Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Food in Flanders, Belgium: Antwerp area's beer, cheese, chocolate and spicy pastries

Antwerp in Belgium is a port city which has been known for centuries for diamonds and Belgian beer but now is promoting favourite fresh foods and flavours.

Brussels is the big bustling capital; Bruges is known for pretty bridges; but to keep things easy, let's look at the cities in alphabetical order.

ANTWERP
To sum up what you will find in Antwerp: drinking beer from or buy local beer glasses, try herb l i q u e u r, follow a chocolate trail, sit tasting cheese at a cheese and wine bar, walk a culinary trail, or get up and go cycling the soldiers of the Great War trail. These foods are from Antwerp or the Antwerp province and you will find them in Belgium and exported to other countries - maybe in your local supermarket in London, Singapore or the USA.

FOOD
Culinary walks Antwerp www.culinaireandelingen.be
The Chocolate Line   Antwerp www.thechocolateline.be
Mokatine - coffee flavoured sweet. They sell eight flavours of toffee /caramel sweets in a wrapper, as well as other treats such as marzipan.
www.roodthoft.be

Here's a Mokatine recipe for a Mokatine cake with coffee buttercream, which seems quite tricky as the temperature is critical:
http://www.greatbritishchefs.com/recipes/mokatine-coffee-cake-recipe

Belgian BiscuitsAntwerp produces Boileke and handjes.

Lier vlaaike
Round raised pastry, like a half height muffin, with a dark brown pastry top and a white base or low cup and with filling of breadcrumbs, milk, syrup and spice,  four spices, with a spicy aroma.
The name Lierse is protected so if the product is called Lierse it should come from Lier bakers affiliated to the 'Orde van het Lierse Vlaaike", using the standard recipe. The outside dough is water, butter and flour. The mould is 5 cm in diameter and 2.5 cm high.

DRINK
www.elixir-danvers.be

SIGHSEEING
Cycling in the footsteps of the soldiers of the Great War Kempen  (Kapellen Brasschaat) www.spoorfletsen.be

visitantwerpen.be
The letters be on the end of the website name stand for Belgium.

More Regional Foods
Saffron
Saffron, grown in the province, sold in a little round tin.
www.belgischesaffraan.be

Caviar
In a similar looking round silver metal tin, from Royal Belgian Caviar as the label says.
www.royalbelgiancaviar.be

Angela Lansbury, travel writer, author, speaker.

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