The Dutch are very familiar with it, Indonesians not yet. Sometimes it is even compared to bakso because of the shape and size. Another association is poffertjes. For those wo do not know them, these are very little pancakes. However, once they have tasted this Dutch treat, they know it is nothing like poffertjes or bakso. It is actually much better.
So what are we talking about here? We are talking about bitterballen. Translating it to English you would call them bitter balls. The name is not based on its taste, but with the drink it used to be consumed, Bittertje. Throughout the ages the recipe and way of preparation has been perfected. The bitterballen as we know them today were actually first made by a genious wife of a landlord that run a pub in Amsterdam during the Dutch Golden Age. There the bitterballen were served with beer. The idea was to prevent hungry guests from leaving the pub. Until today the combination beer and bitterballen still works like magic.
This inspires a group of young men to see if there is potential for this delight and see if they can share bitterballen with Indonesia. The first results of this research are promising, but we are not done yet. Still more research needs to be done to see in what way the bitterballen can be brought to the people in the best way possible.
If you just got curious, stay on the look out. Maybe soon you will encounter these bitterballen close to your place. In the meantime, enjoy your bakso.
