I have said it before and I will say it again - one of the side perks of writing fiction is the food research. My current novel-in-progress takes place in, amongst other locations, the Netherlands. The protagonist is an American of Dutch and French descent who has many happy memories of time spent with her grandmothers. Like many memories of grandmothers, the protagonist's memories often involve food. In the course of writing a scene which takes place in an Amsterdam cafe, I needed the protagonist to have a memory of her Dutch grandmother evoked by the aroma of something she was eating. I used the fact that I am not of Dutch descent as an excuse to research Dutch coffeehouse sweets. One item I particularly enjoyed researching was the stroopwafel.
The stroopwafel is a cookie that looks like two small waffles put together. The waffles are thin, slightly crispy, and sweet. In between the two layers is a caramel filling made from syrup (the name means "syrup waffle"), brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon. With no access to an Amsterdam cafe, I purchased packaged stroopwafel. Right out of the box, the stroopwafel smells and tastes delicious. I learned though, that the cookies are sometimes place atop a cup of coffee. The heat of the coffee warms and softens the caramel and also augments the aroma of the cookie. The consumption of multiple stroopwafels was required to fully research the topic.
For reasons having nothing to do with its deliciousness, the stroopwafel did not make it into the scene. It did make it into my mouth and onto my list of Dutch treats I love. Would it be weird to pick a location for my next fictional piece based on the food I would have to try?
Comments