Thursday, February 26, 2009

Belgium for Beginners - Part II - the Food

If you are travelling from India and are here to stay then you better be prepared to get experimental with your food. The Indian palate is not designed to accept bland food (read as no seasoning) or coarse food (read as sandwiches hard to bite) or rare/medium food (read as half cooked meat)! That's just a starter...

Belgian cuisine is similar to French, based on game and seafood. Butter, cream, beer and wine are generously used in cooking. French cuisine is considered the best in the world - dainty, classic and tasty. A cut above the rest! But definitely its a question of palate and seasoning. The rest of the world seems to enjoy bland food. The blander the better and what a nightmare for Indians. You do get acclimitised to some aspects after a time but the basic craving remains.

Now if you are vegetarian then GOD save you. For one - you wont know what to choose from the menu and two - you wont know how to ask in a language which they understand. So, a restaurant outing can be a nightmare at the beginning. Meat eaters, too, need to ask for a well cooked steak and check that it's not ham or pork if they are religious!
The Flip side of things is that you get amazing Viennoiseries - all types of fresh bread, croissants, pain au chocolate, baguettes, brioches, raisin buns, etc, all very delectable !
Some of the top of the tops available here are:
1. The Belgian fries - frites (invented by the Belgians not the French)
2. The Belgian beer (400 varieties are brewed here)
3. The Belgian chocolate (the highest export)
4. The Belgian waffles - simply world class
(and my latest Favorite is - The Tartines!)
The supermarkets are well stocked with juicy fruits and fresh 'English' vegetables! Meat varieties are unlimited and the 'Ready to eat' varieties are mind boggling. Cooking is easy here with all the tinned food and the freezer gardens.

Ofcourse you have the traditional South Asian shops selling everything from mustard to mint but then, they are way out of the normal living areas. You've gotto make an expedition (we call it) to reach them and trolley back your purchases from those outlandish areas. A little difficult but worth the effort!


The rest is upto you. Cook your food or Buy your food and simply- dig in! And while you are at it don't bother about that waist line or the extra calories! Bon Appetit!

(Thanks to Alexandra who inspired me to write this...answering her questions on Indian culinary tastes and the Belgium influence!)

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