Discoveries of the last 3 weeks in this Flemish corner of Belgium:
Boterwafels. They are BETTER than stroopwafels. Soem of you will cry “No, that’s impossible, you silly moron! you hallucinate!” Yet I insist it is so. Imagine everything that is good and true about stroopwafels AND those english shortbread cookies, combined. Mmm.
Straffe Hendrick, from the Halve Maan brewery in Bruges. Mmm. But my FAVORITE beer of all time must remain
Rodenbach. The type is apparently called a “sour beer” as after it ferments instead of bottling/ kegging they toss it into oak barrels for another 2 years after letting it catch some wild yeasts. Hooray for wild yeast! Lang zal ze leven in de Gloria!
Uitsmijter. This is an open-faced grilled egg sandwich with ham/speck/canadian bacon/ whatever you call it and farmer’s cheese. Mmmm. You can feel your arteries getting bigger and stronger as you eat this thing.
Nelhaus pralines, of the hazelnutty sort. Mmm.
Grapefruit/pomello Fanta
What am I missing? Any other recommendations, while I’m gaining weight?
Just had to share. This is my way of checking in.
My entire experience with Belgium consists of a train ride through it in the middle of the night on the way to Paris. I have tried Belgian frites in Amsterdam (I know, not exactly true Belgian, but as close I’ve come). They were the best examples of what we Americans would call french fries.
Boterwafels better than stroopwafels? That must be pretty good. As you said, I have a hard time believing it, but will trust you.
I almost forgot, when one of my housemate’s boyfriend came to visit (they are both Dutch) he introduced us to what he called the best Dutch beer (or at least pretty good Dutch beer). We checked the label to find out where it was from and we discovered that it was brewed in Belgium.
As you can tell, I have more connection with the Netherlands than with Belgium.
Belgium is the only country I know that is worth the trip just for the beer. Find a trappist brewery and get the beer, fresh bread, cheese and sausages made there. If you can catch the elusive sunny summer day in the Ardennes it is heaven.
Belgian-style frites make McDonald’s french fries seem like a bad joke. Although no Belgian would respect me because I refuse any kind of sauce whatsoever. Salt only.
