Speculoos - a spiced shortcrust biscuit with roots that lead back to the netherlands, belgium and the celebration of saint nicholas, also known as sinterklaas (who inspired Santa Claus).
widely found during the feast of sinterklaas, this shortcrust biscuit (originally) had spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves and ginger. these spices found their way into a european biscuit through trade routes previously established by the dutch east indies spice trade.
health benefits?
None so far. Unfortunately, there are some things that just can’t pass off as healthy. Despite the abundance of information available today, it’ll be hard to find anything to suggest that Speculoos is a healthy snack. That being said, it is undeniably tasty.
speculaas
That is not a typo. The Belgium-Dutch spelling of this biscuit is Speculoos, while the Dutch spelling is Speculaas. The name may differ from country to country but it is often very similar - with the exception of America, where the name Speculoos was deemed too difficult to pronounce that they decided to name it Biscoff.
oh so tasty
So tasty are Speculoos biscuits that when United Airlines announced they would be taking it off their inflight menu, a writer for EATER (a food and dining site) published an article with the title “You can take my leg room, but you can never have my Biscoffs (Speculoos)”.
Cheesecake on steroids
You might have realised by now that unlike most of our other ingredients, we’re not that interested in the health benefits of Speculoos (are there even any?). What we must share is how lovely this unassuming biscuit is when eaten with cheesecake. Almost life-changing.
What’s in a name?
Move over, biscotti. Another pairing that works well with coffee is Speculoos. Dipped into an espresso, it softens a tad but still retains most of its amazing crunch. Unsurprisingly, the name Biscoff itself is a combination of ‘biscuit’ and ‘coffee’.