Typically Dutch Series
This year, the Typically Dutch series focuses on foods and dishes that are typical for the Netherlands. This fourth issue focuses on the custard slice, aka the tompouce. The tompouce, also spelled tompoes, is a pastry shaped like a small brick. It consists of two layers of puff pastry with crème pâtissière and, occasionally, whipped cream in between the layers. The top is glazed, usually with pink icing (or orange on King’s Day).The name tompouce harks back to Tom Pouce, the French translation of Tom Thumb.
Tom Thumb (who was eaten by a cow) appears in children’s stories as early as the 17th Century. The little man was no bigger than his father’s thumb. Once upon a time, the expression tompouce was used in Dutch to refer to all kinds of small things, such as a dwarf geranium or a lady’s umbrella.There are various explanations for the name of this particular pastry. The first tompouce was supposed to have been created in 1845 by a patisserie in Amsterdam as a variation on the French millefeuille pastry. Legend has it that he named his pastry after an artist by the name of General Tom Thumb, who was allegedly only 66 cm tall. The big American circus with the little man performed in the Netherlands in the middle of the nineteenth century. The Typically Dutch – tompouce stamps feature a tompouce with pink icing, lying on a white plate with a knife and fork on either side. The tompouce has been photographed at an angle from the top, just showing a little filling. The logo for the Typically Dutch series is printed underneath the plate, including a folded Dutch banner on the left and right. The words Mmm… Tompouce are printed in a strong cursive font above the plate.
Issue Date:06.04.2020 Designer:Edwin van Praet, Total Design, Amsterdam Printer:Joh. Enschedé Security Print, Haarlem Process:Offset Colours:cyan, magenta, yellow and black
