Lammetjespap

It's cold, dark, rainy and on top of that I'm not feeling all that hot. Well, actually I AM feeling hot, but not in a good way :-).

When kids (and not-so-kids) are feeling a bit under the weather, a comforting dish that's quickly made and often meets approval is something called "lammetjespap", lamb's porridge. Depending on where you were raised, that might either mean warm milk thickened with flour and sweetened with sugar (northern provinces). It's similar to bierpap but without the beer. Or it could be a couple of beschuiten (Dutch rusks) in warm milk with a generous serving of sugar, as they do in the southern provinces.

The beschuiten version was the one my grandma Pauline would make for me. She would break two beschuiten in a deep soup plate, sprinkle some sugar on top and pour warm milk from the stove. The dried rusks would soak up the milk, soften and turn into small, mushy pieces. I often wondered why it was called "lamb's porridge". The lumps of soaked rusk could vaguely resemble the woolly back of little lambs, I guess. Very vaguely, I realize, and surely the onset of a fever helps with the visualisation there. Maybe the name was given to the porridge because it was warm, comforting and just overall...well, woolly and cozy and warm. Just like a little lamb.

But the porridge is not just a contemporary dish. Lammetjespap was also standard on the menu for recovering TB-patients, many which were young children, during the early years of the 19th century. Prominent Frisians financed the Friesch Volkssanatorium voor Onvermogende Beginnende Borstlijders (Frisian Popular Recovery Center for Destitute Early Chest Sufferers) in an effort to halt the spreading of the contagious disease. Medication was, at that time, not yet available and because of its popular nature and low daily fee, the recovery center provided beds for the poor, but little else. The consumption patients had to recover with the help of light, air, a lot of rest and nutritious food, in this case lammetjespap.  The flour porridge (northern versions of lammetjespap consist of little more than milk, flour and sugar) was comforting, filling and delivered some nutritional value, albeit little, to the suffering ill.

Today is lammetjespap-day for me, the southern version. I'm cuddling up with a bowl, a blankie and a book. See you next week!


 

10 comments:

  1. Bambix was the lammetjespap of choice in my day, lol! I think the name was derived from the fact that during lambing some ewes died and their orphaned lambs had to be handreared. So 'lammetjespap' does not so much refer to the actual stuff lambs were fed but more the whole 'pampering and feeding poor widdle lamb' image. I think. Lol!

    Hope you'll be feeling better soon!

    Marion

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    1. Owie, I loved Bambix, and my grandma always made lammetjespap for me..so happy I found this site..thanks, Dutch girl in USA.

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  2. Thank you, Marion! I do feel much better. I do remember Bambix, loved it with Roosvicee...yum! I think you may be right with the explanation on where lammetjespap comes from, it sure makes sense!

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  3. The lammetjespap version I know is made with milk, riceflour and sugar and does look like a lambs wool, at least to me it does.

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  4. The lammetjespap that I know, is made with 'maizena', milk and sugar. :)

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  5. My Mum came from the North Groningen and she made it with Cornflour and Milk and sugar. Brings back memories

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  6. Ja, in Limburg aten we altijd beschuitenpap...yum!

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  7. Ook vaak gegeten, Beschuitenpap, bij ons was dat Poesjespap, of Poedjespap. Nooit eerder van lammetjespap gehoord

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  8. This doesn't seem like the Lammetjespap my mother made for us. She grew up in Budel, moved to Eindhoven when older, so is there a different recipe from Noord Brabant area?

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  9. Unknown, what did your mom's lammetjespap look like? As you can see from the comments above, and as mentioned in the article, many regions had different variations, and even within certain families they called it different names. In Noord-Brabant, the warm milk/flour/sugar variant as mentioned in the article is most often found. If your mom made it differently, or used different ingredients, I would be interested in learning about it.

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