• A look at Breudher, often paired with Edam cheese

It’s Christmas time – just the time to savour some timeless Christmas treats, like Breudher, Christmas cake, Christmas pudding, and mince pies.

Over the years, the Breudher has become a special part of Sri Lankan Christmas celebrations. It is a traditional Ceylon Dutch Burgher cake and – to give more context for overseas readers – it is a richer, more cake-like version of the Italian Christmas bread called Panettonne.

I had the fortune to catch up with Chirath Devasurendra, Managing Director at Green Cabin in Colombo, who told me Green Cabin has been making Breudhers since the early 1900s (that is for more than 100 years) and that the Breudher is one of their signature products. The Breudher is usually baked in a fluted mould that is made of iron or brass. According to Madura Gamage, Head Chef at Green Cabin, the recipe consists of wheat flour, yeast, butter, sugar, egg yolk, milk, and sultanas (or raisins). He told me a special type of yeast is used for making the Breudher, when compared to that used for making bread. It is recorded that nutmeg and cinnamon may also be added. Interestingly, the recipe for making Breudher is listed in the 1927 ‘Ceylon Daily News Cookery Book’.

In Sri Lanka, a Breudher is traditionally served for Christmas breakfast and on New Year’s Day. It is cut into slices and eaten with a generous layer of butter. Edam cheese, ‘kolikuttu’ plantains, or jam, or different combinations of these, are listed as accompaniments by different persons. I can confirm that Edam cheese is an excellent accompaniment and a few bits of information about this popular traditional Dutch cheese are also given below.

Variations

Variants of the Ceylon Dutch Burgher Breudher are found in Malacca (Malaysia), Indonesia, Cochin (India), and Singapore. It is called Bluder or Bludel in Indonesia and Bleuda in Singapore. In Malacca, toddy (the fermented sap from the flower of a coconut tree) has supposedly been used on some occasions, instead of yeast. In Cochin, India, maida flour (made from the white part of the wheat grain), ghee, and orange candied peel are listed as being used. Here it is generally made into a bread loaf and is also said to be served at an event that occurs seven days after a funeral.

Portuguese Eurasians from Malacca claim the Breudher originated from there. However, one needs to remember that in the early 1900s, a large number of Ceylon Burghers migrated to Malacca and they would have taken their culinary skills and food repertoire across with them.

Brood and Broodje are Dutch words for bread and sandwich respectively. Some commentators have suggested that Breudher originated from the traditional Dutch Broeder cake. The bag in which the Dutch Breudher is cooked is called Broedezak. Furthermore, the breakfast bread, Ontbijtkoek (also called peperkoek or kruidkoek), is a Dutch bread that is sweet, contains spices, and is eaten with butter, and some have likened the Breudher to this. Another point of view is that Breudher is a derivative of the Dutch word Brood-tulband, which refers to the fluted turban shaped mould used to make it.

Edam cheese

This is one of the famous cheeses to have originated in the Netherlands. It is named after the town of Edam in Northern Holland. Edam is a pale yellow semi-hard cheese, with a smooth nutty flavour or taste. It is round in shape and has a red wax coating. For export from the Netherlands, the rind of the cheese is covered in wax, so as to shield against contamination and help with transportation.

The history of Edam cheese can be traced back to the 14th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries, it became a vital export product, owing to its long shelf life and ability to withstand different weather conditions, encountered during long and hazardous sea journeys. Edam has a significantly lower fat content (approximately 28%) compared to many of the other traditional international cheeses. Traditionally, no additives or preservatives are used in the production of Edam. It is an excellent source of calcium.

Breudher and Edam cheese, the two foods described here, have strong Dutch links. Many a person belonging to the wonderful community of Dutch Burghers from Ceylon (Sri Lanka) would recount memorable, interesting, and beautiful anecdotes and stories about their relatives (especially their grandmothers, mothers, and aunts) getting the important Breudher ready for the Christmas season.     

(The writer is a medical doctor, academic, and nature, history, and art enthusiast)

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The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication