30. Brussels

From Guernsey Eric was moved by his company to Brussels for the next four years. We both fell immediately in love with the city. I called it the Minneapolis of Europe as it is not Europe’s most visited city, but it is full of green spaces, lovely neighborhoods, a lively arts scene and lots of wonderful restaurants. As the location of Parliament for the European Union, it offered Eric exposure to all of the continent’s languages. Eric has a deep appreciation for language and possesses a natural talent for learning them, something that I cannot match. His favorite language to speak is French and his most proud moment was when a woman he was chatting with on a train in Brittany assumed he was French and complimented him on his English when he turned around and spoke to his brother who was sitting behind him. He views languages as a pathway to accessing and understanding other cultures, including food. Brussels created opportunities for Eric to speak not only French, which is spoken by the majority of locals, but also Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and German, sometimes on a daily basis. Brussels is heaven for a polyglot.

Meanwhile, I became a food snob in Brussels. I started with chocolate (naturally) before I moved on to frites and croissants.

Chocolate

In Belgium, chocolate is its own food group. We experience only a fraction of their offerings in the U.S., through exportation by the largest chocolate houses. And while those are certainly of high quality, the best Belgian chocolates, in my opinion, are produced by smaller chocolatiers. One notable exception is Pierre Marcolini, which now has over 45 retail stores worldwide, and which definitely appears in the top 10 of my favorite Belgian chocolatiers.

While Eric is the superior French-speaker in our household, I speak chocolate fluently. I can still close my eyes and see the chocolate shops and their owners, smell their offerings and taste their creations. Perhaps the most famous is Mary, a chocolatier awarded a Belgian Royal Warrant in 1942 and thought by many to be the country’s finest. In many blind tastings that I staged for us and friends in Brussels, Mary’s chocolates were among the top three. My standard approach was to purchase chocolate ganache from my favorite chocolatiers and then share them with guests after dinner, asking them to rank them in order of preference. Realizing that the dinner itself could affect one’s experience with the chocolate, it was important to repeat (and repeat again) the experiment following a number of meals. Such is the sacrifice that I’m willing to make in the name of research.

Appreciation for chocolate is of course very personal, but I will include here my top sources:

Mary: Previously mentioned and a perennial favorite.

Pierre Marcolini: Also previously mentioned, and with an over-the-top store on the Grand Sablon.

Belvas: The first organic chocolatier in northern Europe.

Passion Chocolat: Everything is pure, no preservatives, extracts or concentrates.

Frederic Blondeel: With a lovely salon to enjoy its delicious hot chocolate. They also serve artisanal ice cream.

Galler Chocolatier: A beautiful variety of flavors, plus macaroons.

Frites

From chocolate I moved on to the famous frites belges. What we in the U.S. call “french fries” actually originate from Belgium, and were mistakenly called French by American soldiers while stationed among the the French-speaking population of Southern Belgium during WW1. Called simply frites in Belgium, they have their own, unique characteristics, and are served in specialty stands throughout the country, as well as in restaurants. The principle distinguishing feature of Belgian Frites is that they are twice fried, at different temperatures, which leaves them extra crispy on the outside while still tender inside. To me this makes them the savory counterpart to the Swedish donut in Minnesota.

There is much debate over who makes the best frites in Brussels. Eric and I gained five pounds each while searching for and confirming our favorites. Our hands down winner was Frit Flagey on Place Flagey. There is always a line at this little frite stand and it has been operated by Thierry De Geyt for the last 30 years. It is a simple yellow and green wooden structure that is easily identified by the line of people waiting to indulge in his carefully prepared, small batch (read: slow) fast food, and it is always worth the wait. There is also a wide selection of sauces available to top your frites. My favorite was curry ketchup. Eric would order his frites straight up, and with extra salt (bien salé). Other contenders for best frites include Maison Antoine (which claims to be number one), Friterie du Miroir (fried in three different vats of oil, each heated to a different temperature), along with Chez Eugene, Chez Clementine and Friterie Tabora. There was also Les Brasseries Georges, an upscale restaurant that gave customers while we were there the choice of having their frites fried in olive oil, goose fat, beef tallow or horse fat.

I’m forever comparing frites around the world to those in Brussels, but they never quite measure up. Don’t let anyone tell you that a bad frite is better than no frite at all. It simply is not true. If you’ve been to Brussels, you know.

Croissants

Croissants were the third delicacy to explore. Belgium cannot claim to have originated the croissant, but it became a much-debated topic among some of the locals we befriended as to who had the best example. So, we entered the fray.

The croissant actually originated in Austria, not France (are you starting to wonder if anything started in France?), and the kipferi is thought to be its spiritual ancestor. The kipferi dates to the 13th century but originated as a sweet indulgence, not hitting the breakfast category until the 16th century. At the turn of the 17th century it began to evolve into a lighter, puff pastry, but it wasn’t until the early 19th century that August Zang at his pastry shop Boulangerie Viennoise created the first verified evidence of what we know to be the modern-day croissant.

Croissants are always best when eaten fresh from the oven and so we timed our visits to our favorite sources when we knew that they would be still warm from their baking. The ideal croissant comes down to its texture and to one’s preference for more or less “butteriness”. Texture is always most important to me, and that illusive quality of being both flakey and moist enough to offer some mild resistance to being pulled apart, which is the telltale sign of a winning croissant. To quote Eric, a croissant “wants” to be enjoyed with coffee, and I would add that it “wants” to be paired with preserves (not jelly). I choose raspberry.

Our favorite sources for croissants in Brussels were conveniently situated within blocks of each other and walking distance from our apartment. The largest is Le Saint Aulaye on Rue Vanderkindere, which many consider to be the finest bakery in town, and which has a vast range of baked delights. A smaller bakery (with excellent chocolates and house-made ice creams) is Collignon. But perhaps my favorite croissant was found at Gaudron, a small cafe and deli (now closed) on Place Bruggeman in the Uccle neighborhood. Although the cafe no longer exists, the charming square is the location of Maison Dandoy (among numerous other locations) which is famous for its speculoos cookies and Leige waffles.

Waffles

Belgium is also famous for its waffles and there are two varieties, the Gaufre de Liège and the Gaufre de Bruxelles. The classic Brussels waffle is square in shape, has a lighter batter than American style waffles, and the waffle irons have bigger squares and deeper pockets. They were originally leavened with yeast, but now baking powder is often used. Toppings include whipped cream, powdered sugar and chocolate. They can also be combined with ice cream and fresh fruit when served as a dessert. Our favorite dessert waffle was served at The Canterbury restaurant in the Ixelles neighborhood where we lived. Simply delicious. The Liège waffle (named after the city in the Wallonia region of Belgium) is small with rounded edges and contains little clumps of caramelized sugar. This version is frequently pre-made, and often packaged for sale. It’s more like a large thick cookie to my eye and taste, and though many people prefer it, I’ll go with the Brussels waffle every time.

Beer

Brussels is one of the world’s great centers of beer production, and it is particularly famous for its Trappist beers, brewed by or under the direction of Trappist monks. Of the 14 Trappist monasteries in the world still making beer, six are in Belgium. Trappist monasteries originally brewed beer to feed themselves and their communities (when available water was unsafe), and later they continued to brew beer to fund the operations and charitable causes of the monasteries. Production of Trappist beer is now regulated by the International Trappist Association, which sets production criteria. Trappist beers are mostly top-fermented and bottle conditioned, and then categorized as single, double, triple or quadruple, to describe the amount of malt and gravity (or density) they have compared to water, or the wart or must. As a novice beer drinker, I cannot vouch for these beers firsthand, but Eric methodically expanded his expertise in this area. Together we visited the abbeys where some of the more famous Trappist beers were brewed. His favorites are Westmalle Dubbel and Rochefort 8.

And finally, there are mussels and frites combined, or moules-frites, which is considered the national dish of Belgium. Eric may have had mussels in Brussels, but I contracted food poisoning from mussels in Paris while in college and so I lost my taste for it. I don’t wish to discuss it further. For those who care, Eric swears that the best Mussels are at the Restaurant ‘t Kriekske, located in the heart of the Halle Forest outside of Brussels.

After four years, we departed Brussels for New York City with an elevated appreciation of—and even snobbery about—chocolate, frites and croissants. Eric typically approaches a foreign city through language, and I (as a trained architect) usually come to understand a city through its built environment. What I discovered from our time together in Brussels is that my palate was an even better and more personal way to become familiar with the city and to unlock its personality and culture. It was the search to find the best of these foods that helped me to understand the city of Brussels. There are lots of ways to learn about and appreciate a place. This experience in Brussels was the first time I came to know a city through taste.

Carbonnade Flamande

People on both sides of the Atlantic are sometimes surprised by how much Chris and I loved living in Brussels. To Europeans, the city’s name conjures up a cold and gray city, as well as the frustrations related to dreary politics and a sometimes over-reaching bureaucracy. To Americans who have visited Belgium, the offerings of Antwerp, Bruges or Ghent hold a greater attraction. But ask anyone who has lived there and they will tell you that Brussels is a decidedly easy place to live, and live well.

You can eat gorgeous food in Brussels. Its citizens as well as its legions of expats and diplomats are quite discerning and demanding patrons of the many fine bistros and restaurants serving continental fare in the city. Belgium’s own culinary traditions, however, are probably more famous for singular food items (those noted by Chris above) than for composed dishes or recipes. One exception, however, must surely be Carbonnade Flamande. You can find this dish on every menu at a traditional Belgian restaurant, along with Crevettes Grises, Moules Frites, Stoemp and Waterzooi.

Although Chris has decided to eat less and less beef over the years, he can easily make an exception for this dish. It is very closely related to Boeuf Bourguignon, but it has a decidedly Belgian taste profile from the inclusion of dark beer and brown sugar. The risk for me is that this dish can be made too sweet, but that is a risk Chris is always willing to take. Making this at home allows one to control the sweetness, or even offset it with a little red wine vinegar. The results are immensely satisfying, especially on a cold evening.

Carbonnade Flamande should always be accompanied with Belgian beer (preferably dark). With their traditionally higher alcohol levels, Belgian beers will make everyone at the table feel like they are living the good life, no matter how dreary the weather might be. ~Eric

2 lbs rump or chuck roast, cut into 1-inch cubes
1⁄2 lb lean, unsmoked bacon, sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
6 cups sliced yellow onions (about 11⁄2 lbs)
4 cloves garlic, pressed
1 cup beef stock
2 to 3 cups Trappist (Dubbel) beer or other dark ale
1 tbsp of coarse grain mustard
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 bouquet garni (a bundle of parsley, thyme and bay leaf)

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees, with the rack in the lower third of oven.

2. In a Dutch oven, fry bacon until crisp. Remove bacon to a medium bowl and set aside.

3. Reheat the bacon fat over medium high heat until almost smoking and then brown the beef quickly on all sides, a few pieces at a time, removing them when done to the bowl with the cooked bacon. When all done, season with salt and pepper, toss to coat.

4. Reduce heat to medium, adding more bacon fat if necessary, and brown onions, about 15+ minutes, stirring frequently. When done, add flour and stir until flour is slightly browned. Season with salt and pepper, stir in garlic, and set aside to a separate medium bowl.

5. Add stock to the pan and scrape up the brown bits and coagulated juices.

6. Arrange half the beef in the pot and cover evenly with half the onions. Repeat with the remaining beef and onions.

7. Add enough beer to cover the meat and bury the herb bouquet in the meat. Bring liquid to a simmer, cover and place in the heated oven.

8. Cook in oven at a slow simmer (check occasionally) for 2 1/2 hours, until meat is tender.

9. About half an hour before the stew finishes cooking, skim off the fat and remove the herb bouquet, then add the mustard and brown sugar.

10. When stew is done, remove from oven and adjust seasoning.

11. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve with frites, mashed potatoes or buttered noodles.

    Serves 6