Another Reason I Love Church Bazaars

Some bazaars have white elephant sales and some have a nice selection of crafters.  The really good ones have food inviting enough to keep you there for lunch, or a specialty you can’t get anywhere else, or both.

The Washington Christian Academy bazaar has all of the above.  Last Saturday we stopped in just in time for a taco salad and side order of oliebollen.  These fried balls of dough stuffed with apple slices and raisins are what set this bazaar apart from all others.  Crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, no sweetener is added to the dough to compete with the fruit. A dusting of powdered sugar on the outside compensates for that!  The name means “fat balls” in Dutch, and they are best eaten hot.

Irene Ritsema is the oliebollen maven of WCA.  She told me that the oliebollen and another treat, banket, reflect the Dutch heritage of the school’s founders.  They started making the pastries about fifty years ago and have been continuing the tradition every year since; the oliebollen are so popular that there is a half-hour waiting period for each portion of three all day long.

Irene told me that when she went to New Orleans, she was struck by the resemblance of oliebollen to beignets there.  Although she organizes the production for the bazaar every year, she doesn’t use raisins when she makes them for her own family.  In the Netherlands, oliebollen are a New Year’s tradition.

Irene kindly led me into the kitchen where volunteers were busy frying and powdering the oliebollen.

The banket being sold had been baked in advance.  Unlike the oliebollen being cooked as we watched, banket not only keep for several days, but also freeze well– and so many folks buy many to pop in their freezers, they were sold out when we arrived!

Had we not been tardy, we would have had a chance to sample a log-shaped, almond-filled pastry with a butter crust.  At Christmas in the Netherlands, banket are made in the shape of letters, for people’s initials and to spell out words.

Here is a link to a recipe for oliebollen: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/oliebollen-dutch-doughnuts/detail.aspx and one for banket: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/banket/