Our hearts are caught somewhere between Jasper Johns and Hagelslag
By Hannah Burtness
In the Netherlands they eat sprinkles (otherwise known in the States as jimmies) on buttered bread or toast. Contrary to what you may be thinking: it is delicious. Hagelslag is enjoyed all the time, but also on special occasions, like when a new baby is born. These sprinkles (often chocolate) (but also often colorful fruit flavors) live in the same happy world as this new TSH Jersey.
cultural chutzpah
I ask you: what sort of cultural chutzpah, what type of national joie de vivre does it take for grown men [and young men, and old women, and middle-aged librarians] to not only have chocolate sprinkles on buttered toast for breakfast or lunch, but to think nothing of it? The Dutch know. They know the happiness that comes from good bread, good butter, and hagelslag. Before your morning bike to work, or your morning dropping the kids off at school in the bakfiets, or after your afternoon training ride: sprinkles. They also know that when you’re cycling that much (they really do cycle an awful lot) there’s nothing “sinful” about eating what America thinks of as candy, on buttered bread.
lekker hagelslag
Think of this kit as a moment of the Dutch life: from the grey skies above to the hail of lekker hagelslag raining on your jersey, to jumping on your bike and setting out: embrace the moments of sweetness that lie within even the most ordinary of days. Whether you wear this light and comfortable suit for that special ride you’ve been planning all year, or to brighten up the everyday: embrace the evanescence that sprinkles represent. Tossed on one moment, enjoyed the next, and in the end: a happy memory.
