Belgium

Belgium is not one of those countries that people around the world know about. It's not really high on the list of most popular tourist destinations. In fact, it is right along with countries like Luxembourg, Denmark, and Estonia on the list of overlooked countries that no one really knows much about. However, there are several things that Belgium is famous for that most people HAVE heard of (in no particular order):

-Waffles-
Nothing like the pitiful excuses that you find at places like "The Waffle House" or "Denny's" all across the US. Over here they are eaten as a quick snack, any time of day. They are about the size of a normal slice of bread, but quite thick. The square divots are large and widely spaced. Usually, a waffle vendor will have several stacks of them that have already been cooked. When you order one "chaude" (hot), they will place it back on the griddle for a minute or two before serving it to you with a piece of wax paper folded around it.

These beauties are sold from carts on the sidewalk, restaurant windows, or small booths in the metro stations. The heavenly smell in the air anywhere they are being made is enough to make you weak in the knees and can be smelled for miles and miles. When the waffle seller at our metro station, Merode, is open, you can smell it before you even get close to the steps leading from the sidewalk and down into the station. It is the smell of vanilla pancakes, candied almonds, and fresh-baked doughy/yeasty bread.

They are golden brown with caramelized gobs of sugar on the surface. The texture is slightly crunchy on the outside and soft and sometimes gooey on the inside with flecks of crystallized sugar throughout. They taste like a cross between freshly baked, sweet bread and some kind of bready, sugary pancake. Sometimes you can even get the hint of marzipan and cinnamon, though we're not sure there is either in the recipe.

Best served plain without toppings, though most places offer anything from a chocolate coating to ice cream or strawberries and whipped cream. Seems to be mostly tourists that order them decked out like that.

-Chocolate-
In Belgium, chocolate is food, not simply candy or a once-in-awhile treat. After the Swiss, Belgians eat more of it than anyone else in the world and having eaten several kilos of it in the last few months, its easy to understand why. In our opinion, Belgian chocolate is much better than Swiss and miles better than any other country's version of "high quality" chocolate. There is an actual law that requires anything labeled as "Belgian chocolate" to have a minimum of 43% cocoa butter and no added vegetable fats. The sugar and any fillings also have minimum standards that ensure the best possible product. Belgium produces 172,000 tons of perfection every year!

Chocolate comes in various forms and varieties, of course, and all of these can be found in the grocery stores. From what we've seen on the shelves, dark chocolate seems to be the most favored kind. Our most frequent purchase is a large dark chocolate bar with either hazelnuts or almonds in it. A square or two of this after dinner and sweet teeth are satisfied. When we are up for a more expensive treat, we go to Godiva or Neuhaus (or any of the country's 2130 other shops) and choose our own assortment.

Belgian chocolate is so well-known, there's not much more that needs to be said. Living in a country that values chocolate above all other foods is like being in chocolate-dipped heaven.

-Beer-
This is Belgian chocolate's strongest competitor for THE most famous thing from Belgium. It may actually be the crowned champion in that race, but that's rather subjective (and up for argument in our house). Well, since beer has been written about extensively in a previous entry, we're not going to go into too much detail. Instead, we refer you to the entry from 7.13.2003 in the archives (on the right of this page).

But, in a nutshell... Belgium has a very diverse brewing tradition which, in our opinion, stems not only from the average Belgian's individualistic demeanor but also from the fact that there was never a strict set of laws put in place like Germany did with the Reinheitsgebot of 1516. This set of laws severely hampered the creativity that could be used in making a beer. Since Belgium was (and still pretty much is) free from that, this country is the originator of at least 6 distinct styles of beer: Trappist/abbey ales, wit bier, saison, lambic (and it's derivatives), Flanders red and brown ales, and the "Strong Golden Ale". There are other sub-groups and other categories, but they seem to be off-shoots from these six, rather than being distinctly different. The unifying aspect of these beers is that most of them are between 6% - 10% alcohol by volume. Potent brews! At the moment, there are roughly 500 beers being brewed in Belgium by about 130 breweries. That's pretty impressive for a country the size of Maryland!

A quick little synopsis of the history: Click here

-Frites-
The US has all of it's fast-food establishments to satisfy people's craving for a fatty meal. While most of Europe is free from being littered with these franchises, in Belgium there is a smattering of "friteries" (both franchised and independent) that churn out tons of "french" fries and other deep-fried goodies.

Though another big point of argument, "french fries" were invented in Belgium. The story goes that the US soldiers dubbed them "French" fries because during WWII they ate them in the French-speaking region of Brussels. The Dutch-speaking Belgians claim that frites were invented in Flanders. Who knows what is the truth? The bottom line is that most people agree that Belgian fries are addictively delicious. They are served everywhere from high class restaurants to a vendor on the street. In the restaurants, many traditional Belgian dishes (like Vlaamse Carbonnade, Filet Americaine, mussels, or steak) are served with frites. On the street, frites are served in big paper cones brimming with deep-fried potatoes and "Frite-sauce". Most of the frite sauces are mayonnaise based. Our favorites are samourai (spicy), andalouse (pungent and flavorful), and curry ketchup.

The "secret" behind Belgian frites is that they are fried twice. First they are fried until the potato is cooked through. At this point, they are removed from the oil and will wait for anywhere from 10 minutes to half a day. Just before they are served, they are fried a second time. This makes them crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. After the second frying, they are tossed in the air with a wide, cone-shaped utensil (like a collander without holes) and salted. The other secret is that the fries should be able to "swim" when they are cooking. That is, they need room to move around. To that end, the friers are usually like large round sinks that the raw fries are dumped into and fished out by large, meshed spoons.

Friteries shill out tons of fries every day, but also other things like chicken fingers, sausages, brochettes, meatballs, etc. All of which are cooked to order in the fryers. Trying to pick something from a menu at a friterie can be daunting. They are usually just a long list of foods by name. So, you almost have to have "local knowledge" to order anything other than the frites. Needless to say, this is a treat that any health-conscious person only indulges in on a rare occasion. However, eating frites as part of a meal in a restaurant, seems a lot more common and can be almost a daily occurence for some people. Despite this, you rarely see a "fat" person here!

-Mussels-
One of the most ubiquitous dishes at Belgian restaurants is "moules et frites". However, this seems to be something more regularly consumed by tourists than by citizens. For example, we have had them at least once on our first trip to Belgium as tourists. However, we have yet to go for "mussels in Brussels" since we moved here.

They are steamed in their shells and served in a bucket with some kind of broth poured over them. The broth is anything from white wine and leeks to geuze (beer) or butter. Along side this is a heaping bowl of frites. They are well worth a try at least once if you suss out a place that is known for using really high quality fresh mussels.

-Lace & Diamonds-
We lumped these together because not only do we not know much about them, but they aren't at all present in our daily lives. We've yet to browse through a shop selling either of the two. But they are famous here, so we felt compelled to at least mention them. Antwerp is the center of the world's diamond trade and home of a few diamond-cutting schools. And the lace... well, what can you really say about lace? If you really want to know, try this:
click here.


-RP- and ~K