Muisjes (ˈmœyʃəs) are a traditional Dutch

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 open-faced sandwich topping, very similar to nonpareils

Nonpareils

Nonpareils are a decorative confection of tiny balls made with sugar and starch, traditionally an opaque white but now available in many colors. Their origin is uncertain, but they may have evolved out of the pharmaceutical use of sugar, as they were a miniature version of comfits...

. While customary on bread, their most typical use is on beschuit, or rusk

Rusk

A rusk is a hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a baby teething food. In the United Kingdom, the name also refers to a wheat-based food additive.- Germany :The zwieback A rusk is a hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a baby teething food....

. Muisjes are made of aniseed sprinkles

Sprinkles

Sprinkles are very small pieces of confectionery used as a decoration or to add texture to desserts—typically cupcakes, cookies, doughnuts, ice cream, frozen yogurt, and some puddings...

 with a sugar

Sugar

Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...

ed and colored outer layer. Muisjes, meaning "little mice" in Dutch, are named thusly because the anise seed sprinkles are shaped like little mice, with the stem of the anise seed resembling a tail. They are made by one company only, De Ruijter.

Beschuit met muisjes

In the Netherlands, it is a custom at the birth of a baby to eat muisjes on top of rusk--beschuit met muisjes; the anise in the muisjes was thought to stimulate lactation

Lactation

Lactation describes the secretion of milk from the mammary glands and the period of time that a mother lactates to feed her young. The process occurs in all female mammals, however it predates mammals. In humans the process of feeding milk is called breastfeeding or nursing...

, and they symbolized fertility

Fertility

Fertility is the natural capability of producing offsprings. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction...

.

As early as the 17th century, the parents of a newborn baby gave away beschuit with a layer of butter

Butter

Butter is a dairy product made by churning fresh or fermented cream or milk. It is generally used as a spread and a condiment, as well as in cooking applications, such as baking, sauce making, and pan frying...

 and muisjes to the baby's visitors. This tradition continues today. Beschuit with Muisjes are given to the baby's visitors at home, and are brought by older siblings to share at school. Every supermarket in the Netherlands sells boxes of muisjes. "De Ruijter" is currently the only brand in production of muisjes. They have been making them since 1860.

Before the 20th century, visitors to a newborn baby got only white muisjes, then this changed to a mix of pink and white muisjes for both boys and girls. With the introduction of blue muisjes, pink muisjes are now reserved for baby girls only.

Orange muisjes were sold for only one week in December 2003, in honour of the birth of future crown princess Catherina-Amalia

Princess Catharina-Amalia of the Netherlands

The official origins of her given names:*Catharina has been speculated to be after Henriette Catherine of Nassau *Amalia is after Amalia of Solms-Braunfels *Beatrix is after her paternal grandmother, the Queen of the Netherlands...

. They were also eaten in 1938 at the birth of Queen Beatrix--orange is the color of the Dutch royal family, the House of Orange-Nassau

House of Orange-Nassau

The House of Orange-Nassau , a branch of the European House of Nassau, has played a central role in the political life of the Netherlands — and at times in Europe — since William I of Orange organized the Dutch revolt against Spanish rule, which after the Eighty Years' War...

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Gestampte muisjes

Gestampte muisjes ("crushed muisjes") are muisjes crushed to powder, which are sprinkled onto a slice of bread or a Dutch rusk over butter, a customary breakfast food for Dutch children.

See also

• Suikerboon
  Suikerboon
  A suikerboon , or sugar bean, is a type of sweet traditionally given on the occasion of the birth or baptism of a child in Belgium and parts of the Netherlands. In French, they are called dragées...
  
  , or "sugar bean", the equivalent food on the occasion of a birth in Flanders
  Flanders
  Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
  
  
• List of sandwiches