A kaassoufflé (; ) is a Dutch snack of melted cheese inside a thin dough-based wrap which has been breaded and then deep-fried. They are also popular in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium.

Overview

A ''kaassoufflé'' is thought to be influenced by Indonesian

street food Street food is food sold by a Hawker (trade), hawker or vendor on a street or at another public place, such as a market, fair, or park. It is often sold from a portable food booth, food cart, or food truck and is meant for immediate consumption ...

called ''

gorengan A fritter is a portion of meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables, or other ingredients which have been battered or breaded, or just a portion of dough without further ingredients, that is deep-fried. Fritters are prepared in both sweet and savory var ...

'' (fritter). It is either bought ready-made frozen and deep-fried at home, or ordered at '' snackbars'' in the Netherlands, where it is one of the few

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

fast-food snacks available. At certain Dutch fastfood outlets, such as FEBO or Smullers, it is possible to purchase a ''kaassoufflé'' without having to order it at the counter; instead it can be had directly from an '' automatiek'', a coin-operated vending machine. ''Kaassoufflé'' is also a popular snack to be served at a ''borrel'', an informal Dutch gathering with drinks and snacks (the word ''"borrel"'' originally referred to a small glass in which distilled beverages, usually

jenever Jenever (, ), also known as Hollands, genever, genièvre, peket, or sometimes as Dutch gin (archaic: Holland gin or Geneva gin), is the juniper-flavoured traditional liquor in the Netherlands, Belgium, and adjoining areas in northern France ...

, is served). Typically this snack comes in two different shapes: either as a large rectangle measuring approximately 10 cm by 5 cm (4" by 2"), or shaped like a half moon of about 10 cm (5") in length. Smaller versions, called ''mini-kaassoufflés'', are usually sold for consumption at home, or for at the aforementioned ''borrel'' where they are usually eaten as part of a ''bittergarnituur'', a selection of snacks to go with drinks. ''Kaassoufflés'' are not limited to having only a Gouda-like cheese as a filling. Additional flavourings can be added to the cheese, such as

ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term '' ...

and

spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to Central Asia, Central and Western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common vegetable consumed eit ...

, or it can also be made with different types of cheese. Another variety of ''kaassoufflé'' is the oven-baked type. This is simply done by wrapping a slice of cheese, with or without additional spices, inside puff pastry and then baking it in an oven. Although the name of this snack contains the word "

soufflé A soufflé () is a baked egg dish originating in France in the early 18th century. Combined with various other ingredients, it can be served as a savoury main dish or sweetened as a dessert. The word ''soufflé'' is the past participle of the Fr ...

", it has very little in common with a real soufflé which, indeed, can contain cheese and can therefore also be called a ''kaassoufflé'' in the

Dutch language Dutch ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken by about 25 million people as a first language and 5 million as a second language and is the List of languages by total number of speak ...

Consumption practices

A ''kaassoufflé'' is usually eaten on its own, with mustard, mayonnaise, regular ketchup, or curried ketchup. A ''broodje kaassoufflé'' is the snack served in a bun.

Gallery

File:Broodje kaassouffle crop.jpg#file, A ''broodje kaassoufflé'' showing the melted cheese filling File:Kaassoufflé sanckbar.jpg, Half-moon shaped ''kaassoufflé'' File:Frituren.jpg, Deep-frying ''kaassoufflés''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaassouffle Belgian cuisine Dutch cuisine Street food Fried cheese Deep fried foods

Overview

Consumption practices

See also

Gallery

References