For once, I didn't find the food I'll be discussing today at either my local, or the secondary Shop-Rite. Instead, I first encountered this one at a random gas station/minimart while on a day trip with a friend (Hi Leon!). Anyway, this was stroopwafel. From the Daelmans company, from The Netherlands.
In essence, stroopwafel is the breakfast food times two, as a sandwich with a syrup filling. The history of this food is a bit vague. The French were making waffle "sandwiches" with a cheese center as early as 1393. And had their own sweet version, called gaufre fourree lilloise by the 1800's or so. But we're concerned with the Dutch kind. Its origins are in the late 18th/early 19th century. Some propose that a baker named Gerard Kamphuisen invented stroopwafel, during the time between 1810 to 1840. Others maintain that it was created by bakers using waffle scraps that were left over, which were then sweetened and sold. Whoever developed it, by the 1870's the dish was well established, and very popular. The southern Dutch city of Gouda (yes, the one associated with the cheese of the same name) is particularly renowned as a stroopwafel center. The name "stroopwafel" is a Dutch rendition of "syrup waffle" from the English. Others call it "coffee topper" because of a common way of eating it. A tradition holds that a stroopwafel needs to be "awakened" before consumption. This is accomplished by putting it atop a hot drink mug, holding coffee or tea, for 2 minutes. This will cause the syrup filling to become appropriately nice and gooey, perfect for eating.
As I was researching this blog topic, something kept nagging at me. The Daelmans name seemed vaguely familiar. Well, my memory was correct--I've actually covered this company before, back on August 12, 2017 to be exact. On that occasion I sampled some their cookies/biscuits. Anyway, I won't repeat myself very much here. Daelmans is a bit over a century old, and in addition to several additional stroopwafel flavors (chocolate, coffee, honey, maple, mini), the business also markets cookies/biscuits, cakes, a pastry called speculaas, and puff pastries. It employs over 300 people, and exports to at least 30 nations around the world.
Daelmans stroopwafel, caramel flavor: They were a round shape, about 9 cm./3.5 inches in diameter. Their color was brownish-yellow, and they had the typical cross-hatched waffle pattern. Plus, as mentioned before, each one consisted of two waffles pressed together, with a brownish syrup-y filling. The texture was very chewy, and soft. And they tasted like....particularly sweet waffles. Or pretty good overall. Quite pleasant. I didn't learn about the putting-them-atop-a-hot-drink-mug-to-melt-them procedure until later, so I can't comment on that. (And given my disdain for hot drinks of all kinds, I wouldn't want to try them that way.) All in all, stroopwafels are a neat kind of cookie-type pastry, and I would recommend them to everyone, save folks who hate waffles, or sweet pastries, I guess.
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