Oliebollen fact! That’s how many we eat in Zoetermeer every year

It’s almost old and new and the streets of Zoetermeer are filled with the smell of… oliebollen! Every year, many Zoetermeer residents feast on this creamy delicacy. But how many oliebollen do we actually eat together? In the category ‘a bit useless, but fun facts’, below the answer.

First of all, a little bit of history about the oliebol. Did you know that this snack has been eaten in the Netherlands for a long time? There are various theories about how and when the oliebol was first baked here, but in 1668 the cookbook ‘De sensible kock, ort Sorghheilige huyshoudster’ already contained a recipe for olie-koecken, as they were still called at the time.

Long lasting snack

In the past, the deep-fried dough snack was eaten throughout the winter period, because it had a relatively long shelf life and few fresh products were available during that period. Only in the 19th century did the oliebol become the figurehead of our turn of the year.

That’s how much we eat in Zoetermeer

But now, how many do we eat in Zoetermeer? Television program Willem Wever once discovered that the Dutch consume an average of eight oliebollen per person per year. Our city has about 125,000 inhabitants. That means we have about a million eat oliebollen a year! Admittedly, this is a rough average, and is therefore about the number per year and not per turn of the year. Because who knows, Zoetermeer residents already have a lot more than average at the stalls in Zoetermeer!

More oil balls

Hungry for this tasty tidbit? You can read about where in Zoetermeer you can go to score such a tasty dough bite.

Sources: Willem Wever/KRO-NCRV, Historien.nl