Washington Irving Part 2: oily koek

When Ichabod Crane attends the autumnal feast at the Van Tassel mansion, he mentions a number of Dutch dishes popular with the colonial New Netherlanders in America. One really stood out to me – oily koek. Oily koek (later called oliebollen) is actually a precursor to that delicious American classic, the doughnut. I love doughnuts so really wanted to try the original recipe.

A 17^th-century bestseller

Oily koek have been eaten in Holland since the Medieval period, usually during the Yuletide festival in late December/early January. But the first written record of the recipe appears in 1667 in De verstandige kock, or The Sensible Cook.

First published in Amsterdam, De verstandige kock was aimed firmly at the middle class. It was hugely popular, going through 15 editions until the last in 1802. De verstandige kock dominated cooking in the Netherlands for over a hundred years and, as such, greatly influenced that of the Dutch colonies in the Hudson River Valley.

De verstandige kock… Amsterdam, Marcus Doornick, 1669.

The first doughnut recipe

*Translation taken from Peter Rose, The Sensible Cook. Dutch Foodways in the Old and the New World, Syracuse University Press, 1998.

To fry Olie-koecken

For 2 pond of Wheat-flour take 2 pond long Raisins, when they have been washed clean soak them in lukewarm water, a cup of the best Apples, peel them and cut them in very small pieces without the cores, a quarter pond or one and a half [quarter pond: 6 ounces] peeled Almonds, a loot Cinnamon, a quarter loot white Ginger, a few Cloves this crushed together, half a small bowl of melted Butter, a large spoon Yeast, and not quite a pint of lukewarm sweet Milk, because it must be a thick batter [so thick] that the batter is tough when spooned and then everything stirred together. Let it rise then take a mengelen of the best Rapeseed [Colza] oil, add a crust of Bread, a half Apple. Place it on the fire and let it burn, keep turning the bread and Apple until it blackens and hardens, then pour in a dash of clean water, let it cool in the air, then put it back on the fire when you want to use it.

The measurements work like this:

1 pond: about 430 grams

2 loot: about 15 grams

3 pint: about 0,65 liter

4 mengelen: two pints = about 1,3 liter

The original 1667 recipe calls for apples, raisins and peeled almonds. While New York State grows delicious apples, the raisins and almonds were likely imported from Europe. As the Van Tassels were a prominent and wealthy Tarry Town family, this would be possible, so we made sure to include them.

The only change we made to the original recipe is the addition of sugar. The original Dutch recipe is basically unsweetened, but several early American versions of the recipe include it. We used only 45 grams (or about ¼ cup) to keep the taste similar, but you can add up to 90 grams or half a cup if you like things a bit sweeter.

We’ve also added a sprinkling of powdered sugar to the finished oily koek, just because it’s delicious.