Speculoos, a Belgian tradition

Speculoos, also known as the spiced biscuit from Lotus Bakeries have recently been added to the intangible heritage list of the city of Brussels. According to the Brussels heritage cell, the tradition of making real speculoos dates back to the 18th century.

In Brussels, around thirty bakers and pastry chefs still make the cookies in the traditional way, often in the period around Sinterklaas, a typical Belgian and Dutch traditional feast where the predecessor of today's Santa Claus is celebrated on December 6. But speculoos is also a very popular gift at Christmas and New Year. Then they are made in different shapes and figures.

Picture by Pixabay

The request to include speculoos to the Brussels heritage list came from Maison Dandoy, the oldest biscuit baker in Belgium, with roots dating back to 1828. But also in the rest of Belgium, making speculoos is an old tradition.

Picture by Lotus Bakeries

All over the world, speculoos is now known as that little Lotus biscuit that people often get with their coffee. You also get it on many US flights. Lotus Bakeries has recently decided to change the name speculoos to Biscoff because for them that would be a better name to handle the Belgian cookie internationally.

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