Hagelslag: choccie breakkie

Sprinkles anyone?

Basically a big box of chocolate sprinkles- Hagelslag is the food which makes me truly believe that the Dutch are tall and incredibly beautiful umpa lumpas that escaped from Charlie’s chocolate factory.`

If you open a Dutch kitchen cupboard you will find a children’s wonderland: milk, dark and white chocolate hagelslag, then vanilla, raspberry, mixed fruits, strawberry flavours, all in different shapes, sizes and colours. The list is endless. This Dutch treat belongs in a Disney film or fairy tale and it is not reserved for children only, oh no, this is normal adult grown up food too.

Hagelslag are chocolate or fruit flavoured sprinkles that are typically sprinkled over butter covered bread or toast and eaten for breakfast.  We may think of chocolate sprinkles as a tasty accompaniment to ice-cream or to decorate a cake with yet these Dutchies, big and small, munch on this for their breakfast , and as I have seen in a few Dutch households, for a snack throughout the day.

Little digression… a few months ago I sent my sister a packet to try. She is a sugar lover and I thought it would answer her prayers for a high glucose start to the day, nonetheless she only uses them for making hot chocolate à la hagelslag (not even sure she has attempted the correct usage). Interesting. She made me some of said hot chocolate and I honestly haven’t tasted anything so awful ever, at all. She filled about 1/3 mug with the sprinkles, added milk and then put it in the microwave. It had a disgustingly sweet, silky texture with a grainy not-quite-melted hagelslag lumps running through. I had a couple of sips and threw it away. Sorry Sis!! I guess that is one way of using the chocolate bits… who is to judge, hot chocolate made out of sprinkles or chocolate sprinkles on bread??

Back to the slag, my first impression was of slight horror. I think the main issue was with the sheer amount of sprinkles that were needed to cover the bread to eat an authentic breakfast: I felt like a naughty child opening presents on Christmas morning before everyone else was awake. This was a fantasy, something I would not have had at home!!

It was good, in fact surprisingly moreish and I ate at least two slices for breakfast for a couple of days running. Since living with a French family though there has been no hagelslag in sight (their sweet toothed start to the day bizarrely stretches to eating scones for breakfast- that is another story though!) so I found myself buying a packet to feel Dutch and to relive that crumbly but smooth, sickly and mischievously gratifying chocolate sensation. I am heartily disappointed to say that the little Albert Heijn encrusted box is still sat in my cupboard- not sure I am totally a sweet-breakfast convert yet. Yup- eggs and bacon it is haha ;)

 I am glad to say that I am not the first to be bowled over in dismay though…. My friend Petra’s brother arrived in The Netherlands and on the first morning with his host family he was so shocked to the core at the hagelslag sight, he called Petra for advice. She was confounded also (she lives with Frenchies comme moi) and told us all excitedly on a post-school session coffee that her brother was extremely worried about the health of these kids…. Ahh the humour. It is just one those Dutch things.

Some Facts

• ·         ‘Hagel’ can be translated into English as ‘hail’, which explains the name-shape of this interesting breakfast stuff.
• ·         It was first made in 1936 by Gerard de Vries for Venz, a Ducth company made popular by said treat.
• ·         English speakers may call them sprinkles or hundreds and thousands, in French they are known as nonpareils or dragée. Wikipedia knows everything.
• ·        Traditionally in the Netherlands, blue hagelslag are served up in celebration of a a new baby boy and pink for a girl. It sounds very cute and I hope to see this for real one day.

Enjoy your breakfast’s guys!!

Jo*