Back in mid-2006 I complained about getting screwed out of a trip to Amsterdam and missing out on Thorwald Voss’s Love Krokets.

Since then, I’ve been in touch with the Grand Master himself, Chef Thor, or Chef Kroket, as he is more commonly known.

This morning he emailed me to say that he has abandoned the Love Kroket (curses! I never tried it–and neither did you, I bet; read more about them here) in favor of a more streamlined fried-food experience: gourmet bitterballen.

If krokets are doughnuts, bitterballen are the doughnut holes–handy and bite-size, and so small that you wind up eating a larger quantity of fried crispy goodness than you would if you stared down just one kroket. Also, bitterballen have a better fried-surface-area-to-inner-goo ratio.

Thor is calling his new bitterballen Love Bites. Naturally. Read all about them here. For those of you who don’t read Dutch, just know that Thor has been working on these delicious little beauties (all vegetarian, btw) for seven years, and they currently come in three flavors: Popeye, a combo of spinach and gorgonzola; Coco Thai, a spicy coconut curry job that is, incidentally, baked, not fried; and Torri Jappi, a teriyaki approach, with mango and ginger.

I cannot wait to let the Love Bites rock my world this summer!

In the meantime, I’m wondering… If Thor was going by the moniker Chef Kroket, what will he be called now that he’s focusing on a new fried snack? Chef Balls? I hope so!

[Here’s my report on meeting Chef Thor, a few months later…]