Taste of Belgium #7: My Favorites!

#1: Belgian Waffles and Frituurs

#2: Sausage Roll from Panos!
Panos is a chain store that sells sweet and savory bake goods. You can find this store everywhere in Belgium (it's like a Starbucks, you can find one on every corner). It's a quick snack which is cheap and taste so good!

They make different types of rolls like turkey, chicken and sausage.

#3: Belgian donuts:
I must mention these delicious Belgian pastry and donuts. They were SOOOOOOO good! We had these for breakfast. The chocolate one is like our boston cream donut but the only difference is that it's flaky outside. SO DELICIOUS!!!! The other pastries were cinnamon, custard filled and raisin.

#4: Blood Sausage by Sita's MomStesi planned something special for us to try but won't tell us what Sita's mom was going to make for us. They said Belgian people love it but some people hate it. Sita said she didn't like it as a child but was going to try it again when we do. It turns out to be blood sausage! I've tried it before but hated it. The ones i tried was very hard and the taste was really bad but this time it was soo good! You can eat it with apple sauce and some people eat it with brown sugar. I actually really like it w/ apple sauce.

Thank you so much for cooking this for us Sita's mom *hugz* Dank je wel!!!

Taste of Belgium #6: Chocolates

Chocolate, chocolate everywhere!!! There are so many stores in Belgium where you can buy gourmet chocolate by the pounds or piece. A famous brands in Belgium is Leonidas. According to Stesi, they have the best chocolate! In the states, we think Godiva is one of the best but in Belgium it's only an okay brand.

We went to a chocolate store by Ferran Adria, who owns the title of making the best chocolate in the world.

I <3 chocolate!!!

Taste of Beligium #4: Horse Meat

One food I was looking forward to try was horse meat since we don't serve it here in the states. In Belgium, you can get horse meat as cold cut or as a steak. Stesi tried to slowly introduce us to it so brought smoked horse meat from the super market. It was thinly sliced and looks like salami but darker red color. They made some horse and raw minced meat sandwiches for us in the morning. The horse meat sandwich had a very unique and strong taste w/ a hint of smoky favor. The raw minced meat was really good with lots of meat favor and creamy texture. Both was interesting....

After trying the horse meat cold cuts we were ready to try the steak! Stesi says it taste as good as a regular steak but better. We'll see about that...They took us to "De Peerdestal", a cozy restaurant located in the middle of old Antwerp.

It was a bit pricey but food portions were good and the taste was great! The decor was a bit weird! we knew we were eating eating horse, they didn't have to put horse bodies all over the restaurant! We sat right under the horse head...
someone else was sitting under the horse butt...

I thought this was horse meat but ends up being salami, a complementary starter.

Sita got a shrimp croquette appetizer

We ordered fried foie gras with oysters. OMG so good!!!! I'm starting to develop a liking for foie gras after my dinner at WD50 (blog post coming soon...)

Sita and I order the duck with raspberry sauce. The sides include grilled vegetables and croquettes. The duck was so delicious! It was so juicy and tender. The sauce was a sweet with a bit of sour which goes really well with the meat. *drooling as I'm writing about it*

The boys ordered the horse steak! From a glance, it looks exactly like a regular steak...

Andy loved it! I thought it was good and very tender. *videos of our reaction coming soon* It didn't have the strong taste as the cold cut but you can def taste the difference between cow and horse meat.

After our wonderful meal, time for coffee. This place brings you a tray with chocolate malt balls and different types of sugar for your coffee:

Since we tried horse meat, why not try horse milk ice cream! DON'T DO IT... very funky! I took two bites and couldn't bring myself to eat more of it. The citrus sauce and fruits on the side could not cover the strong funky taste of horse milk. I'll stick with my cow milk desserts from now on...

Our first horse meat experience was awesome!! Thank you guys for taking us there =D

Us asking the water for tap water:
Waiter: we don't have any tap water here
Sita (to us): What do they wash dishes with? LOL
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -- -- - - - --
De Peerdestal
http://www.depeerdestal.be/

Address: Wijngaardstraat 8, Antwerp

Phone: 323-231-9503

Taste of Belgium #1: Waffles and Sweets!

This September, Andy and I went on a backpacking adventure (actually, we wheeled ourselves) in Europe for three weeks! We visited 5 countries and our first stop was Belgium! We stayed w/ our awesomest friends Stesi (Steven and Sita). Our great host took us everywhere and introduced us to lots of Belgian food. It was great hanging out with the locals! They saved us from those tourist traps (which i will blog about for other countries...grrr!!)

(this was taken in Antwerp central train station. it's def much nicer then Brussels's train station)

When we got there the first question they asked, "What do you want to eat/try?" I quickly told them WAFFLES!! I visited Belgium 2 yrs ago and really missed their delicious crispy and melts in your mouth Belgian waffles. They knew exactly where to take us. According to them, this place has the best Belgian waffles and they were RIGHT!

Désiré de Lille

Everything on the menu looks so delicious:

Beignets: these are Belgium donuts, it's like the zeppoles from our street fairs. very yummy when it's warm.

I forgot the name of this dessert but it's another type of waffles. It's flat and thin and made with special syrup. The syrup was very sweet and had a strong molasses taste which I didn't like too much. I wish they had maple syrup but then found out you can't find any in Belgium.

Pancake with apples and ice cream: omg this was so good! the warm apples and the pancake was a little crispy...

Last but not least, a REAL Belgian Waffle!!!!! This was HEAVEN!! so light and crispy...most of the time the waffles we have in the states are thick and doughy w/ lots of cream and crap on it. This waffle was melt in your mouth and fluffy w/ a little bit crispy on the outside. DELICIOUS!!!! According to Stesi, the Belgian way to eat a waffle is not to put crap (syrup, lots of whip cream, chocolate, fruits) on it. You are suppose to eat it plain. A good Belgian waffles are suppose to be coated with sugar so when you bite into the warm waffle, it is a little bit crunchy from the sugar. We actually saw many places that serves it with tons of crap. Andy couldn't help but want to try the crappy waffle so he did while Stesi shook their heads with disapproval. All the crap made the waffle very soggy and messy to eat!

I like mine, the Belgium way =)

You can find all these little trucks around Belgium. You can have a choice to put crap on it or not. Waffles are usually 2 euros for the plain ones.

More Sweets:

These pretty sweets are marzipan, a confection consist primarily of sugar and almond. It is usually shaped into different forms such as a fruit or animal.

These triangular shaped candy is called cuberdon.
It is hard on the outside, soft and gooey on the inside.

I found cuberdons liquor in a
store. I didn't get to try this but I'm sure it's good because the candy was very yummi! I have to try this next I go to Belgium.

Gelato in Belgium from the Australian Home Made Ice Cream. The gelato was so creamy! I wish I could've tried more favors. I want more when I go back =D
so yummi!!

I don't know how we got into bonbons....I told them I really like them when I was little but can't find them anymore. Stesi being an awesome host took us to a near by theater to buy these bonbons. We didn't have tickets to see a movie but Sita used her charms so they let us in to the store. yay, I get to eat bonbons! =D Instead of the popcorn/food counters, they have a 7-11/supermarket in the theaters. They have so much more selections!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Désiré de Lille
Antwerp, Belgium
http://www.desiredelille.be/

Banana Cream Pie

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups milk
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked
• 4 bananas, sliced

Directions

1. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, flour, and salt. Add milk in gradually while stirring gently. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is bubbly. Keep stirring and cook for about 2 more minutes, and then remove from the burner.
2. Stir a small quantity of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks, and immediately add egg yolk mixture to the rest of the hot mixture. Cook for 2 more minutes; remember to keep stirring. Remove the mixture from the stove, and add butter and vanilla. Stir until the whole thing has a smooth consistency.
3. Slice bananas into the cooled baked pastry shell. Top with pudding mixture.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 12 to 15 minutes. Chill for an hour.