society

The Tart of War: Dutch and Flemish Pie Bakers Battle It Out

A minor conflict recently flared up between Dutch and Flemish bakers over the definition of a Limburg vlaai. Locals from both sides of the border love this fruit tart that appears on the table at birthdays, funerals and office parties. But Dutch bakers have recently started to criticise the Flemish bakers.

It’s all to do with new rules introduced by the European Union. For the past eight years, the Limburg bakers have been pressing the EU to add tasty Limburgse vlaai to its list of protected regional products. They want to stop supermarkets selling Limburg vlaai that isn’t the real thing. The EU finally added it to a list that includes Champagne, Tyrolean grey cheese and the tiny tomatoes grown in the region of Mount Vesuvius.

The rules for vlaai are strict. They have to be baked in Limburg. No cream can be added. And strawberries are definitely a no-no. When Belgian food inspectors checked the Flemish tarts, they only approved three out of 55 bakers, even though many had been making vlaai for generations. Meanwhile, across the border, almost all the Dutch bakers were allowed to call their tarts Limburgse vlaai.

It later turned out that the Belgian inspectors had got their sums wrong while inspecting different sizes of pies. They had miscalculated the ratio of diameter to weight, so the pies were deemed to be too lightweight.

The Dutch were quick to make fun of the Flemish. But it’s an easy mistake to make, a Flemish mathematician pointed out. The correct formula to use is, er, pie r squared.