Oliebollen

Oliebollen is a traditional dutch food. "Olie" in Dutch means oil and "bol" means ball, whereas "bollen" is the plural of "bol". A dough mixture of flour, yeast, egg, baking powder, salt and milk is deepfried in hot oil giving rise to the name, I think. Usually raisins, currants, sultanas, apple and banana pieces are added, creating different varieties. They are normally served with powdered sugar.

Here in Holland, it is commonly sold everywhere in town in the months of October to early January. You will definitely not find it in the spring or summer. A search in the wiki says that it is traditionally eaten on new year's eve and at funfair, and sometimes it is referred to in English as Dutch donuts.

Picture courtesy of mr wiki.....

Oliebollen stall

Oliebollen upclose, after a big bite :)

Look at how big the oliebol is...

Nowadays you can buy readymade flour mixture from the supermarkets. All you have to do is add 500ml water to the flour, mix it and leave it for half an hour to rise. Then you can start frying like any other fritter. But still, they only produce the mixture for a limited period of time, once it's sold out, say in January, then you will not be able to buy it anymore, not until the next season. I normally stock 3/4 packets, there is no point in buying a lot of them because the expiry date is normally in April.

Oliebollen mixture

Personally, I think oliebollen is just like our "chokodok" or cucur tepung or cucur "bom" some might say. My late grandmother and my mother used to make it for "kuih petang" or sometimes breakfast...

:)