Real Belgian cuisine-what is it?

[shootingstar]

Ok, globalization of cuisine is mixing our brains up abit..that it can become tougher for tourists visiting some foreign non-North American places AND on limited time, to find real local cuisine...and without spending huge local currency.

So dearie will be in Belgium in 2 wks. for 1 wk. of which 1/2 of the time he will be grazing on food provided by conference. To save time, just what is Belgian cuisine? We just have stereotypical (wrong?) ideas-- mussels, ale, smoked fish, Belgian chocolates..

When he was in Copenhagen for several days last year, he and his cycling buddy actually had hard time finding real Danish cuisine. They ended up eating other stuff --Asian, East Indian, Italian.. Even their local Danish cycling advocate was at a loss to recommend.

[papaver]

Belgian Cuisine is a lot like french cuisine but... better. Honestly.

Your hubby is lucky because it's white aspargus time. So he definately should order some "Asperges à la Flamande".



It's a real delicate vegetarian dish.

Then there's carbonades à la flamande



it's a delicious beef stew made with beer with fries and mayonaise (of course)

Chicons or witlof



Brussels endive with ham and cheese. Served with mashed potatoes.

Gentse Waterzooi



It's made of chicken or fish, it's what we call a 'meal soup'. Very nice.

I could go on and on and on.

All the foreigners I have met, they always say the same thing: you eat well in Belgium. And I agree. Really.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_of_Belgium

[papaver]

Oh and I wouldn't order moules frites right now. It's not really the right time.

Oh and Paling in 't groen. That's eel in a delicate green herbs sauce. Yum!

[shootingstar]

Thx so much papaver. Very interesting.
You brought back happy memories of white asparagus for him when he was in Germany for 1 wk. (after Denmark). During his trip last year, he emailed me digital photos of piles of fresh white asparagus at the German farmers' markets. He was in heaven...I'm not kiddin'. And I didn't know that the pricing of white asparagus went up exponentially if they have been picked within hrs. of same day.

And he made sure he dined on white asparagus with white sauce when he was there. Ever since I've known him, he had this white asparagus craze that he wanted to fulfill. It's a German traditional cuisine thing also.


I'm sure he will try eel...apparently German traditional cuisine has this also. (I've never tried the German style yet...just Japanese barbecued eel which I like.)

If you don't have as much potatoes in Belgian cuisine, what is the starch, bread? So Belgian desserts...what are they?

[papaver]

bread.

With the aspargus. But he really has to try them à la flamande. That's with cleared butter, hard boiled egg, and parsley. So simple and delicate.

He also should try 'tomate crevettes'. That's tomatoes and gray shrimps.



Deserts same as in France: Chocolate mousse, rijstpap (kind of rice pudding), Brussels waffles (they are NOT breakfast). Don't ask for a belgian waffle (there's no such thing ) Dame Blanche, that's vanilla ice with whipped cream and a warm chocolate sauce.

[Grog]

Waffles on the street.

I agree that one often eats better in Brussels than in Paris. Not so much because one cuisine is better than the other - de gouts et de couleurs on ne discute pas - but because so many Paris restaurants can be a rip-off. One has to know where to go to eat really well. In Brussels good food seems to be more equally distributed.

And, yes, beer. More beer, please. Such fantastic brews.

Oh by the way those interested in Belgium may want to look at http://fugitif.net My friend Hugues Van Rymenan has been posting a "photo du jour" every day since october 1996. Back then we had a joint blog post once a week. He is a great photographer and shows a lot of the Wallon countryside. He goes on many bike rides, too!

[papaver]

@ grog, well exactly that's what I mean with better. The quality of the food in belgian restaurants is better. The dishes are often pretty much the same. But it's easier to eat well in Brussels than in Paris.

[jobob]

And, yes, beer. More beer, please. Such fantastic brews.

Rather predictably , jobob pops head up

Oh my goodness, yes.

I worked at a biotech company about 15 years ago that made enzymes that went into Proctor & Gamble's laundry detergents (i.e., Tide), and one of the enormous perks of my job was that we had meetings at P&G's research site in Brussels about once a year, and I got to go to Brussels twice.

One of my favorite places to visit was an old pub naturally called Mort Subite ("Sudden Death"), more specifically known as A La Mort Subite. Astonishing variety of incredible Belgian beers.

Ah, memories ... (from their website)


It was sort of an initiation ritual amongst us to finish an entire huge glass of a brew called Gueuze, which tasted sort of like apple cider to me. Gueuze was definitely an acquired taste, which I never quite acquired, but I did finally manage to down the whole glass (on my second visit to Brussels).

Mort Subite has a website and I'm wondering if its a tourist trap nowadays. Well, it might have been one 15 years ago, but I wouldn't have known the difference.

There was also an amazing old pub in the town square of Brussels, I forget the name of it now. Um, come to think of it, there were at least a couple of amazing old pubs, just in the town square.

The thing that really struck me, though, with all the pub hopping I managed to do in Brussels was that it seemed to me that every single variety of beer that was served had its own unique glass.

Made me kind of wonder if they would refuse to serve a particular beer if they happened to be out of clean glasses for that beer at that moment.

[tulip]

Potatoes, and lots of 'em. French fries come from Belgium, not France. I like them served in a newspaper cone with vinegar. Belgian beer--now that's good stuff. Love the Lambics.

French fries and fried eggs on pizza--really! To be fair, the guys who ordered that (in Italy, no less) were Dutch, but still...

I'll take French food if I have to choose. Just my bias.

[papaver]

Potatoes, and lots of 'em. French fries come from Belgium, not France. I like them served in a newspaper cone with vinegar. Belgian beer--now that's good stuff. Love the Lambics.

French fries and fried eggs on pizza--really! To be fair, the guys who ordered that (in Italy, no less) were Dutch, but still...

I'll take French food if I have to choose. Just my bias.

The potatoes thing is more Dutch, but we do eat a lot of potatoes. It depends where you go... The fries with vinegar is British...

The beers, well we have 500 different kinds of beer, hope he doesn't try them all.

[shootingstar]

Just found out now, when going through champagne country area in France, he had:

a glass of the bubbly, along with a magret du canard (duck breast, I need the dictionary here..) which was very lean and delicious. Les haricourts ( green beans) that came with a butter and garlic sauce.
Appetizer was fois gras which was also lean and delicious. ("Lean?" He must have been hallucinating.)

Before he left, I told him not to be an idiot to have sushi/sashimi in Europe.

He should be taking every advantage of local cuisine.