The ''Couque de Dinant'' ( en, Cake of Dinant) is an extremely hard, sweet biscuit native to the southern

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

city of Dinant in

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

Preparation

''Couques'' are made with only two ingredients:

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

flour and

honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of plants (primar ...

, in equal amounts by weight, and nothing else at all: not even water or

yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constit ...

. The

dough Dough is a thick, malleable, sometimes elastic paste made from grains or from leguminous or chestnut crops. Dough is typically made by mixing flour with a small amount of water or other liquid and sometimes includes yeast or other leavenin ...

is put in a wooden mould made from wood from the

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the po ...

tree,

walnut tree Walnut trees are any species of tree in the plant genus ''Juglans'', the type genus of the family Juglandaceae, the seeds of which are referred to as walnuts. All species are deciduous trees, tall, with pinnate leaves , with 5–25 leafl ...

beech tree Beech (''Fagus'') is a genus of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia, and North America. Recent classifications recognize 10 to 13 species in two distinct subgenera, ''Engleriana'' and ''Fagus''. The ''E ...

. The moulds have a wide variety of shapes, which include animals, floral motifs, people or landscapes. The biscuit is cooked in an oven preheated to around for 15 minutes, which allows the honey to

caramelize Caramelization is a process of browning of sugar used extensively in cooking for the resulting sweet nutty flavor and brown color. The brown colors are produced by three groups of polymers: caramelans (C24H36O18), caramelens (C36H50O25), and ...

. On cooling, the biscuit becomes very hard, and can be preserved indefinitely. Due to this property, ''couques'' can be displayed as decoration, used as Christmas tree ornaments, or used to commemorate special occasions. A variant, the ''couque de Rins'' also adds sugar to the dough. It is sweeter and softer as a result.

Consumption

Due to their extreme hardness and fairly large size, ''couques de Dinant'' are not intended to be bitten into directly. They are instead broken into fragments and can then be bitten, sucked, left to melt in the mouth or be soaked in coffee. ''Couques de Dinant'' have been traditionally given to babies during

teething Teething is the process by which an infant's first teeth (the deciduous teeth, often called "baby teeth" or "milk teeth") appear by emerging through the gums, typically arriving in pairs. The mandibular central incisors are the first primary te ...

. While Dinant bakeries see large sales over the summer season due to tourists, consumption of ''couques'' is highest near

Saint Nicholas Day Saint Nicholas Day, also called the Feast of Saint Nicholas, observed on 5 December or on 6 December in Western Christian countries, and on 19 December in Eastern Christian countries using the old church Calendar, is the feast day of Saint Ni ...

in December. At that time of year, they are sold and eaten all over Belgium.

Origins

A popular though unlikely legend holds that the couques arose from the sacking of Dinant in 1466 by

Charles the Bold Charles I (Charles Martin; german: Karl Martin; nl, Karel Maarten; 10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), nicknamed the Bold (German: ''der Kühne''; Dutch: ''de Stoute''; french: le Téméraire), was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. ...

in the

Liège Wars Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

. The citizens were supposedly desperate and had little to eat but flour and honey, so they conceived of making a dough out of the two mixed together. As the dough was so firm, they had the idea of printing it in the negative in '' dinanderie'' (local ornate brasswork), and thereby began the tradition of giving them patterns. Much more certain is that the ''couque'' began to appear some time in the 18th century, though the exact circumstances of its invention are unclear.

References

{{reflist Dinant Biscuits Christmas food Belgian cuisine

Preparation

Consumption

Origins

See also

References