Belgian cuisine
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Belgium has been called a nation of gourmands rather than gourmets: a country, in other words, where "big cuisine" comes before "fine cuisine". It has been said that Belgium serves food of French quality in German quantities.[1]
Frieten or frites
Deep-fried chipped potatoes ("fries" in American English; "chips" in British English) are a very popular food item – and one which the Belgians often claim to have invented.
The Belgian journalist Jo Gérard recounts that potatoes were fried in 1680 in the Spanish Netherlands, in the area of "the Meuse valley between Dinant and Liège, Belgium. The poor inhabitants of this region allegedly had the custom of accompanying their meals with small fried fish, but when the river was frozen and they were unable to fish, they cut potatoes lengthwise and fried them in oil to accompany their meals."[2][3]
They are called frieten in Dutch and frites in French. However, unlike the 6–10 mm thick "French fries" (known as pommes allumettes (French: matchstick potatoes) in Belgium) which are normally served in American fast-food restaurants, Belgian fries are more substantial (12–15 mm thick) and are typically fried in animal fat. One of the best places to enjoy them is at one of the often temporary or mobile establishments known in French as a friterie, in Dutch as a frituur or, more informally, a frietkot. These are typically to be found strategically placed in town squares or alongside busy highways.
Beer
Another Belgian speciality is beer.[1] For a comparatively small country, Belgium produces a very large number of beers in a range of different styles – in fact, it has more distinct types of beer per head than anywhere else in the world. Almost every style of beer has its own particular, uniquely shaped glass or other drinking-vessel.
A number of traditional Belgian dishes use beer as an ingredient. One is Carbonade (French: the Flemish term is stoofvlees or stoverij), a stew of beef cooked in beer, similar to Boeuf bourguignon. The beer used is typically the regional speciality — lambic in Brussels, De Koninck in Antwerp, and so on — so that the taste of the dish varies. Another is rabbit in gueuze. In't Spinnekopke, Brussels, and Den Dyver, Bruges are famed for their beer cookery.
The varied nature of Belgian beers makes it possible to match them against each course of a meal, for instance:
- Wheat beer with seafood or fish.
- Blonde beers or tripel with chicken or white meat
- Dubbel or other dark beers with dark meat
- Fruit lambics with dessert
Typical dishes
- Mosselen-friet/moules-frites: mussels and chips.
- Konijn in geuze/lapin à la gueuze: rabbit in geuze, which is a spontaneously fermented, sour beer from the area around Brussels.
- Stoemp: potato mashed with other vegetables, often served with sausages.
- Salade Liégeoise: a salad with green beans, pieces of bacon, onions and vinegar, associated with Liège.
- Vlaamse stoofkarbonaden: a Flemish beef stew, similar to the French Beef Bourguignon, but made with beer instead of red wine.
- Waterzooi: (lit. 'Water mess') a rich stew/soup of chicken (or sometimes fish), vegetables, cream and eggs, associated with Ghent.
- Paling in 't groen/anguilles au vert: Eel in a green sauce of mixed herbs.
- Gegratineerd witloof/chicons au gratin: a gratin of chicory in béchamel sauce with cheese.
- Tartines: Slices of rustic bread and an uncovered spread, often pâté or soft cheese, served on a board and eaten with knife and fork. A typical variety is a slice of bread with quark and sliced radishes, typically accompanied by a glass of gueuze.
- Tomate-crevette: a snack or starter of grey shrimps in mayonnaise stuffed into a hollowed-out raw tomato
- Pensen or Boudins: a type of sausage in which the meat (or blood) content is mixed with fine breadcrumbs. Often eaten with potatoes and apple sauce, sometimes eaten raw or barbequeued.
- The Ardennes is notable for Charcuterie, or cold meat products, particularly smoked ham (Jambon d'Ardenne) and paté, which may be made of game such as wild boar.
- Waffles, sometimes eaten as a street snack. There are two main styles, Brussels and Liège.
- Chocolate, particularly pralines (filled chocolates).
See also
- Belgian beer
- Chocolatier Neuhaus
- Chicory
- Pommes frites
- Friterie
- Leonidas Chocolatier
- Mussels
- Pierre Wynants - chef
- Stoemp
- Waffle
- Waterzooi
References
- ^ a b Michael Jackson's Great Beers of Belgium, Michael Jackson, ISBN 0-7624-0403-5
- ^ J. Gérard, Curiosités de la table dans les Pays-Bas Belgiques, s.l., 1781.
- ^ Ilegems, Paul (1993) [1993]. De Frietkotcultuur (in Dutch). Loempia. ISBN 90-6771-325-2.
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