Tompouce

A Tompouce (also Tompoes [ tɔmpu ˑ s] ) is a typical Dutch pie. It consists of a layer of puff pastry with a thick layer of vanilla pudding. Moreover there is a further layer, consisting of puff pastry. It is generally pink, and coated with a glaze. On Queen's Day and to cause important football matches of the Dutch national team, the glaze usually has the national color of the Netherlands: orange. Characteristic of the Tompouce is the " brick mold ". The Tompouce is an imitation of the famous French mille feuille -, the spread in the wake of the Napoleonic conquests over Europe.

History of the name

Supposedly, the Tompouce should first be offered in a bakery in Amsterdam when the circus of Phineas Taylor Barnum from the U.S. guested there. There appeared Charles Sherwood Stratton (1838-1883) as a sensation. He was a patient suffering from short stature man, who measured only 63.5 cm and appeared under the name of General Tom Thumb. A few years later came the diminutive January Hannema (1839-1878) under the name Admiral Tom Pouce on in the Netherlands. Presumably he got the inspiration for the name choice of his American colleagues. Pouce is French for " thumb ". Both names refer to a fairy tale character who is known in English under the name " Tom Thumb " of Grimm's fairy tales.