Winter Stall · Fried Dough Balls

Oliebollen

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Dutch oliebollen stalls can sell well over a million balls in the final week of December alone.

Oliebollen are round, yeasted dough balls — often studded with raisins, currants, and diced apple — deep-fried until dark golden and dusted heavily with powdered sugar. Seasonal wooden kraam (stalls) pop up on Dutch street corners from mid-November through New Year's Eve, frying them fresh in huge vats of oil.

Why it's made this way: The dish likely descends from Germanic winter-solstice fried-dough offerings meant to ward off evil spirits with hot fat, and it's now inseparable from Dutch Oudjaarsavond (New Year's Eve) celebrations.