A jodekoek (in
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
,
literally
''Literally'' is an English adverb. It has been controversially used as an intensifier for figurative statements.
History
The first known use of the word ''literally'' was in the 15th century, or the 1530s, when it was used in the sense of "in ...
"Jew biscuit", plural jodekoeken) is a big, flat, round
shortbread
Shortbread or shortie is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three to four parts plain wheat flour. Unlike many other biscuits and baked goods, shortbread does not contain any leavening, ...
biscuit with a diameter of about 10 centimeters (4").
History
![Advertisement for Jodenkoeken - 1972](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Advertisement_for_Jodenkoeken_-_1972.jpg)
Claimed to have been first baked in the 17th century, these biscuits were advertised by bakeries as early as 1872. Jodenkoeken were made famous by a baker called Davelaar, in
Alkmaar,
Netherlands
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. The Stam bakery in Alkmaar started selling jodenkoeken in 1883, and Gijs Verhoeven took over this bakery in 1924. By advertising in local newspapers and by offering the biscuits through other shops, his jodenkoeken became a popular product. The company continues to bake them to this day. Similar products with the same name are produced by
Lotus Bakeries and
O'Lacy.
Etymology
Some producers still use the old spelling, ''jodekoek'', while others have changed the name of the product to ''jodenkoek'', after the new orthography of the Netherlands from 1996.
There are four different stories about the name of the biscuits:
* Lotus Bakeries claims that the recipe originates from a Jewish baker in Amsterdam who sold the biscuits around 1920. This baker sold the recipe to a bakery in Enkhuizen.
[''Dit is Alkmaar'' on the history of jodenkoeken (in Dutch)](_blank)
/ref>
* A baker with surname ‘de Joode’ baked the biscuits.
* Jodenkoeken are big but very flat, making it a cheap product to produce. A lot of cheap products got the prefix ''Jewish'' in the past. A lot of Jews were poor, making it likely that they bought cheaper things because it was necessary.
* The last story associates the biscuit with the unleavened bread baked by the Jews of ancient Egypt at the time of the exodus. The connection is made by the physical properties that both the biscuits and unleavened bread have in common: they are both flat, crunchy and have a very low moisture content, resulting in a long shelf-life
Shelf life is the length of time that a commodity may be stored without becoming unfit for use, consumption, or sale. In other words, it might refer to whether a commodity should no longer be on a pantry shelf (unfit for use), or no longer on a ...
.
In the 1970s the name was thought to be discriminatory by some, and the manufacturer considered changing it, but ultimately decided against it. The name has received little to no controversy since then, and prominent rights activist Wim Kortenoeven, specialising in Jewish history, (while critical of the naming of the Dutch sweet ''jodenvet'' "Jew fat" (now ''borsthoning'' "chest honey")), said he saw nothing wrong with the name.
In 2021 Bakery Davelaar in Alkmaar decided to rename the Jodenkoek to Odekoek (or Ode biscuit).
Package
Originally, the biscuits were sold in metal tins with a yellow wrapper. Nowadays jodenkoeken are also sold in plastic tins lined with a purple wrapper. Because the biscuits are packaged in an air-tight tin, they remain fresh and crunchy.
See also
* List of shortbread biscuits and cookies
This is a list of shortbread biscuits and cookies. Shortbread is a type of biscuit or cookie traditionally made from one part sugar, two parts butter, and three parts flour as measured by weight. Shortbread originated in Scotland; the first recor ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Website of producer Davelaar Koeken, Amarant Bakkersholding B.V.
Website of producer Van Dijk Banket B. V
goeievraag.nl
origin of the word
Cookies
Dutch cuisine
Shortbread