hagelslag (blowing hail?) are dutch chocolate sprinkles – invented in 1936 by mr. de vries, in reply to a child who wrote him asking for a chocolate topping to put on his bread. 
to use them, spread some butter on a piece of bread and sprinkle them on top. allow me to illustrate:
the butter is optional, but it helps them stick better. more than the different flavours, i think what makes hagelslag special is the texture – it’s just nice to bite the tiny crunchy pieces of chocolate, and let them slowly melt in your mouth…
they have a special kind of sprinkles called muisjes (little mice) that are spread on round rusks when a baby is born, and offered to friends or family. they’re either pink or blue, according to the sex of the newborn. isn’t that a nice tradition? :)
4 replies on “next, hagelslag!”
oh i looooooooooooove thooooossseeeee
[…] out of my country for the first time! 2. lived in the netherlands, discovered vla, stroopwaffles, hagelslag, fries with mayo and an underground bunker that controls the gas of the nation 3. wrote my master […]
[…] temptations, the anti-diet country: they had vla! oliebollen! stroopwaffles! chocolate letters! hagelslag! […]
How nice to meet you here Ana, when I was looking for information about the Stempel-Medina!
I live in the Netherlands and I’m on Postcrossing too, you know.
The pink or blue ‘muisjes’ are made by putting a layer around anise seeds and that’s why these ‘mice’ have a tiny tail. ;-)
And as you say, you eat them on a crispy round biscuit or rusk.