It's a country that boasts more three-star restaurants per capita than any other nation-including France. It's a country where home cooks--and everyone, it seems, is a great home cook--spend copious amounts of time thinking about, shopping for, preparing, discussing, and celebrating food. With its French foundation, hearty influences from Germany and Holland, herbs straight out of a Medieval garden, and condiments and spices from the height of Flemish culture, Belgian cuisine is elegant comfort food at its best--slow-cooked, honest, bourgeois, nostalgic. It's the Sunday meal and a continental dinner party, family picnics and that antidote to a winter's day.
In 250 delicious recipes, here is the best of Belgian cuisine. Veal Stew with Dumplings, Mushrooms, and Carrots. Potato and Leek Stoemp. Smoked Trout Mousse with Watercress Sauce. Braised Partridge with Cabbage and Abbey Beer. Gratin of Belgian Endives. Flemish Carrot Soup. Steak-Frites. Belgian Steamed Mussels. Belgian Steamed Mussels. Cognac Scented Flemish Waffles. And desserts, some using the best chocolate on Belgian Chocolate Ganache Tart, Lace Cookies from Brugge, Almond Cake with Fresh Fruit Topping, Little Chocolate Nut Cakes.
As Belgians explain it, since one has to eat three times a day, why not make a feast of every meal? 57,000 copies in print.
This was a gift from a close Dutch friend who currently lives in Belgium. Each autumn when he comes to the States for a long visit, he brings a gift reflecting his current place of residence. This book is an especially nice choice as there are many interesting sidebars and chapter intros talking about the author's upbringing in Belgium.
Just on an initial browsing through, many of the recipes were immediately put on my To Make list; in fact, today was cold and rainy, so I made the first of them, Flemish Carrot Soup. It was everything I needed a good soup to be today... warming, comforting, and delicious.
I can't wait to try some other recipes. Thanks, Jan!
Five years living in Belgie taught me the truth of the title of this Belgian cookbook , but so far I find I’m still making those Belgian dishes which I picked up from TV and grocery store ads or from friends there. Maybe once life really settles down I’ll turn to this and start playing with dishes I’ve not tried. I also have a half dozen true Belgian cookbooks – in Dutch – packed away to be used eventually.
This is a great cookbook for anyone who has traveled or lived in Belgium and fallen in love with their tasty hearty food. The author, with Belgian family roots, shares lots of wonderful personal tidbits about what her grandmothers or mother would add to particular recipes. It's a nice read along with really delicious and authentic recipes. I've tried several and all have brought back heartwarming memories spent with our Belgian friends and family.
[Grandmother:] Jeanne's Roast Chicken with Apples, Onions and Potatoes is "foolproof" as promised - it came out perfect and delicious the first time I tried the recipe. Sadly, it's hard to get a hold of this book - waited months when I ordered/reordered at Amazon.com - finally invested $50 on good-as-new hc from abebooks.com. If you happen to come across a good copy in a used books store and don't keep it for yourself - I will buy it off you!
I have owned this book for quite some time. After traveling in Belgium I wanted to duplicate their wonderful food, especially their mussels and their "frites" which, made fresh and served with real homemade mayonnaise, are sold it seems on every street corner. I achieved this goal thanks to this book. I have made other recipes too. Belgian food is unique and very delicious. It is one of my most treasured cook books.
Superb cookbook! For one, the recipes are excellent, and an accurate reflection of what you can find in Flanders and Wallonia. But more compelling is the care and detail to translate these ingredients and measurements from what is available in Belgium to what is available in America... The stories and anecdotes -- and thus, morsels of history -- make this cookbook anything but bland.