Thursday, August 28, 2008

The food diaries: part 3 - Belgium

Staying with the Belgium theme, here's some of the lovely food I enjoyed on my recent trip. It's not hard to find good food in Belgium, but every time I'm with my friend Sigrid, I know the food will be exceptional. And it was.



Scampi (what we'd call prawns in the UK) served two different ways - both equally delish although the garlic ones were a bit too garlicky even for those with tough stomachs.


Our prawns came with potato side dishes. I opted for yummy Belgian fries and Sigrid chose mash. Belgians are proud of their fries and rightly so - they taste just as fab as they look.



A selection of chocolatey spreads and fresh breads for breakfast. I fell in love with Speculoos paste (made from speculoos biscuits) so I bought a jar to bring back home with me.


A typical Dutch breakfast delicacy - buttered bread with a toping of Hagelslag "extremely chocolatey" sprinkles. A must for true chocolate lovers.


Last but not least, pita grecque - very similar to Greek pita souvlaki, although it's made with beef rather than pork. Thinly sliced meat, tomatoes, onions, fries, tzatziki, all wrapped in warm pita bread. I have one of these every time I'm in Brussels, as it's closer to the real thing than anything I find in England.

Gosh, I am making myself hungry and it's only mid morning. Mmmmm.

18 comments:

Shionge said...

Hey....so many varieties I am so hungry now and yes I love scampi the fried one though in UK...never failed to order that dish all the time when I visit England..>ALL the time heheheh....

Anonymous said...

Oh dear, may be the prawns tasted better than they looked :-/

Tinsie said...

@ Shionge: You know what, I've never had scampi in the UK (but I often have prawns). I ought to give them a go one day.

@ Anonymous: They tasted fab!

Betty Carlson said...

Those shrimp dishes look good but immense! Sounds like you've been travelling a bit.

Tinsie said...

The portions were pretty generous. We were so full at the end of the meal. You should have seen the meat dishes, they served them on wooden chopping boards!

Indeed I've done a fair bit of travelling during the summer months - anything to escape the wet English weather!

Mandi said...

the food does indeed look amazing...the photos show how devouring it all looks....nice to see you

GMG said...

Hi Tinsie! First of all many thanks for your comment on my post of 08.08.08 at 08h08 at Blogtrotter, now in Kos, Greece (special for you)! It was great to read you there. Second, sorry for the long delay to come here, but August was a terribly busy month, as everybody else seems to be in vacation…
Anyhow, I found sometime now to land here and enjoy your blog. Scampi don't look too Belgian, but with «frites», only in Belgium... ;)) Great treat!
Wish you a great weekend!

Oleanderman said...

Thanks for swinging by. I'm tempted by your scampi - especially as scampi and chips to go was £15 in Norway. £15! I made do with chewing on one of the wooden fork things - I'm a stone lighter now...

Tinsie said...

@ Mandi: You too, Mandi!

@ GMG: On the contrary, scampi/prawns and all seafood dishes are very popular in Belgium. As for the fries, they simply must be eaten to be believed.

@ Neorelix: I can imagine! I actually find that trips to Scandinavia are an ideal way to kick start a diet ;-)

Couture Carrie said...

Deeeelish!

Claire said...

I'm back on a healthkick tomorrow, you meanie!

Cxx

Tinsie said...

@ Couturecarrie: It soooo was :-)

@ Claire: Me too! These photos are killing me!

palmtreefanatic said...

oh wow! all looks so tasty!

Karen said...

Oh my gosh, I've read this post 10 times but have yet to come up with an intelligent word to comment with. Howabout YUMMMMMMMMMMMMM? Especially the chocolate on a buttered roll. Does it get any better than that???

Anonymous said...

sooooo yummy!!!

Tinsie said...

@ Karen: I think we all agree that there's nothing to say but yum :-)))

I'm told the chocolate chips are apparently very common in the Netherlands and Belgium. Who knew!!

Fifi Flowers said...

YUMMY food... you're making me hungry and I just ate!

Tinsie said...

Hehe you'll be even hungrier after the next post, I promise ;-)