-
How to continue a tradition: do you know vlaai?
Recently, conversations with friends who do not eat dairy confronted me with the following question: is vlaai (pronounce “vly” as in fly) made without milk and butter still vlaai? My heart sank at the idea. The smell of butter gently melting in the pan with some milk. Then added to the flour and yeast, lukewarm. The dough kneading in my hands like warm velvet smelling like the one and only ultimate food in the world.…
-
How to continue a tradition: the identity of vlaai?
A tradition is not just the combination of what a people need and what they have. More than that, it is the materialisation of how they see the world and what they do with it. How they find joy in their daily lives, how they please themselves and satisfy their appetite. Similarly, vlaai is a reflection of the landscape, of technological developments, of wars being waged and new cultures being introduced. But rather than just…
-
How to continue a tradition: the spirit of vlaai
Continuing a tradition is a process. The tradition continues from generation to generation, evolving organically with the changing environmental and social circumstances. On an individual level, taking over a tradition from the generation before, is also a personal journey towards autonomy, not just evolving but created within circumstances, situations and desires, created while growing older. My grandmother switched from baking with butter to margarine (big Dutch margarine industry at the time, first beginnings of Unilever),…
-
How to continue a tradition: make vlaai with me
A typical start for vlaai baking: for weeks, I had planned to make you vlaai filled with rice pudding, as it is one of my and my family’s favourites. Making it shows how much technique and finesse there is involved in the tradition of vlaai, how much of an art it is. Rice vlaai is royal like a queen. Then, the weather changed. Suddenly it was 25 degrees out and I was really not in…