Belgium

After yesterday's french feast I was hoping for a healthy day today, but as soon as I mentioned Belgium, there was really only one option mentioned in the house: Vlaamse friet.

With a side order of Belgian waffles!

It's not really the right time of year for mussels (and they're not exactly vegetarian either) so we opted for the full on Brussels snackbar version of fries, with . Lunch was a frankly delicious Brussels waffle with whipped cream, strawberries and chocolate sauce (ingredients courtesy our local supermarket).

After a nice long bike ride to settle our stomachs, and some guerilla gardening (we planted wild flower seeds in an otherwise weed filled gravel bed, owned by the local authority in front of our house), we judged the time was right to dive into some belgian snack food for dinner.

Belgium has a strong claim to be the inventor of the chip (or french fry if you insist), uniquely they prepare them with a double frying method, which is a little messy but, having tried it for the first time today, does indeed produce a superior chip. The Belgian chip is also more similar to the British chip than American french fries, they are thick cut and I believe traditionally fried in beef fat.

I don't have a deep fat fryer, (or indeed air fryer), but a deep pan half filled with vegetable oil and my trusty cooking thermometer (the potatoes need to be fried at around 160 C) more than sufficed - golden, crispy goodness resulted.

We added some vegetarian gehaktballetjes (meatballs and potatoes are definitely themes in many European countries I have learned during this project) and some chicken-free nuggets on the side.

To add to the general feeling of being on holiday in Brussels, we also tried a couple of different belgian beers including this strawberry flavoured white beer, which was surprisingly refreshing.