Delicooks

Brussels, the capital of the Region of Brussels and Belgium, is also the administrative headquarters of the European Union (EU). Its official name is Ville de Bruxelles (Brussels City) to avoid confusion between the town and the region. Viewed from a distance, Brussels seems gray and rainy, and is famous for its great medieval buildings, including the Grand Place, the Royal Castle of Laeken and the Manneken Pis. Less well known, however, is the city’s great cuisine which blends the best of French tradition and the traditional abundance of German cuisine. It’s often enough just to order a main course and dessert. Traditional dishes include steamed mussels with fries; waterzooi, turbot fish in cream; rabbit with mustard and beer; Flemish carbonnade –  beef generously soaked in beer and flavored with herbs; shrimp croquettes; endives gratin with ham or eels in green sauce.

Beer is to the Belgians what wine is to the French

The Belgians are avid beer drinkers and there are many varieties, with different colors and flavors. In Belgium, the brewing of beer has as much tradition as making wine in France. The most famous are the Brugs Tarwe, white wheat beer, slightly cloudy, with a very refreshing hint of coriander; Bruxelles Geuze, produced from spontaneous fermentation; Bolleken of Konick, from Antwerp, with amber-hued tones and of very high fermentation giving it a mild flavor with yeasty and spicy notes; Stella Artois from Leuven; Primus or Maes, low fermentation, golden tones and a slightly bitter taste, Pilsen style; or Trappist, perhaps the most renowned in the country, and branded as Rochefort, Orval, Westmalle or Achel, dark or clear, refermented in bottles and with a slight sweetness and bitter undertones.

Belgian chocolate – a hallmark of the country.

Belgium and chocolate are almost synonymous. The first factories and workshops appeared shortly after the Spanish brought in cocoa beans from the New World. At that time, chocolate was a bitter drink available only to the wealthier classes. Over time, the Belgians developed different flavors to the point that merchants would use chocolate to treat their clients during trade negotiations. Belgians invented pralines, which are eaten with almonds. and there are countless stores offering the quintessential national product. Chocolates are sold in various sizes and are presented in gracefully beautiful boxes, with the contents prized as a work of craftsmanship. In Bruges, you can visit the Chocolate Museum, one of the world's largest. At the prestigious St. Huberts galleries, there are plenty of chocolate shops scattered throughout the three spaces: the galleries of the King, Queen and the Prince; but there’s no shortage of large stores across the city and near the Grand Place, the heart of Brussels.

Belgian chocolate is dark, has no milk and the taste is full and balanced. It is available in many forms, the most common being sweets, bars or figurines.

Special mention should go to Pierre Marcolini, an example of Belgian confectionery at its best and renowned worldwide. They also sell a wide variety of cookies, sorbets and ice creams. Marcolini uses only cocoa personally selected by their specialists who are skilled in blending the finest ingredients. Most famous are their truffle chocolates with champagne, the Trianon Fondant or Envol, which have been showered with international awards. Also remarkable are the macaroons, a Belgian tradition that at Marcolini has become an art.