Introduction: A café-brasserie lunch staple across Belgium, this grilled ham-and-cheese sandwich is bound with a light béchamel and finished under the grill until bubbling. Cultural Background: A café-brasserie lunch staple across Belgium, this grilled ham-and-cheese sandwich is bound with a light béchamel and finished under the grill until bubbling. It appears on almost every brasserie […]
Introduction: Belgian endive wrapped in ham and baked under a blanket of béchamel and cheese, chicons au gratin is a much-loved home-style side (or light main) that balances the endive's gentle bitterness against rich, savoury dairy. Cultural Background: Belgian endive wrapped in ham and baked under a blanket of béchamel and cheese, chicons au gratin […]
Introduction: A soft, lightly sweet yeasted bun enriched with plenty of butter, couques au beurre are a staple of Belgian breakfast tables and bakery counters. Cultural Background: A soft, lightly sweet yeasted bun enriched with plenty of butter, couques au beurre are a staple of Belgian breakfast tables and bakery counters. Verviers and the wider […]
Introduction: A close cousin of cramique, craquelin is a rich, buttery brioche studded throughout with crunchy pearl sugar rather than raisins, giving little bursts of caramelised sweetness in every bite. Cultural Background: A close cousin of cramique, craquelin is a rich, buttery brioche studded throughout with crunchy pearl sugar rather than raisins, giving little bursts […]
Introduction: Despite its name, this crisp, cinnamon-sugar biscuit-bread has no Greek origin — it takes its name from 'grecht', an old Walloon word for a drainage ditch near the Verviers bakeries where it was first made. Cultural Background: Despite its name, this crisp, cinnamon-sugar biscuit-bread has no Greek origin — it takes its name from […]
Introduction: Belgium's reputation for exceptional chocolate is put to full use in its hot chocolate, made rich and thick with genuinely melted chocolate rather than powder, and traditionally served with a small pot of whipped cream on the side. Cultural Background: Belgium's reputation for exceptional chocolate is put to full use in its hot chocolate, […]
Introduction: Considered by many Belgians to be a national treasure, these creamy croquettes are packed with tiny grey shrimp from the North Sea coast, bound in a rich béchamel, crumbed and deep-fried until golden. Cultural Background: Considered by many Belgians to be a national treasure, these creamy croquettes are packed with tiny grey shrimp from […]
Introduction: Often jokingly nicknamed ‘Belarusian pizza’, smazhenka is a thick savoury batter baked with toppings like ham, cheese, sausage or a sour cream and egg mixture, and it’s a familiar quick bite sold at bakeries and street food stalls across Belarus. Cultural Background: Often jokingly nicknamed ‘Belarusian pizza’, smazhenka is a thick savoury batter baked […]
Introduction: Karavai is a large, elaborately decorated round bread that holds deep symbolic meaning at Belarusian weddings, representing hospitality, respect and blessings for the couple’s future. Cultural Background: Karavai is a large, elaborately decorated round bread that holds deep symbolic meaning at Belarusian weddings, representing hospitality, respect and blessings for the couple’s future. Made rich […]
Introduction: Callaloo, made from the leaves of the dasheen or amaranth plant, is one of the oldest dishes in the Caribbean, with roots stretching back to West African leafy-green cooking traditions carried across the Atlantic. Cultural Background: Callaloo, made from the leaves of the dasheen or amaranth plant, is one of the oldest dishes in […]