Call me 'suaku' but having not visited Holland before, I never knew about the existence of Stroopwafels, a waffle snack with a caramel-like syrup sandwiched between 2 layers of thin batter. That was until Pei gave me a piece to try when her friend brought a pack home for her from Holland almost a year ago. She was munching on this constantly after her trip to Holland during her school exchange days so that would have explained why she was so excited and was raving about how delicious and addictive they were. Usually the job of 'raving' is mine you see.
I couldn't agree more with her. Having always been fond of most things with caramel in it, I recall that a smile lit up on my face the moment I sank in my first bite. It was hands down addictive and I knew that I would have polished a whole pack off if it was placed in front of me. That being said, I started on scouring supermarkets, speciality food stores and even searched on the Internet on where I could lay my hands on these but nothing positive came up.
Then J found it in an organic store and bought it for me after I told her how much I loved it. Ironically, they weren't made in Holland but Canada. Don't know if it had to do with the organic thing or was it because no one makes stroopwafels like the Dutch but it wasn't as good as I remembered it to be (Sorry J!). One main reason was probably because the stroopwafels weren't sealed properly causing the waffles to lose the slight crunch it should have had. Plus, this version has honey in it which I believe is not in the original Dutch recipe.
The Canadian organic version didn't blow me away so I'm back again on the search. Just some trivia by the way. Stroopwafels were first made in Holland back during the late 18th and early 19th century and was made out of leftovers such as crumbs, in a bakery. If you'd like to know more, you can find more information here.
Definitely a must-try if you haven't had it. Also, it would be great if anyone could drop me a note please if anyone has an idea on how I can get stroopwafels locally.