed below. However, this can be waived by bakers who want their biscuit to be extra special. The use of sugar also differs. Sugar used to be very expensive; therefore syrup or syrup from saccharified dried fruits was used. Dried fruits taste very sweet. All of this affects the taste.
Recipe for making gingerbread spices, 65 grams
- 30 grams of cinnamon
- 10 grams of nutmeg
- 5 grams of aniseed
- 10 grams of cloves
- 5 grams of white pepper
- 5 grams of coriander seeds
Speculaas variations
The speculaas spice mixture is the basis. Below are some additions with which speculaas are also made, and perhaps much better !:
- ginger powder
- cardamom
- mace
Etymology speculaas
Speculaas comes from the word spice. Spice means herb. In the 17th century, the Dutch traded a lot in spices and used them to bake new products. Many cakes are baked in Europe under the name of claes cookies. Bakers have put together a spice mixture that we now know as biscuit spices or gingerbread spices. Speculaas is therefore a composition of spice and claes. There is a second meaning attached to it. When a cake was spiced, it is called speculation; it speculating a dough, is the seasoning of a dough. The literal definition of speculation is therefore: providing biscuit spices with a dough type. Speculaas is a corruption of the word speculation.
Other etymological explanations
There are those who have come up with other explanations for the origin of the word speculaas. In Latin, species means not only herbs but also mint or mint. In the 17th century, a lot of money was taken from the spice trade. There was speculation because herbs were bought cheaply in one part of the world and sold dearly in another part. That’s where the word speculate comes from.
Further speculation
Speculation then has a third meaning, namely ‘to look’. The English term for glasses, spectacles, comes from there. Some think that Sinterklaas was seen as someone who could oversee everything and that is why speculaas is so called. That is, of course, complete nonsense. The link between speculaas and Sinterklaas is too modern. Sinterklaas already existed long before speculaas. But claes cookies already existed! Those were cookies on which Saint Nicholas was depicted. A possible explanation is that speculum means mirror and the gingerbread dolls were made on a wooden board with a mirror image taken out. But this reasoning is somewhat far-fetched. Although some bakers consider it the only true origin of the word speculaas.