Saturday, December 29, 2012

Oliebollentocht - Paddling through Amsterdam


Bijschrift toevoegen
Wikipedia: An oliebol (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈoːlibɔɫ]) (plural oliebollen) is a traditional Dutch food. Oliebollen (literally oil balls) are traditionally eaten on New Year's Eve and at funfairs. In wintertime, they are also sold in the street at mobile stalls. In English they are more commonly known as Dutch Doughnuts or Dutchies. Oliebollen are a variety of dumpling made by using an ice-scooper or two spoons to scoop a certain amount of dough and dropping the dough into a deep fryer filled with hot oil. In this way, a sphere-shaped oliebol emerges. The dough is made from flour, eggs, yeast, some salt, milk, baking powder and usually sultanas, currants, raisins and sometimes zest or succade. Oliebollen are usually served with powdered sugar. 

Another nice Dutch tradition (this year for the 21. time!) is that Arnold and Nico from the Haarlemse Kano Club (HKV) organise a wintry kayak trip just before New Year's Eve: the "Oliebollentocht". This morning more than 30 paddlers gathered near a slipway in a warehouse district in the Northern part of Amsterdam to take part. The group enjoyed a nice paddle across the river IJ and through the scenic canals of Amsterdam. The conditions weren't wintry at all: sunny, 12 degrees Celsius. We had a good lunch at Hannekes Boom and Arnold and Nico treated the group with tasty "Oliebollen".


The length of the paddle trip was 25 km, thanks to Jaap for the tracklog.