Baron Hendrik Hop, geboren 1723, lebte um 1800 in Den Haag und mochte Kaffee sehr. Der Legende nach ließ er eines Abends seinen Kaffee mit Zucker und Sahne auf dem Ofen stehen und fand diese Mischung am nächsten Morgen als Karamel wieder. Angetan vom Geschmack dieses Zufallsprodukts und von seinem Arzt aufgefordert, keinen Kaffee mehr zu trinken, bat er seinen Nachbarn, einen Konditor, Bonbons dieser Art zu machen. So entstand die heute als „Haagsche Hopjes“ bekannte Süßigkeit. An deren Braunton lehnt sich die Tinte „Hopjesbruin“ des ebenfalls in Den Haag ansässigen Anbieters P.W. Akkerman an, und durch die Geschichte der Hopjes habe ich an dieser Tinte1 noch mehr Freude.
Danke an Wowter für die leckeren Haagsche Hopjes!
- Hier im Pilot Legno 89s.↩
Great story! I am glad you like them. You are more than welcome. The more you know about these Hopjes, the more they fascinate. I used to eat them at my grandmother’s. Not familiar with coffee that was a first experience with the brown fluid/substance. After the invention by Baron Hendrik Hop there were many backery stores producing them locally in The Hague. It was Rademaker that introduced the special, these days archetypical paper wrapping. Later, two brothers in the company became angry with one another. Similar to the Dassler-family. So there were even two companies producing them. The production of the this most popular brand Hopjes: Rademaker, was often transferred. From Sneek to Breda and finally after the take-over by Swedish multinational Cloetta the city of Cremona in Italy is the source for Rademaker Hopjes. Thus Made in EU! Well Italy being famous for the coffee culture might have even improved the taste. Indulge yourself!
Wowter, thank you for these details and – again – for the Hopjes :-) So the most popular maker of these sweets has an interesting history too. – I like the special wrapping and the design of the packaging. Both are great!