Weekend Cooking: Belgium in the Glass

You would think that after more than two weeks in Europe, I'd have a couple dozen photos of the wonderful meals I enjoyed while traveling. You would, however, be wrong.

My recent trip to Brugges proves once again that it's a good thing I'm primarily a book blogger instead of a food blogger. I have only a few not very good photos of what I ate.

It turns out that I'm happy to snap pictures of the drinks I ordered, but once the dishes arrive at the table, I'm more interested in savoring my meal than in taking a photo. Oops!

We ate very, very well in Belgium. I had (among other foods) tapas, olives, croquettes, rabbit, Flemish stew, salads, chocolate, salmon, croissants, pasta, steak, cheeses, cured meats, breads, meatballs, croque monsieur, macaroons, and smoked chicken. One of my most memorable meals was eaten in the restaurant shown above, which is just across the border in Lille, France.

We did our best to sample all that the region had to offer in drinks. Hot chocolate, espresso, gin cocktails, champagne, wine, and lots and lots of beer. We even visited a jenever (Flemish gin) museum and tasted a couple of varieties. The photos show just some of what I drank.

Next week, when I'm a bit more rested (I'm still trying to get over the jet lag), I'll have more to say. For today, I just want to thank Deb from Kahakai Kitchen for taking over as the Weekend Cooking host, despite starting a new job and dealing with the hurricane threat!

Here are some quick beer notes. The Gruut beer is brewed in Ghent, and that's where we drank it. Although the Westmalle quadrupel was my favorite beer, I forgot to photograph it (despite having ordered it two or three times). Shown instead is their tripel. Westmalle is a Belgium Trappist brewery.

The Bourgogne des Flanders and Straffe Hendrik are both brewed in Brugges. The breweries offer tours, and each also has a restaurant. I prefer dark beers, though some of the tripels were good.

When you travel, do you take photos of your meals or drinks? Am I the only slacker?

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