Koek as entertainment

Appears in

Dark Rye and Honey Cake: Festival baking from the heart of the Low Countries

Published 2023

About

At the village fair, koek is also used as entertainment. The practice of Capfen Koecken is illustrated on a wood or stone print depicting all the entertainment and food of the village fair. This was a practice for which either the hard edges of the koek were used, or a tough loaf koek was baked especially. A special little axe was then used to try to chop the koek in half. If you couldn’t do it, you had to pay for the koek; if you did it, bystanders had to pay.

Another more recent koek-related competition at village fairs was hanging buttered slices of koek from a tree or stick and trying to be the first to eat the dangling slice while your hands were tied behind your back, which often resulted in your face being covered in butter. This was also often done by couples who were courting.

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The Low Countries’ Gingerbread

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