AlwaysLearning: Speculoos

Katie Reisert — August 26, 2009

Speculoos. What is it about Dutch and Belgian food words, like Speculoos (or Spekuloos) and Kapsalon that make them sound so epic? If you’ve eaten a Spekuloos covered waffle from the Wafels & Dinges truck you may find that the taste is epic too. It’s like Golden Grahams Cereal in dessert sauce form. But as good as it is, Speculoos didn’t originate as a spread.

Where it’s from: The Netherlands and Belgium.

What it is: Speculoos is actually a cookie, similar in composition to a biscuit or shortbread. Traditionally, it was baked to be eaten on St Nicholas’ Eve in the Netherlands (Dec. 5) and Belgium (Dec. 6). These thin, crunchy cookies are typically made using butter, sugar and a combination of spices including: cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves and sometimes ginger. They were then stamped with depictions of St. Nicholas. These days the cookies are available year-round. But they typically remain stamped with images, sometimes relating to the story of St. Nicholas, sometimes featuring representations of people, animals and daily life.

It’s not clear exactly where the word Speculoos comes from. Some speculate it originated from the Dutch word for spice, specerij. Another possibility is the Latin word for mirror, speculum, which could refer to the mirrored wooden stamp relief which was used to decorate the cookie.

Where to get it in New York: You can find packaged Speculoos cookies at Le Pain Quotidien (pictured above). Their renditions are like thin cinnamon sugar cookies with tiny bits of lemon. Lotus Bakeries have been making their ‘caramelised biscuits’ since 1932. After being discovered the cookies were rebranded in United States as Biscoff (Biscuit + Coffee = BISCOFF), which you can find at Walgreen’s.

 

A Liège Wafel with Spekuloos Spread and Strawberries, $6.

As mentioned above, spreadable Speculoos (we’re talking delicious, next-level stuff, here) can be found at the Wafels & Dinges truck. They actually label it on their menu as “our favorite.” And believe it or not, you can get it for free —well, technically that is— because when buying a waffle, your first ‘dinges’ (topping) is on the house, or the truck rather. The Wafels & Dinges version is in the peanut butter and Nutella school of the spreadable world. It has hints of caramel and cinnamon, is thinner and lighter than peanut butter and more gooey than Nutella. But it’s less sweet and a tad saltier. Unlike a heavy hot fudge sauce that can hide the waffle’s flavor, Spekuloos complements it perfectly.

If you want to keep some Speculoos Spread on hand at home you can order a 28oz jar of the spread for $7.58 through the airline food supplier, Gourmet Center which distributes Lotus’ products in America.