Jodekoeken Jewish Cookies

A Jodekoek is a large, flat cookie made out of shortcrust pastry and it has a diameter of about 10 centimeter. According to a very old story the first Jodekoek was baked in 1606. But for sure we know that a guy named Albert Govers had a bakery in Alkmaar and started making these in the year 1883. In 1924 he sold his company to Dirk Davelaar who came from Zaandam. He rebuild the store and placed a lot of advertising in the newspaper the Alkmaarsche Courant. This way his specialty, the Jodenkoeken got famous with the regions of Alkmaar but also outside of it.

Name

Jodekoek directly translates to Jewisch Cookie. Most people believe this names comes from the cookies a Jewish baker from Amsterdam made in the 1920’s. Other sources like “No Face” by Junot Diaz report however that the recipe has nothing to do with Jews but a baker with the family name “de Joode” made these cookies.

Then there is a third story even, the cookies are large but thin. With little money you could present large cookies. Many products that were cheap in former times were called Jewish. This was because they were known to be cheap, but also simply because they were poor. Therefor they were known for buying cheaper products. The name of the cookie was considered offensive in the 1970s, the producer considered changing the name but it never happened. However the Jodekoeken that were produced for export did get a different name.

In 1996 because of the change in spelling rules in Holland, some producers changed the name from Jodekoeken to Jodenkoeken, others just didn’t change the name of the cookie.

Apple Pie or Appeltaart

Apple Pie has a long standing tradition in the Dutch cuisine. The origination of the recipe is not known but in the first printed cooking book out of the year 1514 there is already a recipe for this amazing tasty pie. Part of the Dutch culture this pie is usually served alongside a cup of coffee. Nearly all cafe’s and restaurants have this on their menu. Even one of the biggest newspapers in The Netherlands, the Algemeen Dagblad does a Apple Pie test every year. That tells you something about the presence of this food in the Dutch culture.

How is it made?

Apple pie is a pie based on simply dough and apples, with optional addition of raisins and currants. The recipe and kinds of apples used will differ between countries. In Holland they commonly use Belle de Boskoop apples but can you use any apples you like. The most used recipe uses shortbread as the base and sides and the filling consist of small slices of apple, raisins, currants and sometimes lemon juice, rum and cinnamon. The top of the pie is made out of slices of dough shaped into a grid. Because it’s a grid you will be able to see the filling. The characteristic of this pie is that the filling is firm but soft at the same time. The dough is slightly crunchy. Talking about this delicious pie makes me crave a piece right now! If you feel like cooking one, check out this Apple Pie Mix at the Yummy Dutch store, it was never easier to make one yourself.