Belgian cuisine

Sweet dishes and desserts

• Gaufres/Wafels: Belgian waffles, sometimes eaten as a street snack and sold by ice-cream vans. Among the better-known styles are the Gaufre de Liège or Liège waffle, Brussels waffle, and the stroopwafel.
• shortcrust cinnamon biscuit, traditionally baked for consumption on or just before Saint Nicholas Day (Dutch: Sinterklaas
  , French: la Saint-Nicolas) on 6 December.
• Croustillons/Smoutebollen: deep-fried balls of dough, eaten at fairgrounds or on special occasions like the October fair.
• Rijstevlaai/Tarte au riz : a pie with a filling based on rice pudding, native to Verviers.
• Sirop de Liège/Luikse siroop: a jam or jelly-like spread made of evaporated fruit juices.
• Cuberdon: a cone-shaped purple candy made of gum arabic, originally from Ghent.
• Lacquements: thin wafer, made from wheat, cut in two horizontally, filled and coated with sugar candy syrup flavoured with orange blossom. Generally eaten during the October fair in Liège and the Sinksenfoor in Antwerp.
• Aalsterse vlaai: a regional pie from Aalst, with well-known variations in the area around Aalst, such as Wetteren (Wetterse vlaai)^[4] and Kalken (Kalkense vlaai). A key ingredient are mastellen, a type of sandwich local to Aalst.

Belgian fries

First World War called them "French fries" because the Belgian soldiers who introduced them to the dish spoke French.^[5]

In Belgium, fries are sold at fast-food stands or in dedicated fast-food restaurants called

kroket are sold alongside. In some cases, the fries are served in the form of a baguette sandwich along with their sauce and meat; this is known as a mitraillette. In areas with immigration, the same combination is also available in a wrap called a dürüm

instead of on a baguette.

The vast majority of Belgian households have a deep fryer, allowing them to make their own fries and other deep-fried foods at home. Supermarkets sell a range of liquid and solid animal- and plant-based fats for use in home deep fryers; beef fat is particularly prized.

In June 2017 the European Commission issued a recommendation to limit the chemical acrylamide—a natural result of frying some foods at high temperatures—from reaching consumers, due to its alleged carcinogenic properties. The document proposed a change in the preparation of Belgian fries to prevent the formation of acrylamide, by blanching them before frying, as opposed to the traditional method of double frying. This led to a wave of protests from several Belgian politicians, who viewed it as an assault on the country's culture and gastronomical tradition.

Sauces

Traditionally, fries are usually served with

• Aïoli
  : garlic mayonnaise.
• Sauce andalouse: mayonnaise with tomato paste and peppers.
• Sauce americaine
  : mayonnaise with tomato, chervil, onions, capers, crustacean stock, and celery.
• Bicky sauce: a commercial brand made from mayonnaise, white cabbage, tarragon, dough, cucumber, onion, mustard, and dextrose.
• Brazilian sauce: mayonnaise with pureed pineapple, tomato, and spices.
• Cocktail sauce: one of several types of cold or room temperature sauces often served as part of the dish(es) referred to as a seafood cocktail or as a condiment with other seafood.
• Curry ketchup: a spiced variant on ketchup and a common sauce in Belgium, Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands.
• Curry mayonnaise: mayonnaise with either turmeric, cumin, ginger, and fresh or dried hot chili peppers.
• Joppiesaus: a commercial brand made from mayonnaise, spices, onion, and curry powder.
• Ketchup: a sweet and tangy sauce typically made from tomatoes, sweetener, and vinegar with assorted seasonings and spices.
• Mammoet sauce: mayonnaise with tomato, onion, glucose, garlic, and soy sauce.
• Mayonnaise: a thick cold sauce or dressing usually used in sandwiches and composed salads.
• Pepper sauce: mayonnaise or hot sauce with black pepper.
• Relish—a cooked and pickled product made of chopped vegetables, fruits, or herbs, and is a food item typically used as a condiment, in particular, to enhance a staple.
• Sauce lapin: a sauce made from sirop de Liège, cooked with raisins, onions, prunes, and cloves, typically served with boulets à la Liégeoise.
• Sauce Riche: a pink, tartar-based sauce.
• Samurai sauce: mayonnaise with Tunisian chili, spices, tomatoes, and bell peppers.
• Algérienne sauce: mayonnaise with mustard, shallot, black pepper, vinegar, and chili pepper or harissa, and sometimes also tomato or tomato sauce, anchovies, or capers.
• Tartar sauce: a mayonnaise or aïoli-based sauce of French origin, and is typical of a rough consistency due to the addition of diced gherkins or other varieties of pickles.
• Zigeuner sauce: a "gypsy" sauce of tomatoes, paprika, and chopped bell peppers, borrowed from Germany
  .

Occasionally, warm sauces are offered by friteries, including Hollandaise sauce, Provençale sauce, béarnaise sauce, or even a carbonade flamande. Most of the sauces above are also readily available in supermarkets. The use of these sauces is not limited to fries; they are used on a variety of other dishes as well.

Beer

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 capita than anywhere else in the world. In 2011, there were 1,132 different varieties of beer being produced in the country.^[6] The brewing tradition in Belgium can be traced back to the early Middle Ages and 6 Trappist Monasteries still produce beer, which was initially used to fund their upkeep.^[7]

On average, Belgians drink 157 litres of beer each year, down from around 260 each year in 1900.^[7] Most beers are bought or served in bottles, rather than cans, and almost every style of beer has its own particular, uniquely shaped glass or other drinking-vessel.^[2] Using the correct glass is considered to improve its flavour.

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 or Tripel
  beers with eel, chicken or white meat
• Dubbel or other dark beers with dark meat
• Fruit Lambics with dessert

A number of traditional Belgian dishes use beer as an ingredient. One is carbonade, a stew of beef cooked in beer, similar to beef bourguignon. The beer used is typically the regional speciality: lambic in Brussels, De Koninck in Antwerp, so that the taste of the dish varies. Another is rabbit in gueuze. The Trappist monastery at Chimay also manufactures cheese that is "washed" with beer to enhance its flavour.^[8]

Jenever

Jenever, also known as genièvre, genever, peket or Dutch gin, is the national spirit of Belgium from which gin evolved. While beer may be Belgium's most famous alcoholic beverage, jenever has been the country's traditional and national spirit for over 500 years.^[9] Jenever is a "Protected Product of Origin", having received eleven different appellations or AOCs from the European Union, and can only be crafted in Belgium, the Netherlands and a few areas in France and Germany. Most of the jenever AOC's are exclusive to Belgium making Belgian jenever (Belgian genever) one of the best-kept secrets in the liquor industry.

For centuries jenever has been bottled in jugs handcrafted from clay. Its iconic shape is recognizable and unique to jenever.^[10] Traditionally the Belgians serve jenever in completely full shot glasses that have just been pulled from the freezer. The first step to drinking the jenever properly is to keep the glass on the table, bend down and take the first sip without holding the glass. Once this traditional first sip is completed one can drink the rest of the drink normally.

Chocolate

Belgium is famed for its high quality chocolate and over 2,000

The composition of Belgian chocolate has been regulated by law since 1884. In order to prevent adulteration of the chocolate with low-quality fats from other sources, a minimum level of 35% pure cocoa was imposed.[14] Adherence to traditional manufacturing techniques also serves to increase the quality of Belgian chocolate. In particular, vegetable-based fats are not used.^[15] Many firms produce chocolates by hand, which is laborious and explains the prevalence of small, independent chocolate outlets, which are popular with tourists. Famous chocolate companies, like Neuhaus and Guylian, strictly follow traditional (and sometimes secret) recipes for their products.

Seafood pralines (pralines shaped like sea shells or fish) are popular with tourists and are sold all over Belgium.

Famous Belgian chocolatiers are Côte d'or, Leonidas, Guylian and Neuhaus.

Gallery

Appetizers and light fare

• 
  A bowl of grey shrimp as a snack
• 
  Jambon d'Ardenne

  /Ardeense ham hanging from a rack
• 
  Dried Ardenne sausage
• 
  The usual

  Herve cheese
• 
  The Trappist beer, Chimay Brewery, and Grand Cru cheese
• 
  Belgian endives

  in a market
• 
  Sirop de Liège/Luikse siroop on a slice of bread
• 
  An assortment of sauces
• 
  Pêches au thon

  /Perziken met tonijn

Main dishes

• 
  Chicken waterzooi
• 
  Hutsepot
• 
  Carbonade flamande/Stoofvlees with fries and salad
• 
  A mitraillette
• 
  Stoemp with cod
• 
  Oiseau sans tête/Blinde vink [fr; nl]
• 
  Paling in 't groen/Anguilles au vert
• 
  Filet américain

Sweet dishes and desserts

• 
  Rijstevlaai/Tarte au riz
• 
  Mattentaart [nl

  ]
• 
  Smoutebollen
• 
  Cuberdon candies
• 
  Kerststol
• 
  Pain d'épices/Ontbijtkoek spiced bread
• 
  Speculoos cookies
• 
  Fresh Liège waffles
• 
  Galettes campinoises
• 
  A couque de Dinant biscuit

See also

References