Contents Introduction
8
Map of Belgium
14
Conversion chart
15
Starting off with shrimps
16
STUFFED TOMATOES
20
SHRIMP CROQUETTES
22
Travels around Wallonia
24
LIÈGE-STYLE SALAD
28
PEA & HAM SOUP
30
Down by the river
32
POACHED ITTRE-STYLE TROUT
36
FRIED TROUT WITH ALMONDS
38
Along the North Sea coast
40
SOLE MEUNIÈRE
44
HERRING OR MACKEREL MARINADE
47
Mussels and chips
50
STEAMED MUSSELS
54
BELGIAN CHIPS
58
FRESH MAYONNAISE
60
Flemish classics: meat in pots
62
FLEMISH BEEF STEW WITH BEER
66
POTTED MEAT
69
Bring out the beer
72
WHITE BEER POACHED SALMON
76
RABBIT IN BEER WITH PRUNES
79
Plenty of veggies
82
VEGETABLE PICKLES
86
VEGETABLE STOEMP
88
Underground trio
90
CHICORY WITH HAM & CHEESE
94
FLEMISH-STYLE ASPARAGUS
96
Pork in all its forms
98
GAUME MEAT PIE
102
BLOOD SAUSAGE
104
About cows and steaks
106
GRILLED STEAK
110
BEEF HUTSEPOT
112
There’s always minced meat
114
BLIND FINCHES
118
LIÈGE-STYLE MEATBALLS
120
Hunting season
122
WILD BOAR WITH CHESTNUT SAUCE
126
BRABANT-STYLE PHEASANT
128
For the love of chicken
130
HOMEMADE VOL-AU-VENT
134
GHENT WATERZOOI
137
The cheeseboard
140
ARDENNES GOATS’ CHEESE
144
CROQUE MONSIEUR
146
Heavenly bread
148
CRAMIQUE
152
FRESH GINGERBREAD
154
Waffles and pancakes
156
BUCKWHEAT PANCAKES
160
LIÈGE SUGAR WAFFLES
162
Fruitful Belgium
164
POACHED PEARS
168
CHERRY TART
170
And for dessert: pies and tarts
172
RICE TART
176
SUGAR TART
178
In the biscuit jar
180
BRUGES KLETSKOPPEN
184
CLASSIC SPECULOOS
186
Chocolate, the nation’s pride and joy
188
CHOCOLATE MOUSSE
192
CHOCOLATE MOELLEUX
194
The spirit of Belgium
196
BELGIAN COCKTAILS
200
ALCOHOLIC COFFEES
202
HOMEMADE ADVOCAAT
204
Special occasions
206
EPIPHANY CAKE
210
CHRISTMAS LOG
213
Word of thanks
217
Biographies
219
Belgium
Antwerp
Bruges Oostduinkerke 1
Scheldt Ghent
WESTHOEK
Flanders Hasselt
Zenne Kampenhout 4
Poperinge 2
HASPENGOUW
Geraardsbergen 3 Brussels
HERVE Liège
Wallonia
Sambre
Spa 5
Namur Meuse
Ourthe
Dinant 6 Chimay 7
Saint-Hubert 8
ARDENNES
GAUME
14
1
Horseback shrimp fishermen in Oostduinkerke
2
Hop shoots festival and guided tours in Poperinge
3
Krakelingen festival and mattentaarten in Geraardsbergen
4
Chicory museum and restaurant in Kampenhout
5
Elixir from Spa
6
Couques from Dinant
7
Brewery in Chimay
8
Saint-Hubert’s day celebrations
Amblève
Conversion chart oven temperatures
CELSIUS (°C)
FAHRENHEIT (°F)
GAS MARK
165
325
3
180
350
4
200
400
6
220
425
7
240
465
9
weights
G (GRAMS)
OZ (OUNCES)
25g
1oz
50g
2oz
100g
3.5oz
200g
7oz
250g
9oz
volumes
1 tbsp (tablespoon) = 3 tsp (teaspoons)
ML (MILLILITRES)
FL OZ (FLUID OUNCES)/PINT
CUPS
5ml
1 tsp (teaspoon)
15ml
½ fl oz
1 tbsp (tablespoon)
30ml
1 fl oz
1/8 cup
60ml
2 fl oz
¼ cup
120ml
4 fl oz
½ cup
150ml
5 fl oz/ ¼ pint
2/3 cups
240ml
9 fl oz/ ½ pint
1 cup
FRESH YEAST
INSTANT DRY YEAST
ACTIVE DRY YEAST
42g
14g
21g
yeast
(1 cube in Europe)
(2 sachets)
21g
7g or 2 tsp
10g or 4 tsp
10g
3.5g or 1 tsp
5g or 2 tsp
(Due to rounding, all conversions are approximate.)
15
Starting off with shrimps
G
rey shrimps, known locally as ‘the caviar of the North Sea’, have a special place in Belgian hearts and on Belgian
menus, with shrimp croquettes and tomatoes stuffed with shrimps among the most popular starters in the country. The revered grey shrimps are mostly fished by boats off Zeebrugge, Nieuwpoort and Ostend as well as along the Dutch coast. In the Belgian coastal town of Oostduinkerke, the shrimp fishermen don’t go out in boats but on horseback, keeping alive a tradition that dates back some 600 years. Sitting astride the large, working horses, the fishermen ride into the sea, dragging their nets behind them to catch the local delicacy. It is the only place in the world where this technique can still be seen. Oostduinkerke is also home to an annual shrimp festival during the last weekend of June. The celebrations start with a religious service and a consecration of the sea, after which shrimpfishing contests, frying fish and a shrimp festival parade are all on the agenda.
17
SHRIMP Croquettes 16-24 croquettes 1 saucepan
The shrimps are best bought whole as their heads and tails can be used to infuse the creamy béchamel with their rich flavour. If they are uncooked, boil
1 baking tray
them in half a litre of salty water for 5 minutes, until they go pink and then peel
(30x40cm)
them. Pan-fry the shrimps’ heads and tails for a few minutes before boiling
2 small bowls
them in the milk for 10 minutes with a tablespoon of tomato purée. Sieve well
1 frying pan
before use. To make the béchamel, melt 75g of butter in a saucepan then add 75g of
(or deep-fat fryer)
Preparation:
flour and fry it in the butter for a minute over a low heat. Add the shrimp-
20-40 minutes
flavoured milk a quarter at a time and whisk until the sauce is smooth. As
Refrigeration: 2 hours
the sauce thickens, continue stirring regularly. Cook until the sauce has the
Cooking: 20 minutes
consistency of a thick paste, which should take 8-12 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. When it is no longer steaming when stirred, add 2 egg
250g whole shrimps
yolks, a pinch of salt and pepper, and the shrimps. You may also want to add a
(or 175g peeled shrimps) 75g flour
few spices: a pinch of paprika will accentuate the pinkness of the shrimps. Mix the shrimps into the béchamel and then pour into a greased baking
75g butter
tray, about 30cm×40cm, to a thickness of 2-3cm. Cover with clingfilm and
500ml milk 1 tbsp tomato purée
chill in the fridge for a few hours until firm. Cut the raw croquette into pieces the size of a pack of playing cards,
2 eggs
then dip in beaten egg white before rolling them in breadcrumbs. Avoid the
150g breadcrumbs
temptation to load the croquettes with as many breadcrumbs as possible as
100ml oil 2 sprigs of parsley
this will make them oily and doughy. They are now ready to be pan or deep fat fried at 180°C until golden
Salt & pepper
brown, then tapped down with a paper napkin to remove any excess oil.
Paprika
Croquettes can be kept in the fridge for 24 hours or in the freezer for up to a month. If you are cooking chilled croquettes then it is advisable to put them in an oven at 180°C for 5 minutes after frying them in order to make sure that the filling is cooked through.
Croquettes are served with bread and a sprig of parsley that has been fried in hot oil for a minute. Shrimp croquettes are garnished with a wedge of lemon.
In many Belgian households, croquettes were traditionally made from the leftovers of the previous night’s meal. In restaurants cheese croquettes are rectangular, meat croquettes like long, thin sausages and shrimp croquettes like short, fat sausages.
22
What’s Cooking in Belgium
STARTING OFF WITH SHRIMPS
Mussels and chips
M
ussels and chips is arguably belgium’s national dish, known as moules-frites in the French-speaking south and mosselen
met frietjes by the Flemish in the north. In the past, mussels
were only found on menus during the cooler months, or as an old saying goes, during the months with an ‘r’ in them; today, they are in restaurants almost all year round, partly due to the widespread use of refrigerated transportation. Nonetheless, many Belgians still insist that the best time to eat mussels is when the weather is cooler. If nothing else, a steaming pot of mussels is certainly inviting on a cold winter’s day. In Belgium, mussels arrive at the table in the large black pot in which they were cooked and are invariably greeted with a look of joy by whoever ordered them and one of envy by who opted for something else. The sheer quantity of mussels can look overwhelming, but somehow they always disappear, leaving at the bottom the tasty juices in which they were cooked. Don’t forget to eat these up too: it’s an essential part of the culinary experience. As to what the juices might be, that all depends on how the mussels were cooked. They can be
51
prepared in any number of ways, from the classic moules à la marinière, with onions, celery, bay leaves and parsley, or moules au vin blanc, a similar preparation but with extra white wine, to the heavier creamier stocks or Ardennesstyle with local ham. Another tip on how to eat mussels the local way is to keep the shell from the first mussel and use it as a pincer to remove the rest from their shells. You can pop them straight in your mouth or dip them in a mussel sauce that often accompanies the dish. For a country where mussels are so popular, it’s odd that these molluscs rarely come from Belgium, but far more commonly from Zeeland in the Netherlands. Production may be negligible in Belgium, but consumption certainly isn’t, with Belgians eating about 40,000 tonnes of mussels a year, or in other words an average of 4kg per person per year.
chips Accompanying any pot of mussels is always a generous portion of chips, or fries. According to one version of history, it was in Belgium in the middle of the 17th century, when the land was under the rule of the Spanish, that chips were cooked for the very first time. However, there are plenty of historical sources that tell a different story and so the true origin of the chip is likely to remain a source of contention. No matter. One thing is certain: today they form a major part of the nation’s food culture, with the chip pan an essential utensil in a Belgian kitchen.
52
Fresh MAYONNAISE 250ml 1 mixing bowl 10-15 minutes
There are horror stories about curdling mayonnaise, but a couple of tricks make this easy to avoid. The first is that all the ingredients should be at room temperature, so take everything out of the fridge well ahead of time. The second is to warm the mixing bowl by rinsing it with hot water, then
2 egg yolks
drying it. Separate 2 eggs and whisk the yolks with a teaspoon of strong mustard.
1 tsp strong mustard 200ml sunflower
If doing this by hand they need at least 2 minutes of whisking, but in a food
(or grapeseed oil)
processor on a slow setting it will take just 30 seconds. It is important to add the oil to the eggs slowly, a couple of drops at a
½ lemon Finely ground white pepper
time, until the mayonnaise starts to ‘take’, meaning that the liquids start
Fine table salt
to transform into a thick, creamy emulsion. The oil can then be added a generous glug at a time. In a food processor this will take 1-2 minutes, but made by hand it will take at least 5 minutes and be something of a whisk workout. When it is the right consistency, add pinches of fine table salt and finely ground white pepper, and the juice and pulp of half a de-pipped lemon, then whisk until these ingredients are evenly distributed. Never season until the end as it will prevent the mayonnaise from taking. If the emulsion starts to curdle as you are mixing, put a tablespoonful of very cold water in another mixing bowl and add the curdled mayonnaise a little at a time whilst beating vigorously. It should fix itself in a minute or two.
Using whole eggs instead of egg yolks will produce a lighter, paler, less firm, but no less delicious mayonnaise.
Store fresh mayonnaise in the fridge at all times. It is best eaten within 24 hours of being made, but does keep in a sealed jar in the fridge for a week.
When keeping mayonnaise in the fridge, put it on a shelf at the back as keeping it in the door will expose the mayonnaise to changes in temperature each time you open the fridge.
60
What’s Cooking in Belgium
MUSSELS AND CHIPS
Chocolate, the nation’s pride and joy
I
f there’s one food that is synonymous with belgium then it has to be chocolate. This is the land of pralines, high-quality chocolate bars and arguably the tastiest chocolate desserts you have ever tried.
The history of chocolate in this part of the world stretches back to the 16th century when the Spanish conquistadors discovered the cocoa bean in Mexico and then brought it to the Spanish Netherlands (a geographical area that included present-day Belgium). At that time chocolate was still very much considered a luxury and was mainly consumed as a drink. It was not until the industrialisation of production methods and the introduction of cocoa plantations in the African colonies in the 19th century that chocolate became available to a much wider population and was used much more diversely. As colonial ruler in the Congo, Belgium had an unlimited supply of cocoa from the plantations there: this is why it is sometimes said that the history of Belgian chocolate is not all sweet. Another advantage that Belgium had was its coal industry, which meant it had the technology needed for grinding the beans. It is in the last 100 years, however, that Belgium has cemented its reputation as a chocolate capital. One major milestone was the creation of the praline in 1912 by Jean Neuhaus, whose grandfather had arrived in Belgium from Switzerland in the late 1850s and opened a shop in Brussels’ Galerie de la Reine selling cough sweets, liquorice and bars of bitter chocolate. When Jean took over the business, it didn’t take him long to create the praline, and as a result Neuhaus is today a world-famous chocolate house.
189
CHOCOLATE mousse 4 servings 1 bain-marie
water or coffee in a bain-marie or a microwave on a low power setting. Stir
(heatproof bowl resting
the chocolate occasionally so that it doesn’t boil or burn. As soon as the
on a saucepan)
chocolate turns liquid, remove from the heat. Adding a pinch of sea salt will
1 mixing bowl
open up its flavour. If the chocolate is bitter and your taste is for gentler
4 glasses or ramekins
flavours then you should add a knob of butter.
Melt 250g of roughly chopped chocolate mixed with 2 tablespoons of
Whip the chilled cream until it is as thick as yoghurt and the whisk leaves
for serving
Preparation: 40 minutes
Refrigeration: 2-4 hours
a trail on its surface. Separate the eggs and vigorously whisk the yolks into the melted chocolate, using an electric whisk. After a minute, add the sugar and whipped cream and repeat the energetic whisking for a couple more
250g chocolate
minutes. Whisk the egg whites to a firm foam. Adding a couple of drops of lemon
200ml chilled double cream 4 eggs
juice will make this quicker. Stop whisking as soon as the foam forms peaks
60g superfine caster sugar
when you lift the whisk: over-beaten whites will collapse back into a runny
2 tbsp water (or coffee)
liquid. Fold the frothy egg whites into the chocolate a third at a time. When the
1 pinch of sea salt OPTIONAL:
mousse has an even consistency, spoon into martini glasses, ramekin dishes
2 drops lemon juice
or a larger serving bowl and chill in the fridge for 2-4 hours until it has set.
40 g unsalted butter
A good mousse begins with good chocolate: Belgian is best! Some people will shy away from the intense, bitter flavour of chocolate with a high cocoa content, preferring a lighter, sweeter milk chocolate. This recipe can be made with either or, even better, both.
When serving the mousse, you can bring out a fresher note by combining it with kiwi, strawberry, raspberry, tamarind, apple, passion fruit purée, papaya, mint, candied fennel or green tea. Alternatively the spicier notes can be accentuated by accompanying the mousse with coffee, almond liqueur, mulled wine, cherry eau-de-vie, cointreau, candied orange peel, orange segments, marmalade, blackcurrants, black pepper, red hot chillis, dried cranberries, rhubarb, figs, roasted almonds, crystallized ginger or cinnamon.
192
What’s Cooking in Belgium
CHOCOLATE, THE NATION’S PRIDE AND JOY
193
Alcoholic COFFEES 1 shot of genever 1 cup of coffee Cream
hasselt coffee This is the Flemish equivalent of an Irish coffee, with the whiskey replaced by genever. Pour the genever into a heat-resistant glass and then fill almost to the top with coffee and stir. Add a layer of cream, gently pouring it over the back of a spoon so that it floats on top of the fortified coffee.
1 shot of pèkèt 1 cup of espresso coffee
liège coffee Pour a measure of pèkèt (the genever of Wallonia) into a cup of espresso
2 scoops of mocha ice cream
coffee and stir. Put two scoops of mocha ice cream into a heat-resistant
Whipped cream
glass and pour the fortified coffee over them. Top with whipped cream and
Cocoa powder
sprinkle with cocoa powder.
1/3 glass of Mandarine
mandarine napoléon coffee
Napoléon
In a heat-resistant glass, fill 1/3 with Mandarine Napoléon and then fill to
1 cup of coffee
a centimetre of the top with coffee. Stir, and if you like it piping hot, give it a
Cream
short blast in the microwave. Add a layer of cream, gently pouring it over the back of a spoon so that it floats on top of the fortified coffee.
1 shot of advocaat liqueur 1 cup of coffee
coffee and advocaat In Flanders, coffee is often served with a small glass of advocaat liqueur, which is similar to eggnog. This can be consumed separately with a spoon or added to the coffee.
202
What’s Cooking in Belgium
THE SPIRIT OF BELGIUM
203