Sweet Treats

Everyone in the world loves sweet treats. We are hardwired to love sweets. But everywhere in the world, cultures fashion their wares in delightfully different ways to fulfill our human craving for sweets. In Sweet Treats around the World , we explore this myriad feast of sweets with an emphasis on an anthropological approach that focuses on foods in a holistic, historical, and comparative manner, in a survey of sweet treats worldwide, by country or region.

A work of this nature, encompassing as it does more than 100 countries, must, by necessity, rely on secondary sources and the help of many people. Two things should be said about that: First, a genuine heartfelt "thank you" goes to all of the people known and unknown who made such an adventure possible, and second, the methodology involved inherently makes it impossible to do in-person checks on all aspects of the materials. Vigorous attempts have been made to check and cross-check materials, and when possible native residents and other professionals have been asked to review the materials and contribute their favorite recipes.

To the many who have done that, and have suggested helpful revisions and additions, we owe a great debt of gratitude, especially to . . .

Stanley E. Aschenbrenner, PhD (Greece)
Saba Andualem (Ethiopia)
Leonore Baeumler (Germany)
Manish Basu (India; Scotland)
Angela Batenburg (the Netherlands)
Janet Benson (Intercontinental)
Michael Burke (England)
Jorge L. Castiblanco Calderon (Colombia)
Kathy Cuddihy (Arabia)
Srita. Flor Díaz (Peru)
Jonathan Darby (Wales)
Karla Dudley (Canada)
Martha Lorena Espinosa (Mexico)
Teódulo Espinosa Victoria (Mexico)
Martha Elena Félix Brasdefer (Mexico)
Chad Gillard (Denmark)
Ieva Saulite Gorrilla (Latvia)
Christabel Smyth Grant (Ireland; Scotland)
Alena Hanáková (Czech Republic)
Jennifer E. Jones, PhD (Jordan)
Richiko Kamata (Japan)
Ruriko Kamata (Japan)
Takehito Kamata (Japan)
Markéta Křížová, PhD (Czech Republic)
Morris Levy, PhD (Belgium)
Maggi Macleod (Scotland)
Gabriella Oláh (Hungary)
Zoe-Elizabeth Sariyanni, PhD (Greece)
Asnakech (Ethiopia)
Carolyn Molloy (Australia)
Edwin King Murphy (Australia)
Srita. Luzmila Ojeda (Venezuela)
Ben Pawson (Scotland)
Barbara Heuberger Rose, PhD (Malta)
John-Mark Roufs (Mexico)
Claire Schmidt (New Zealand)
Dmitrii Svitich (Russia)
David Syring, PhD (Ecuador)
Abhilasha Shrestha (Nepal)
Neeru Shrestha (Nepal)
Puja Kafle (Nepal)
Mayssam Tamim (Arabia)
Melissa Olson Varanasi (Norway; Sweden)
Paul van Reyk (Sri Lanka)
Nora Vicinska (Latvia)
Anne-Louise Vidgen (Australia)
Gretchen Woodfield (Philippines)
Clifford A. Wright (Turkey)
Mai Xiong (Kazakhstan; Hmong)
The Staff at the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
The Staff at the Embassy of the Federative Republic of Brazil
The Staff at the Embassy of the Republic of Peru
The Wonderful Staff of the University of Minnesota Duluth Library

Maamoul (Shortbread Cookie-Like Pastry, Arabian Peninsula)
(Contributed by Mayssam Tamim of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.)

Lemon Delicious Pudding (Australia)
(Contributed by Carolyn Molloy of Pretty Beach, Sydney, Australia.)

Pavlova (Fruit Meringue Dessert, Australia)
(Contributed by Anne-Louise Vidgen of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.)

Rupjmaizes Kārtojums (Sweet Rye Trifle, Latvia)
(Contributed by Nora Vicinska of Talsi, Latvia.)

Bábovka (Light Rich Coffee Cake, Czech Republic)
(Contributed by Markéta Křížová and her mother, Alena Hanáková, of Prague, Czech Republic.)

Ovocné Knedlíky (Fruit Dumplings, Czech Republic)
(Contributed by Markéta Křížová and her mother, Alena Hanáková, of Prague, Czech Republic.)

Aunt Else's Æbleskivers (Popover-Like "Apple Slices" Pancakes, Denmark)
(Contributed by Chad Gillard, President, Aunt Else's Æbleskivers , Minneapolis, Minnesota.)

Ohrapiparit (Barley Cookies, Finland)
(From Ojakangas, Beatrice, The Great Scandinavian Baking Book, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1988.)

Lebkuchen (Christmas Spice Cookies, Germany)
(Contributed by Leonore Baeumler of Duluth, Minnesota.)

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Cake, Germany)
(Contributed by Leonore Baeumler of Duluth, Minnesota.)

Almás Pite (Sheet Cake Filled with Apples, Hungary)
(Contributed by Gabriella Oláh, of Budapest, Hungary.)

Gerbeaud Szelet (Gerbeaud Slice, Hungary)
(Contributed by Gabriella Oláh of Budapest, Hungary.)

Vargabéles (Noodle Strudel Pie, Hungary)
(Contributed by Gabriella Oláh of Budapest, Hungary.)

Gulab Jamoons (Gulab Jamuns , Spongy Milky Balls Soaked in Rose-Scented Sugar Syrup , India)
(Contributed by Sasikala Rajesh of Pondicherry, South India.)

Unyeasted Barmbrack (Currant and Raisin Bread, Ireland)
(Recipe contributed by Christabel Smyth Grant of Lake Nabagamon, Wisconsin.)

Yeast Loaf (Currant and Raisin Bread, Ireland)
(Contributed by Christabel Smyth Grant of Lake Nabagamon, Wisconsin.)

Botamochi and Ohagi (Sweet Rice Balls and Sweet Azuki Bean Paste, Japan)
(Contributed by Takehito Kamata and Richiko Kamata, with assistance from Ruriko Kamata, from the Tuhoku Region of Japan.)

Oshiruko (Sweet Azuki Bean Soup, Japan)
(Contributed by Takehito Kamata and Richiko Kamata, with assistance from Ruriko Kamata, from the Tuhoku Region of Japan.)

Zunda Mochis (Sweetened Endamame and Mochi Rice , Japan)
(Contributed by Takehito Kamata and Richiko Kamata, with assistance from Ruriko
Kamata, from the Tuhoku Region of Japan.)

Flan Casero (Caramel Custard, Mexico)
(Contributed by Martha Elena Félix Brasdefer of Puebla, Mexico.)

Panqué Casero Integral (Carrot Pound Cake, Mexico)
(Contributed by Martha Elena Félix Brasdefer of Puebla, Mexico.)

Xocolātl (Traditional Mexican Chocolate Beverage, Mexico)
(Recipe contributed by international award-winning Master Chocolatier and Pastry Chef Oscar Ortega of Atelier Ortega, Jackson, Wyoming, as featured in Mexican Chocolate: A Short History & Recipe. Accessed January 28, 2013. http://thelat inkitchen.com/article/mexican-chocolate-short-history-recipe.)

Barfi (Fudge-Like Sweet and Dessert, Nepal)
(Contributed by Puja Kafle of Duluth, Minnesota.)

Haluwa (Thick Pudding-like Dessert with Nuts and Raisins, Nepal)
(Contributed by Neeru Shrestha of Kathmandu, Nepal.)

Speculaas and Speculaas Spice Mix (Spiced Shortcrust Cookies, Netherlands)
(Contributed by Angela, Kees, Stephan, and Richard Batenburg of Rotterdam, Holland.)
These are a delicate, flaky, buttery version of a Dutch classic.

Apple and Feijoa Cake (New Zealand)
(Contributed by Claire Schmidt of Day's Bay, Wellington, New Zealand.)

Lemon Soufflé (Norway)
(Recipe of Theodora Christiansen Sivertson, brought from Egersund, Norway, in 1892, contributed by Nancy and Stuart Sivertson of Duluth, Minnesota.)

Sandkaker/Sandbakkel (Almond Butter-molded Cookies, Norway)
(Contributed by Roxanne Simonds of Lester Prairie, Minnesota.)

Snø¸ Pudding with Custard Sauce (Snow Pudding, Norway)
(Recipe of Theodora Christiansen Sivertson, brought from Egersund, Norway, in 1892, contributed by Nancy and Stuart Sivertson of Duluth, Minnesota. Theodora Christiansen, whose family ran a restaurant in Egersund, emigrated to America in 1892 to marry Severin "Sam" Sivertson who began commercial fishing on Isle Royale, Michigan, in the 1890s.)

Custard Sauce for Snø Pudding (Norway)
(Contributed by Roxanne Simonds of Lester Prairie, Minnesota.)

Clootie Dumpling (Sweet Pudding Steamed in a Cloth, Scotland)
(Contributed by John Matheson, of Munlochy, Scotland, and Christabel Smyth Grant of Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin, from the Scottish Women's Rural Institutes Cookery Book, Edinburgh, Lomond Books, 2002.)

Cranachan (Oatmeal, Raspberry, Whisky, and Honey Dessert, Scotland)
(Contributed by Christabel Smyth Grant of Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin.)

Dundee Cake (Rich Cherry-Less Fruit Cake, Scotland)
(Contributed by Ben Pawson of Edinburgh, Scotland, who shared his mother's recipe, along with Sue Pawson's words of wisdom. "Some recipes are a lot richer than this, more like a Christmas Cake which isn't what you want for an everyday cake. I sometimes make it to use up any leftover dried fruit I might have after making the Christmas cake, usually about the February after Christmas.")

Shortbread (Crumbly Buttery Sugar Cookies, Scotland)
(Contributed by Christabel Smyth Grant of Lake Nabagamon, Wisconsin.)

Tablet (Semi-Hard Fudge-Like Sugar Confection, Scotland)
(Family recipe contributed by Maggi Macleod of Dornach, Scotland.)

Nome Shek Chiene (Banana Fritters, Cambodia)
(Contributed by Ching Ing and Sothira Te, Eden Prairie, Minnesota.)

Ada de La Harpe's Christmas Cake (Sri Lanka)
(Courtesy of her grandson, Paul van Reyk, from The Recipe Book of Ada de la Harpe, a Sri Lankan Dutch Burgher Woman, 2013. Sydney, Australia: Privately Published, pp. 95-97. Accessed July 27, 2013.
http://www.paulvanreyk.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/The-Recipe-Book-of-Ad-de-la-Harpe_First-edition_2013.pdf
issuu.com/foodwriter/docs/the_recipe_book_of_ad_de_la_harpe_first_edition_20
This is an adaptation of the transcription of Ada de La Harpe's Christmas Cake recipe provided by Paul van Reyk. For a beautiful facsimile version of the original from Ada's "Cookery Book" see van Reyk (2013), pp. 95-97.

Ada de La Harpe's "Singapore Pudding," and Sago Pudding (Sri Lanka)
(Courtesy of her grandson, Paul van Reyk, from The Recipe Book of Ada de la Harpe, a Sri Lankan Dutch Burgher Woman, 2013. Sydney, Australia: Privately Published, p. 100. Accessed July 27, 2013.)
http://www.paulvanreyk.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/The-Recipe-Book-of-Ad-de-la-Harpe_First-edition_2013.pdf
issuu.com/foodwriter/docs/the_recipe_book_of_ad_de_la_harpe_first_edition_20

Ada de La Harpe's "Sweets" (Sweetened "Cajunuts" [Cashews], Sri Lanka)
(Courtesy of her grandson, Paul van Reyk, from The Recipe Book of Ada de la Harpe, a Sri Lankan Dutch Burgher Woman, 2013. Sydney, Australia: Privately Published, pp. 99-100. Accessed 27 July 2013.)
http://www.paulvanreyk.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/The-Recipe-Book-of-Ad-de-la-Harpe_First-edition_2013.pdf
issuu.com/foodwriter/docs/the_recipe_book_of_ad_de_la_harpe_first_edition_20

Pepparkakor (Crisp, Thin Gingersnaps, Sweden)
(From Melissa Olson Varanasi, St. Paul, Minnesota, passed down from her Swedish
Grandmother.)

Sweet Soup/Fruit Soup (Sweden)
(Contributed by Melissa Olson Varanasi, St. Paul, Minnesota, from a recipe by Gudrun Kjelshus, in Vær Så God, a church cookbook from the Zion Lutheran Church in Hanska, Minnesota, Worthington, MN: CCSI [Crippled Children's School], 1986.)

Ojibwa American Indian Fry Bread ("Indian Donuts", United States)
(Adapted from Paul Buffalo, When Everybody Called Me Gah-bay-bi-nayss, Ball Club, Minnesota, 1971. Accessed April 6, 2014.
http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/Buffalo/pbwww.html#title.

Twelve-Egg Chiffon Cake (United States)
(Tested and contributed by Claire, Eli, and Nora Roufs of Duluth, Minnesota, and Casey Pedro Roufs of Cleveland Heights, Ohio.)

Bara Brith (Speckled Bread, Wales)
(Contributed by Jonathan Darby of London, England.)

Welsh Cakes (Wales)
(Contributed by Jonathan Darby of London, England.)

And we thank the many who recorded, publilshed, and shared traditional and original reciped in print and on the web, known and unknown. Sources for those recipes are noted with the various recipes included in the text.

We enjoyed the journey together, with our many friends, through this amazingly sweet world and are grateful that our grandchildren—Casey Pedro, Claire Kathleen, Eli Campbell, and Nora Elizabeth—were willing to occasionally accept homemade sweet treats in lieu of our time.

Thanks are also due to our wonderful editor Kaitlin Ciarmiello, Senior Acquisitions Editor, Geography and World Cultures, and Erin Ryan, Senior Coordinator, Editorial Operations at ABC-CLIO, to Sivakumar Vijayaraghavan, Copy Editor, for his insightful copyediting, and Sasikala Rajesh, Senior Project Manager, for her invaluable assistance, and to the equally wonderful staff of the University of Minnesota Duluth Library.

While we are grateful for all of these important contributions, any responsibility for errors is our own.

We apologize to the people of the many interesting cultures of the world whose delectable treats would simply not fit into a work of this size and nature.

In this volume, general statistics and data come from the World Fact Book (2013).
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

We have been influenced by, rely on, and recommend the works of . . .

Harold McGee in the area of food chemistry (2004) . . .

• McGee, Harold. On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. New York: Scribner, 2004.

Maguelonne Toussaint-Samat in the general area of food history (2009) . . .

• Toussaint-Samat, Maguelonne. A History of Food. 2nd ed. Translated by Anthea Bell. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.

Michael Krondl (2011), Sidney W. Mintz (1986), and Tim Richardson (2002) more specifically for the history of sweets . . .

• Krondl, Michael. Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert. Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2011.
  
  
• Mintz, Sidney W. Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History. New York: Penguin, 1986.
  
  
• Richardson, Tim. Sweets: A History of Candy. New York: Bloomsbury, 2002.

Alan Davidson (2006) for selected details on sweets and food in general . . .

• Davidson, Alan. The Oxford Companion to Food, edited by Tom Jaine. 2nd ed . New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.

John Dobbing (1987), Michael Moss (2013), and Joanne Chen (2008) on sweetness . . .

• Dobbing, John (Ed.). Sweetness. London: Springer-Verlag, 1987.
  
  
• Moss, Michael. Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us. New York: Random House, 2013.
  
  
• Chen, Joanne. The Taste of Sweet: Our Complicated Love Affair with Our Favorite Treats. New York: Three Rivers, 2008.

Felipe Fernández- Armesto (1987, 2002, 2009, 2010) for general history . . .

• Fernández-Armesto, Felipe. Before Columbus: Exploration and Colonization from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, 1229-1492. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1987.
  
  
• Fernández-Armesto, Felipe. Near a Thousand Tables: A History of Food. New York: The Free Press, 2002.
  
  
• Fernández-Armesto, Felipe. 1492: The Year the World Began. New York: Harper Collins, 2009.
  
  
• Fernández-Armesto, Felipe. The World: A History . 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2010.

Helen C. Brittin (2011) for a useful checklist of foods of the world . . .

• Brittin, Helen C. The Food and Culture around the World Handbook. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2010.

and Lynne Olver (2013) for a useful food timeline . . .

• Olver, Lynne. "Food Timeline."
  http://www.foodtimeline.org/.