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St. Nicholas
During a weekend,
close to 5th December, St. Nicholas celebrations
are organised.
The Saint and one or more of his trusted helpers visit the
members of DAG. He brings gifts for the good children.
Traditional St. Nicholas foods are eaten and a happy
sing-sing occurs.
St. Nicholas
explained
In the fourth
century A.D. St. Nicholas was the bishop of Myra, which is
now situated in Turkey. According to the legend, he saved
his town from starvation. He is also said to have revived
three dead children, and to have offered gifts of dowries to
poor girls. Some sources say that he died on the sixth of
December in 343. In 1087 his relics were taken to Bari in
Italy. It is unclear why, according to the Dutch tradition,
he comes from Spain. Possibly it has something to do with
the fact that St. Nicholas was the patron of sailors. In the
17th century Holland was famous for its navigation. Maybe by
contact with Spanish sailors this myth began. It could also
explain why St. Nicholas has "zwarte (black) pieten" to help
him because the Moors dominated Spain for several hundreds
of years. (Another [more popular] explanation for "zwarte
piet" being black is that he has come down the chimneys so
often [see below] that he can't wash the dirt off.)
His legendary gifts
of dowries to poor girls led to the custom of giving gifts
to children on the eve of his feast day, 6 December. The
companions of St. Nicholas (in Germany and Austria they are
called "Knecht Ruprecht" or "Krampus") show the victory over
evil. Together with his "pieten" he visits children to
punish the evil ones and to reward the good ones. The worst
punishment is to be taken to Spain in "zwarte piet's" bag
out of which the good children get the sweets (called "pepernoten",
"taai-taai", or "schuimpjes") and presents. A less radical
punishment is to get the "roede" (rod) instead of presents.
Nowadays there are not much evil children any more...
A few weeks before
his feastday St. Nicholas comes to Holland (and Belgium) on
his steamer with all his "pieten" and the presents which
they prepared in Spain during the year. This event can be
seen on Dutch television. From his arrival in Holland till
his feastday the children can put their shoes in front of
the fireplace. During the night St. Nicholas visits all the
houses by travelling over the roofs on his horse,
traditionally a white/grey (called "Schimmel" in dutch), and
"zwarte piet" enters the houses through the chimney to put
little presents in the children's shoes. Sometimes the
children put straw, carrots and water near the shoe for the
horse.
On the eve of his feast day St. Nicholas visits all
children. After knocking on the door he gives them a bag
full of presents (if they were good children). Early in the
morning of 6 December, when he has
visited everyone, he leaves and goes back silently to Spain,
to come back next year.
Look at the recipes for traditional St.
Nicholas foods:
Pea
soup
Speculaas
(spiced biscuits)
Marsipan
Banketstaaf
( pastry filled with marzipan)
Taai
– taai (spiced cake)
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