Eating my way around the world: Brussels, Leuven, Antwerp

Avoiding mussels in Brussels
& other non-traditional Belgian delights.

Taste & See: Fresh from a quick jaunt across the pond, the next few entries will have a few photos of the food I enjoyed along the way--as well as some food that just amused, as you shall see. I hope you enjoy the view.

Day 1: I arrive in Leuven, Belgium, home of Katholieke Universiteit, where a friend is currently studying. On the way home from the train station she introduces me to one of her favorite things, an individual-serving fresh juice squeezer.:


Just turn on the tap and out comes juice, squeezed by the oranges funneling down before your very eyes. The company's distributor was there and when he saw me taking photos he offered to mail me brochures and company information so I could install a machine home in New York somewhere. Maybe when I open my restaurant we can have a coin operated machine out front, for the kids . . .


Off to Brussels, where we wandered down Rue de Bouchers, better known as mussels alley, avoiding the rabid entreaties by the waiters to come inside and dine on stacks of seafood. Even artfully arranged stacks topped with ships could not tempt us.


And with good reason. According to the Belgian Tourist Office website:

Known more for the atmospheric charm than the cuisine, Rue de Boucher is a walking thoroughfare abounding with 17th century stepped gables, decorated doorways, cafes and restaurants with lavish pavement displays of seafood, piled high on mounds of ice. It is not recommended to eat there and is often called a "tourist trap" in regards to menu prices and quality of food.

Anyway, Belgium may be known for mussels but they're a breeze to make at home, another great Faux Gourmet trick. See the link for some tips. I like to add the following to my white wine & water broth: butter, garlic, ginger, a few chopped chilies. The mussels themselves release a fabulous flavor that does most of the work & you'll probably want to feature it by being a little sparse on the accompaniments, rather than masking it with too many competing flavors.

Instead of mussels, we stopped in a little cafe and had a lovely quiche:


After lunch we managed to similarly avoid the not-so-tempting prospects of a sugar overdose in the form of a Barbie:


That night, back in Leuven, we & half the students at KU dined at a popular local eatery called Wok on Air . . . serving, you guessed it, noodles & stir fry, complete with bottles of Sri Racha on every table. So much for your stereotypes of "Belgian" food. Cheap, fresh & tasty, the veggie-noodle combo topped with a generous slab of quick fried white fish lasted two complete meals.


Day 2: We drove over to nearby Antwerp, an emerging fashion hotspot. The architecture mirrored in the Grote Markt that in the Grote Markt/Grand Place of Brussels but the sky was blue and the square was filled with a lively flower market rather than tourists like us.


I inadvertently lead my party on a wild goose chase in search of a particular French cafe in a charming old house, only to find we'd vastly overshot the distance (and our own willingness to retrace our steps in search of the elusive cafe). We happily happened upon a cute little broojes shop in lieu & ended up quite happy with the mistake. I had a broojes (broach-es), a cute little sandwich in a roll with some kind of meat and cheese filling. Mine had chevre, smoked salmon & watercress. Yum!


We then went on a second wild goose chase, this time not of my making, down the lovely narrow streets of Antwerp, on the hunt for dessert.


We had our "aha" moment with apple pie. Worth waiting for? I think so.


Finally, ended the day with a long bike ride over the river & through the woods of KU's gloriously peaceful campus, falling leaves & empty on a Saturday night. Stopped in a lively little cafe with outdoor seating on an otherwise deserted square.



Enjoyed a lavendar tea & a bowl of tomato soup, which came with brown-bagged fresh bread:


When in Rome . . . ended the day with a delightful glass of Chimay, a Trappist-monk made beer & a luxury in which I rarely indulge in back home: