Chocolate letter
A Chocolate letter ( Dutch chocolate-letter ; ) is a tall, made of solid chocolate produced letter . It is a typical Dutch sweet that is traditionally given away at Sinterklaas . The recipient usually receives the first letter of his or her first name.
Material and shape
About 60–70% of all chocolate letters sold are made from milk chocolate (melk) ; the rest is shared by dark chocolate (puur) , white chocolate (wit) , nut or almond chocolate and filled chocolate. As typeface one is Egyptienne used their strong serifs make the shape more break-resistant than would be the case with more delicate letterforms. Lately there are also chocolate letters in Arabic script ; at times were in Amsterdam and Hebrew chocolate letters offered. The surface is usually grooved to make it easier to break off; In addition, the corrugation makes it easier to remove it from the mold and conceals small imperfections.
Industrially manufactured chocolate letters are poured into molds, previously made of metal, today made of plastic. The largest manufacturers are Droste, Baronie-De Heer , Verkade and Albert Heijn . Since 2007, chocolate letters made from fair trade chocolate have gained a growing market share . The annual production was estimated at 12 to 14 million pieces in 1998, in 2013 Droste alone produced around 20 million pieces per year and Baronie-De Heer 10 million pieces.
So that the recipients of narrow letters such as I or J are not disadvantaged compared to the recipients of wider letters such as M or W, all letters in a size class, regardless of their width, have the same weight today. To achieve this, the narrow letters are thicker than the wide ones, which can also be more ribbed or made from lighter chocolate.
Chocolate letters are offered individually in colorful packaging in the sizes small (65–80 g), medium (135–150 g) and large (175–220 g). Even smaller letters (around 40 g) wrapped in cellophane are primarily intended to be put into the shoes put up by the children.
Demand for the individual letters varies, and manufacturers have to be prepared for this with their production figures. While some manufacturers offer the complete alphabet, others omit the rare letters Q, U, X, Y and Z. The best-selling letters are M (for "mama / moeder"), P (for "papa", but also " Piet ") and S; O and V are seldom required. The chocolate letter S (for "Sinterklaas") can be given away if there is no close personal relationship with the recipient, e.g. B. as a company gift. Chocolate letters made from diabetic chocolate are also offered as S (for suikersiekte - diabetes).
In addition to the industrial mass production of chocolate letters, there is also individual production in the confectionery trade and in the household. For this purpose, melted chocolate is mixed with whipped butter in a ratio of about 3: 1 and injected into a letter-shaped piping bag . These individually made chocolate letters are often richly decorated.
History and Customs
Forerunners of the chocolate letters were baked letters. Even in the monastery schools of the Middle Ages , letters made from bread dough served as an aid and reward for learning the alphabet. Letters made from biscuits can be found on still lifes by Dutch painters of the 16th and 17th centuries. Their connection with the Sinterklaas celebrations stems from the fact that the gift tables for the individual family members were covered with towels and a letter placed on them (originally baked) designated the respective recipient.
With the boom in the Dutch chocolate industry at the end of the 19th century, the industrial production of chocolate letters began around 1900. When chocolate was hardly available during the German occupation of the Netherlands after 1940 due to the prevailing shortage of food and raw materials, the manufacturing company Verkade produced gingerbread letters again in the war and first post-war years .
Chocolate letters are an integral part of the Sinterklaas gift table in the Netherlands and are only sold in stores between the beginning of October and Sinterklaas (December 5th). An attempt made in 2001 by the Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn to start the sales period only in mid-November because of the criticism of the increasingly earlier range of Christmas items, failed due to consumer protests.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hebreuwse chocoladeletters. December 2, 2007, accessed October 27, 2016 (Dutch).
literature
- Daniël Billet: Sint Nicolaas from A to Z. Stichting Nationaal Sint Nicolaas Comité, Eindhoven 1998. ISBN 9789090109220
- Marie-José Wouters: Sinterklaaslexicon. Sinterklaas from A tot Z. Becht, Haarlem 2009, ISBN 9789023012719
