Viviane: Nao Apagues o Amor

Another great Portuguese song... Enjoy your day!! :-)

Viviane, Nao Apagues o Amor

"Zeeuwse bolus": a Dutch pastry with Portuguese origins

In the last entry, I shared with you the recipe of "Bolo Rei", our traditional Portuguese Christmas, New Year's Day and Kings Day cake.

Yesterday, I received a very nice email from Jacoba, with the most amazing tip:
" Something that strikes me is that in Zeeland we have a specialty of dough, rolled up, sugared with cinnamon and it is called a 'bolus'. I wonder whether the name is derived from your pastry?"

Zeeland is the lovely and beautiful Dutch province located in the south-west of the country and consists of a number of islands and a strip bordering Belgium. Its capital is Middelburg.

I became so curious, I went to Wikipedia searching for information...and look what I found!!:

"The bolus was first created in Zeeland in the first half of the 17th century by Sephardi Jew bakers. There are signs of the Portuguese Jewish community that inhabited Zeeland at the Jewish cemetery in Middelburg. 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."



When I looked at this photo, I tought " I've already eaten this in Lisbon!!".

I was so glad with this discovery! Thank you, dear Jacoba, :-)

According to Wikipedia, there is a competition on the Tuesday of the 12th week of the year called the "Bolusbaking Championships Zeeland"! I need to see this, definitively! It's organised by the Dutch Bakery Centre. The winner receives the Bolus Trophy and becomes the "Best Bolus Baker" for a year.
The jury - two bakers and two Zeelandia employees-chooses the best ten products and the winner is chosen from these by the audience.
I will go there to help to choose the winner!! :-)) I don't mind it at all ;-))
Definitively!

Celebrating Kings Day with My Typical Dutch Tea Set

f I was in Portugal, I would be celebrating Dia de Reis or Kings Day.
I would go to the Confeitaria Nacional to buy the Bolo Rei (King Cake).


[Photo Credit]

The owners of this tea room brought the French recipe of the“ Gateau des Rois” to Portugal in the second half of the 19th century. Until today, this recipe is a very well kept secret. This tea room is in the same family for five generations.

***

My coffee table is ready for the tea :-) Well, almost... :-)
There is no King Cake's slice yet :-))

From Natal 2010

You are seeing on the photo one person tea set and two dessert plates typically Dutch. Do you like it?

I will go now, but I leave you with the traditional recipe of Bolo Rei. Enjoy it!

Bolo Rei recipe:

Ingredients

butter:130gr
sugar:130gr
flower:500gr
yeast:15gr
3 eggs
milk: 2dl
port wine : 2 table spoons
brandy: 2 table spoons
candied fruit: enough
almonds: enough
walnuts: enough
pine nuts: enough

Preparation:

Dissolve the yeast with a bit of cold milk and mix it in the flower.
Mix all ingredients except for the candied fruit, the nuts and the almonds, and beat the dough very well.
When the dough starts to make bubbles, meaning it is well beaten, add the fruit and nuts.
Mold the dough in the form of a large donut, with a large hole in the middle.
Cover it well with the butter and let the dough rest for some hours.
"Paint" the cake with the beaten yolks and place some more candied fruit on top of the torus for decoration.
Take it to the oven with average heat and let it cook until it assumes a golden colour.


Receita:

Ingredientes

Manteiga: 130 gr
Açúcar: 130 gr
Farinha: 500 gr
Fermento: 15 gr
Ovo: 3
Leite: 2 dl
Vinho do Porto: 2 colheres de sopa
Aguardente velha: 2 colheres de sopa
Fruta cristalizada variada: q.b.
Amêndoa: q.b.
Noz: q.b.
Pinhão: q.b.

Preparação

Num pouco de leite frio dissolva o fermento e adicione a farinha. Junte todos os ingredientes, excepto as frutas cristalizadas e os frutos secos, e amasse bem. Quando a massa começar a fazer bolhas, sinal de estar bem batida, juntam-se as frutas cristalizadas e os frutos secos. Tende-se a massa em forma de rosca, colocando em recipiente com buraco no meio, depois de bem untado com manteiga. Deixa-se descansar durante umas horas. Pincela-se com gema de ovo e colocam-se mais algumas frutas cristalizadas por cima. Coze-se em forno médio até ficar dourado.

Mexidos: a traditional Portuguese Christmas dessert

From Natal 2010

On the last 24th December, I received an email from my friend Carla who lives in the North of Portugal, in Oporto.
She was telling me how she would spend the Christmas Eve and what kind of sweet desserts she was preparing with her family.
In the mail, she referred Mexidos, explaining that it's a mix of nuts,hazelnuts and almonds, a typical dessert from the city of Braga [capital of Minho province, located in the North of Portugal] where her maternal family comes from.
"Oh, Dear!" I thought, "I think I will like it very much!!". So, I asked Carla if she could send me the recipe.
I must say I wasn't expecting a reply on that day because the 24th is a very busy day in the Portuguese family's kitchens with all the preparations for the Christmas Eve's meal.
However, Carla sent it on that day. I liked the way she began the mail: "My sister is cooking the "Mexidos" and I'm sitting at the kitchen table writing the recipe for you :-)". Very sweet of her!
We didn't have the time to prepare it for the Christmas Eve because we were busy already with the cooking of the "Bacalhau a Lagareiro", the main course of that day, as well as other Portuguese desserts. Our friends from Romania would be here soon to spend the Christmas Eve with us.
On the 25th, we went to their home and during all day, we only tasted delicious Romanian food.
So, we ate the Mexidos on the 26th, a more quiet day and the second Christmas day in the Netherlands [Boxing Day]. :-)
We went to the supermarket to buy what was missing for the recipe and after a while, we were eating Mexidos and watching, relaxing on the sofa, A Christmas Carol of Charles Dickens. ;-)
What a Gezellig [acolhedora/cosy] afternoon, don't you think? :-)
After feeding the ducks in the lakes on our way to the supermarket, it was the most cosy moment of this Christmas afternoon :-)

I hope you enjoy this recipe! It's just delicious! Thanks again, Carla!

Recipe:

Pour in a pan 2 liters of water and add a cinnamon stick, a lemon peel, 6 spoons of honey, 2 shots of port and sugar to taste.
Heat it to a boil. Meanwhile, cut a rustic bread (white thick bread) in very thin slices and add them to the mix.
Stir until the bread completely disintegrate into dough (it might be good to initially add just enough bread to soak all the liquid, and only add more bread if you see the mix is not thick enough).
Add nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, pine nuts and raisins to the mix (how much is up to you), and stir for 2 minutes.
Take it from the heat, pour it into dishes and sprinkle it generously with cinnamon powder.
Eat it hot (I think it's better :))

Receita:

Levar ao fogão 2 litros de água, um pau de canela, uma casca de limão, 6 colheres sopa de mel, açucar a gosto, 2 cálices de Vinho do Porto. Deixar ferver.
Cortar muito fininho o pão rustico.
Deita-se na mistura e mexe-se até se desfazer por completo.
Deitam-se frutos secos (avelãs, nozes, amêndoas, uvas passas , pinhões) e mexe-se durante 2 minutos .
Retira-se do fogão, deita-se em pratos e polvilha-se com canela.

Bom Proveito!/ Eet smakelijk!/ Enjoy your meal!