Belgian Food Recipes

Through history Belgian food recipes have changed with influences from cultures that have been dominating the territory. Similarities to the cuisines of southern Germany and northern France are the most obvious. An interesting fact is how the Belgians have maintained a lot of cooking methods since the Middle Ages. Before I begin discussing the cuisine I will provide a brief history lesson since it is useful to understanding why Belgian food recipes have become what they are today.

A Brief History of Belgium
When Julius Caesar arrived in the area of modern Belgium he named the inhabitants Belgae, they were Germanic and Celtish tribes organized into simple agrarian societies. By 51 BC Caesar's armies had occupied the area and included it in the Roman Empire as part of the Gallia province. Thus it remained until the fall of West Rome in the 5th century, then a Germanic tribe known as the Franks invaded and took over, the Franks expanded into an empire. Power struggles eventually led to that some areas of modern Belgium ended up as part of France and others as part of the Holy Roman Empire (known as the Southern Netherlands). The Germanic Empire soon lost control and several small independent duchys were formed, they were not left alone for long since both the English and the French sought to control the region. At the same time several cities developed into strong economical centers, in the south mining became important. As a result of political ongoings the area eventually came under the control of the Spanish branch of the Habsburg family, it remained under Spanish control until the early 18th century, this time as separated from the Northern Netherlands. The Spanish influence is still quite prominnent in several Belgian food recipes. In 1713 the control went to the Austrian Habsburgs (then known as the Austrian Netherlands). This rule definitely ended when the Napoleonic French army invaded in the late 18th century. In 1815 the French were defeated, in the treaty set up Southern and Northern Netherlands were reunited. In 1830 the Belgium revolution broke out and they managed independence, in 1831 Leopold I was elected the first king of Belgium. In 1839 Belgium was recognized officially as a sovereign constitutional monarchy. In the newly formed state there were friction between the French speaking Wallons in the south and the Dutch speaking Flemings, today they are on peaceful terms but the country is still bilingual. During the 19th century Belgium was rapidly industrialized, by the end of the century the economy flourished; much due to big incomes from rubber plantations in the African colony Congo. The country was invaded by the Germans in 1914 and became one of the battlegrounds of the war with Belgian troops fighting until the end of the war. The economy was badly hurt and the interwar years were tough. In 1940 they were again invaded by the Germans, this time around the Germans won a swift victory and Belgium remained occupied until completely liberated in 1945. After the war economic growth fueled by the Marshal plan and contributions from the EU was big, agriculture and industry grew stronger. In 1960 the colony of Congo became independent after a liberation war and became Zaire. As a result of Flemish cultural interests, the state constitution has been reformed several times to a federal state; the latest took place in 2003. Belgium were founding members of the EU, Brussels is its official capital. How this history have affected the Belgian food recipes I will describe below.

Belgian Cuisine
With history in regard it comes as no surprise that there exists two main traditional types of cuisines in Belgium: The Flemish and the Wallonian. The former has many similiraties to northern France and the latter with southern Germany and the Netherlands. The Spanish have also left quite a few imprints, many Belgian food recipes have Spanish origins. A curiousity is how it seems like a lot of Medieval cooking traditions have been preserved, spices like ginger, saffron, vinegar and cinnamon are used in many dishes. Many types of vegetables are in ample use, one is the potato that is prepared into the national addiction: french fries with real mayonaisse. Fresh herbs is a common sight. Endives and asaparagus in various forms are very popular when in season. Meat is common, often prepared into sausages and cold meats. Quite notably is how game is a quite usual fare, perhaps another connection to Medieval cooking? The beer culture is very evolved (something I will get back to) and often beer can be an ingredient in Belgian food recipes. Though the coastline is short fish and seafood is very common, in particular mussels that are prepared in many different fashions. Belgian chocolate is by many considered to be the best in the world, hand made with fresh ingredients! The Belgians have been quite resistant to American fast food, they tend to keep to the national options. Quite a lot of the population is of non-Belgian origins; Italians, Dutch, French, Moroccans, Algerians, Turks, Congolese, Poles, and Indians are some of the nationalities. The eating habits of these have to a lesser extent changed general what Belgian food recipes are like; the big exception is in the fast food culture where various meats and sauces have integrated foreign elements.

Some Ingredients And Dishes Of Belgium
Note for my own convenience I have not always provided bilingual names for the dishes, bear with me...

Frites French fries is served with most meals or on its own as a street food. In the street stands you can get it with some meats and a large variety of sauces.
Mayonaise with frites you have to have some of this.
Moules Means mussels. Often served with french fries and then called moules-frites.
Chou de Bruxelles/spruitkool Brussel sprouts.
Boudin A collective name for cold cut sausages. The Liège kind is spiced with herbs.
Rollmops In the Flemish parts pickled herring fillets that have been rolled with onion is quite common.
Lapin a la gueuze Rabbit cooked in a special kind of sour beer called gueuze or gueze.
Witloof Endives
Écrevisses à la liègeoise A cream and white whine based v´crayfish stew.
Stoemp potato and vegetable mash.
Vlaamse stoofkarbonaden A beef and onion stew cooked with beer.
Waterzooi A heavy cream based fish or chicken stew.
Paling in 't groen Cooked eels in a herb sauce.
chicons au gratin An endive cheese gratin.
Tomate aux crevette A tomato stuffed with shrimp mayonaisse.
Jambon d'Ardenne Smoked ham that is a speciality from the Ardennes region.
Luikse sla A green salad made with green beans, bacon, onions and vinegar.
Gaufre/Wafel Waffles are common in Belgium, often dusted with powdered sugar.

Belgian Beverages
Beer is the main alcoholic drink and deserves special attention. It comes in so many varieties it is hard to summarize. There are lots old micro breweries all over the country. You can say that where the French use wine the Belgians use beer; with food or in cooking. Trappist beer is a famous term for beer brewed in only a few approved monasteries, examples are Chimay and Westmalle, they can vary quite a lot in type but are typically full of flavour and strong in alcohol. When beer is produced in unapproved monasteries or in breweries but are of the same style they are called Bières d'Abbaye or Abdijbier. Champagne beer are brewed as the famous sparkling wine. Blonde is a type of pale ale. Double/dubbel is a dark brown ale. /Lambic/lambiek is a fresh fermented wheat beer type, the sour Gueuze and the cherry flavoured Kriek are examples. The list can continue, this was just to give you an idea. Many Belgian food recipes include specific beer types as key ingredients. The juniper or herb flavoured hard liquer genièvre/jenever is the most famous strong drink.

Submitted Belgian Food Recipes
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