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The pie of the Low Countries
Vlaai
Appears in
Published 2023
A vlaai is a sweet pie or tart that usually contains fruit, rice pudding or a mixture of bread or old buns soaked in milk and flavoured with spices. The image of a vlaai with a lattice top is the most iconic depiction of a traditional vlaai, but they are also equally often made as an open pie or with a pastry lid. There are even vlaai with a crumble, sugar or schuim (foam) top.
Could the type of pastry, maybe, define what is a vlaai? Sadly not, because although they most commonly have a yeast-raised pie dough originally made with sifted rye flour, they can also be made with a richer shortcrust pastry. Today they are usually only made partially with sifted rye flour or completely with white wheat flour. The older recipes don’t even define the pastry. People would have used a sturdy dough of water and flour and maybe a little fat. Some pies wouldn’t have had, and still today don’t have, a crust at all.
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