Archive for October, 2010
Forgotten Crafts: Bladesmith
Thursday, October 14th, 2010
The armourer
Jan and Caspar Luyken, ±1690
In a time when streets were pitch dark at night, roads where anything but safe and disputes were handled man to man, everyone that could afford one, wanted one: a sword. Ever since man discovered iron, he used it to make weapons. In medieval times every knight was supposed to own a sword and, of course, know how to handle it. Later, after the introduction of firearms in the 15th and 16th centuries, the sword remained an important secondary weapon. After all, it was faster to use than firearms that needed reloading. It was also more effective in man-to-man battle. Only when firearms became fast and reliable in the late 1800s, did the sword lose its function. Today swords have a mere ornamental status, for example at military parades.
Owning a sword has always been a huge status symbol. Having one proved several things. Of course you were rich enough to buy yourself one. You were also strong and brave enough to handle it. And you were important enough to be allowed to own one. However, not only sword owners enjoyed a great status. The men who made them did too.
Sword making was the finest specialization a smith could choose. It demanded great skill and precision to make a sword that was strong, balanced, sharp, light and beautiful at the same time. Besides the fine metalworking, bladesmiths were skilled in woodworking for making the handles and leatherworking for producing the sword’s sheath. Bladesmiths were true masters in their guild and usually rewarded correspondingly.
Today few true bladesmiths exist. A small market remains for ornamental swords and a small group of specialists still learn the craft to cater to this market. However, the place of the old bladesmiths has been taken over by firearm makers.
Dutch Apple Pie
Thursday, October 14th, 2010
Dutch apple pie
Photograph Wikimedia Commons
There is no greater treat I could give my family than home-made apple pie. Especially served a bit warm and with lots of whipped cream…
Apple pie is no Dutch invention. Many countries have their own variants. Originally, it is an autumn dish, like applesauce. After the apple harvest, those apples that were a bit damaged, too small to be tasty, or any surplus apples that cannot be kept good over the winter would be processed into something tasty.
Dutch apple pie uses chunks of apple, not slices, which are mixed with raisins, sugar and cinnamon. Some people even add ginger. The pie is usually higher than variants from other countries.
Here’s the recipe my grandmother used:
Ingredients
For the dough
- 300 gram (1.3 cup) self-rising flour
- 200 gram (1 cup) cold butter
- 160 gram (3/4 cup) caster sugar
- 1 bag of vanilla sugar
- 3/4 egg (save the rest for topping)
- pinch of salt
For the filling
- 1 kg (4 cups) hard, sour apples
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 60 gram (1/4 cup) raisins
Instructions
- Mix all the ingredients together; then wrap the dough in plastic foil and let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Peal the apples, remove the core and cut them in quite big chunks.
- Put the apple pieces in a bowl, add the lemon juice, cinnamon, sugar and raisins, and stir well.
- Roll out about 2/5 of the dough into a circle, just big enough to cover the bottom of your spring form.
- Roll out the rest of the dough and cut two broad strips off to cover the sides of the form. Save the rest for the topping.
- Fill the form with the apple mix.
- Roll out the remaining dough and cut it into large thin strips. Use the strips to decorate the top with a diamond pattern.
- Cover the top with some beaten egg.
- Bake the pie until done (± 75 minutes) at 175 °C (350 °F).
- Let it cool down for at least 5 minutes before removing the spring.
Serve warm with fresh whipped cream and enjoy!
Interested in more Dutch cooking? See: Books on Dutch Cuisine.
Feasts of Light
Thursday, October 14th, 2010
Halloween pumpkin
Photograph Wikimedia Commons
Each year, more and more Dutch celebrate their own version of Halloween. They have imported the tradition from the United States. Since it is not a Dutch tradition in itself, most Halloween parties are kept by students and young people who enjoy the dressing up and scary jokes. However, typically, kids do not come at your door for candy.
The origin of Halloween is not completely certain but many attribute it to the Celtic Samhain feast that celebrates the end of summer. The British and Irish took their version of the feast to America. Samhain, however, is just one instance of a much broader tradition of celebrating the end of summer and the coming of winter. The thought that with winter, death and evil spirits come is also very old. It probably goes back to very early Germanic roots.
All over Europe, feasts of light emerged long before Christianity existed. In the Low Lands with its strong Germanic roots, these feasts involved lot of lights, noise and food (for offerings and for consuming). Celebrations over the good harvest mixed with rites to scare away the evil spirits of the dark winter. Over time these feasts became local rituals that differed from one region to another, but the main ingredients remained the same: light, noise, scaring of the evil and the dead, celebrating life.
When Christianity took hold of Europae, many of these local feasts were Christianized and conveniently linked to Christian saints, like Saint Nicholas and Saint Martin. Nowadays, some parts of the Netherlands (mainly the eastern provinces) still celebrate Saint Martin. Usually a lantern parade is held after which kids come to the door to sing a song in exchange for candy. This is a remnant of giving food and clothing to the poor for the winter (throwing candy at Saint Nicholas has the same roots!). Nowadays most lanterns are made of paper and a small electric light. However, in centuries gone by, the lanterns were made out of beets or turnips. Scary faces were carved into the lantern to scare of the evil spirits. Sounds familiar? Since turnips and beets were hard to come by for the early European settlers of the United States, they used local pumpkins instead.
So roughly, the Dutch had a feast of light very much like Samhain that over time became the feast of Saint Martin (November 11) and Saint Nicholas (December 5). The early Dutch settlers took both traditions to America. Later waves of British and Irish added their own autumn light traditions giving way to what is now know as Halloween.
