Speculaas

There are several interpretations for the origins of the name speculaas. It may derive from Latin speculum, which means mirror and refers to the fact that the images are cut as a mirrored bas-relief into a wooden stamp, which is then used to decorate speculaas. Another, less likely, word origin refers to the Latin word speculator which, among other meanings, could refer to a bishop or St Nicholas' epithet, "he who sees everything". Still another possible source is Specerij, the Dutch word for spice.

A variant of the Dutch speculaas is the Belgian speculoos. Fewer spices (mostly just caramelized sugar as base ingredient) are involved in the process of making Belgian speculoos compared to the Dutch speculaas, as the spices were much more expensive to import to Belgium as opposed to the Netherlands. Belgian speculoos was developed in the 20th century around the area of Verviers, and made as an alternative for people who couldn't afford the real Dutch speculaas. [4]

The Belgian city of Hasselt is known for a local variety of speculoos. On 13 January 1870, Antoine Deplée, a baker from Hasselt, acquired a licence for Hasselt speculoos: "une espèce de pain d'amandes connu sous le nom de spéculation" ("a kind of almond 'bread' known under the name spéculation"). He sold this version locally and abroad.

The German Spekulatius, traditional in Westphalia and the Rhineland, is similar. It is popular throughout the country around Christmastime and usually not available at other times of the year.

In Europe, Lotus Speculoos is the most recognized brand. In the United States and United Kingdom, the same company is branded as Lotus Biscoff. In Oct 2020, Lotus Bakeries decided to omit the word "speculoos" from local markets, to harmonise their brand. [5] Several chains of supermarkets have started their own product under their generic name. In the US, you will often find the reference to Windmill Cookies or Almond windmill cookies, which are mostly based on Speculoos. Speculaas is often produced under local bakeries' brand names as well.

In the United States, the California-based and German-owned variety grocery store chain Trader Joe’s sells their own select brand of cookie butter, a thick buttery paste made up of the cookies, as well as their own cookie butter ice cream.

By 2007, several Belgian companies began marketing a paste variant of speculoos, now available worldwide under various brands and names: as Speculla, Cookie Butter, Biscoff Spread. As a form of spreadable Speculoos cookies, the flavor is caramelized and gingerbread-like, with a color similar to peanut butter[6] and a consistency ranging from creamy to granular or crunchy. The spread consists of 60% crushed speculoos cookies along with vegetable oils.[6][7]

Workers in the Low Countries traditionally made a sandwich in the morning with butter and speculaas or speculoos cookies. This would develop into a spread-like consistency by lunchtime.[1][7] In 2008, two competitors entered a contest on the Belgian television show, The Inventors (de Bedenkers), with a spread made from speculoos cookies[7][8] — Els Scheppers, who reached the semi-finals, and the team of chef Danny De Mayer and Dirk De Smet, who weren't selected as finalists. Spreads made from crushed Speculoos cookies would subsequently go into production by three separate companies and become popular.

• Cookie butter
• Ginger biscuit
• Kruidnoten, a thicker, harder biscuit made without molds with the same ingredients
• Springerle, a thicker, anise-flavoured, moulded Christmas biscuit from Germany

• Largest Spekulatius Cookie in the World