After gallivanting through Amsterdam, I hopped on a train
bound for Belgium. First stop, Antwerp. Belgium is an interesting country in
that it feels very different depending on where you are. The countries surrounding
Belgium have a heavy influence on food and language. Antwerp is in the North,
so Dutch is predominantly spoken.
Antwerp is a city with strong cultural dividing lines. Move
from one street to the next and you change from a Middle East/Muslim neighborhood
to a heavily Hissidic Jew one. This is reflected in what dining options are
available in each part of the city. But what really struck my interest was the
Trappist Brewery 45 minutes outside of the city. There are only eight Trappist
breweries in the world, two in the Netherlands, five in Belgium, and one in the
USA. Trappist monks get their name from a period of reform which started in La
Trappe Abbey in Normandy, France. The monks speak only as necessary and brew
beer, make cheese, soap, and other items to sell only to continue their
livelihood and contribute to charity. Westmalle, the abbey outside of Antwerp,
produces two kinds of beer, a dubbel and a trippel. These are commercially
available in any bar or grocery store. However, there is a third beer that can
only be purchased at the café outside the brewery, Extra. This is the brew the
monks themselves drink, and only the additional is sold. After a long bus ride,
participating in a Trappist Mass, meandering through the grounds (the abbey and
the brewery are off limits), I picked up a couple bottles of the nano-brew. The
dubbel is the color of milk chocolate, and has earthy and hoppy tones. The
trippel is closer to a blond ale, slightly sweeter and the taste of the barely
comes through. The Extra I did not sample yet, as it is a present.
My next stop was Brugge. Situated in the West of Belgium,
Brugge has a much more French influence. Locals call themselves Brugge Zot
(fools) and the town itself is quite quaint, but very touristy. Chocolate shops,
lace stores, and beer vendors are on every corner, each selling the same array
of goods. Through the cloud of consumerism, there are a few places that purvey
unique products. De Halve Maan is one.
The local brewery has been creating beer since 1856. Tours
through their timeline, brewing process, and of course, sampling, take place
daily. Having a unique glass for each beer is a marketing ploy in Belgium.
Everything from horns, to trumpets, flasks and decanters line the walls of
every bar. De Halve Maan is no exception, as they poured the Brugge Zot into a
chalice that grew wider towards the top of the glass. During the tour, I tasted
the barley from which the Zot was fermented, and the taste came through. The
hop flavor was delicate and not bitter and the pour intentionally left a
substantial head which lingered as I sipped.
The other consumable that immediately comes to mind when one
invokes Belgium is chocolate. Most of the tourist-driven stores in both Brussels and Brugge (predominantly French-speaking)
featured nuts, fruit, wafers, cookies, and ganache, all covered in very smooth,
decadent, white, milk, or dark chocolate. Maybe it was the language barrier,
but I was hard pressed to determine how one chocolate shop was different from
another. Most vendors couldn’t tell me the origin of the chocolate, or anything
about the recipe. The Chocolate Line was different.
The scent of chocolate pervaded the store, despite the
constant foot traffic and open door. Solid bars of chocolate, broken by hand,
were available for purchase by the gram. A huge array of chocolate pralines, in
uncommon flavors, sat enticingly behind a glass wall. All the while, white
smocked, chocolate stained chocolatiers spread, plated, and crafted new
creations in a kitchen behind a large window. As expected of me, I purchased a
slew of the greatest oddities The Chocolate Line had to offer.
(Top Left, going clockwise) Shiso was a blend of mild mint
with basil. Slightly herbaceous, but no plant matter in the center. Fried
onions, heavily reduced, chopped fine, sweet and almost candied were encased in
silky milk chocolate. Asian confetti combined the saltiness of soy sauce with a
sweetness of teriyaki, the dark chocolate provided a bitter point. Wasabi did
not punch me in the face with a horseradish-esque burn but rather, the punch
was pulled in favor of lighting up my nostrils to the dark chocolate flavor.
Chili pepper and lime combined for a striking gelee as I bit into the South
American inspired creation. Black olives, sun dried tomato, and basil were
wrapped in dark chocolate in the Italian praline, this one more savory than the
rest. I found myself wanting olive oil, balsamic, and some pasta to round out
the taste.
Belgium is a wonderfully varied nation. Despite its small
size, one can find chocolate like the Swiss, fries like the Dutch, cheese like
the French, but a beer culture that it is all their own. A great stop for any
Eurotrip. Next stop, Luxembourg.
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