11 | May | 2015

The Weekly synopsis:

More work as usual, however, this week we made an effort to get out of the house a bit.

During the week we went out to Huy to watch another race, this time with both a men’s and a women’s event being held. Which seems to be pretty unusual, as the ladies always seem to miss out on all the publicity & major events. Thought this one might be worth going to as it had multiple laps involved, which would increase the amount of viewing pleasure from a single location (and we would see the men and women as both were being held concurrently).

We headed in early, so Murray could do a ride around the area and do some of the local climbs. Meanwhile, I explored the street market and checked out some of the buildings in the area. The market had some of the finest looking strawberries I have ever seen, and the artichokes looked more like art than food. And there were fresh rotisserie chickens and waffles and all sorts of things smelling divine and delicious. I would have loved to do some shopping for fresh produce there, but there wasn’t anything we needed (fridge status: already full). Oh well. It was enough to enjoy the sights and smells.

Once Murray was done with his cycling expedition, we watched the race from the finish line at the top of a hill (Which I was most unimpressed about walking up, and these cyclists had to ride up it repeatedly. Poor people). There were plenty of spectators, and the atmosphere was quite festive.

The event had a couple of food vendors, and several vendors selling beer, which was interesting, as no one was selling water. As it was, many spectators had come well prepared, with their own beer and food and chairs etc. It seems to be a common theme, with many Europeans attending these events complete with beverages and snacks. The group near us (of maybe 8 men in their 50’s) had 2 giant esky bins (think 120L fridge sized) which were presumably initially full of beer. By the time we got there, one of the esky bins was being used just for recycling, and was already full with empty beer bottles. They also came toting a shopping bag full of bread and another full of boulettes (belgian meat balls the size of tennis balls). Well prepared, indeed. We weren’t prepared though. So we bought frites (more on frites later).

Unfortunately, despite having a giant screen at the top of the hill, very little of the race was actually being relayed. And the cyclists couldn’t actually be seen as we were at the same level as everybody else. As a result we eventually ditched the race and slowly made our way down the hill again and then off home. We did still see the cyclists several times, but turns out it was much better viewing on the crowded hillside (and then later, on tv).

We also visited the Bluebell Forest in Halle’s Wood. Every year, somewhere in April/May, the bluebells flower in this forest. And they more or less have a monopoly on the ground cover, which makes for quite a spectacular sight. As it is definitely a popular destination, we drove to the second entrance, expecting that there may be many people and that parking might be difficult. Google took us through some seriously dubious cobblestone streets to reach this second entrance to the woods, only to find that the carpark there was full. However, we snapped up the last parking space, and despite the full carpark, there weren’t all that many people in evidence. The forest was indeed very beautiful, and the photos taken really don’t show just how spectacular the blue carpet of flowers were to experience. The flowers continued for what seemed like acres. We enjoyed a bit of a traipse through the forest and despite many signs for deer, saw none. The flowers were more than enough reward.

Saturday:

As we have had a fairly poor hit rate at visiting breweries (very limited opening hours or not open to visitors or within supposed opening hours but definitely not open) we visited the Lambiek Beer Museum, near Beersel. It was interesting, although largely catering for those speaking Flemish. There staff there were very helpful, and had a lot of helpful information regarding successfully visiting some of the lambic breweries in the area in preparation for the Tour De Geuze festival that we are planning on going to next week.. Apparently the one day event draws 10,000 people a year, and as such it is a better idea to visit some of the breweries participating in the days immediately beforehand. They directed us to visit the Brouwerij Fonteinen on our way home, where we received an unexpected impromptu tour from the head brewer. It was very interesting, as brewing sour beer is a bit of a different process to brews produced by normal fermentation methods (uses open-air fermentation to take advantage of special local yeast).

Sunday:

We belatedly discovered that the Zythos Beer Festival was being held over the weekend, and as a result, we visited the expo on Sunday. Apparently it was showcasing over 500 beers, and had something like 100 vendors. There was a lot of beer to be had. And so many styles, even if you don’t think you like beer, you would find something to your taste (ie. ones that are highly unrecognisable as being beer at all. One tasted exactly like carbonated Ribena – DuCassis, I’m looking at you.).

…It was unlike any beer festival I’ve attended before. You paid 10 euro for a starter kit, including a 100ml glass and 8 drink chits (ie. the sample glass costs you 2 euro) and at the end of the day you could return the glass and be refunded 3 euro (seriously, who gives you money at any kind of event?). Also, attendance was free, but you had to pay 2 euro for a toilet pass. Why they didn’t just charge you an entrance fee beats me. It’s not as if you could “optionally” use the toileting facilities.

This was quite a serious event, and many people were armed with pen and paper or journal making tasting notes throughout the day. Various beer appreciation societies were in attendance, with visiting groups having travelled from the England, France, the Netherlands and Germany (and more) to sample the fare. We were attending on the second (and final day) of the event, as as such thought it might be a little quieter. However, as the day went on the exhibition hall filled up steadily by the busload, with mostly people from maybe age late 20’s and upward. Interestingly, I’d say the majority of attendees probably fit in the 45-65 bracket. Which was seriously weird, but makes more sense when you think about this being a serious beer aficionado event. Every stall was even equipped with a bowl of fresh bread broken into bite sized portions. To cleanse the palate, perhaps?

Once again, plenty of people had come prepared with packed lunches and cheese/charcuterie platters, further solidifying the notion that Europeans bring food to all occasions. While we were planning what to try, the neighbour at our table was busily making notes in his beer journal and enjoying a packed sandwich. Others were enjoying cheese cubes dipped in mustard while comparing notes. Which brings me to cheese + mustard. That’s how they were selling it at the kiosk. Not the pairing I would have expected.

At any rate, we had a great time. There was even a free shuttle bus into and out of the city, so it was a great opportunity to see the town of Leuven as well.

More on food in Belgium:

Frites are everywhere. And I have to say, sorry Belgium, but they aren’t great. They are ok. I’d say “nothing to write home about”, but here I am, writing about them. Here, it seems that frites are the celebrated ubiquitous snack of choice, and are apparently meant to represent the pinnacle of enjoyment in the hot chip department. Thus far, every meal we have had out has been served with frites (or the primary option of frites, which you then have to negate or you’ll end up with frites by default). Curry (with frites). Stew (with frites). Mussels (with frites). Asian noodles (with frites). To my mind, these things don’t belong (with frites). And they all seem to be the same frites. Restaurant or friterie, they are uniformly the same bulk prepared straight cut potato chips. Served with a copious amount of mayo. Or one of many, many other sauces (which all also seem to be based on mayo). In a cornet cup. Restaurants are fancier and serve a communal bowl of frites to the table (picture a salad bowl, but full of hot chips). I’ve ordered other sides a few times instead and gotten odd looks. I’ve definitely never seen so many chips in my life. And these “friterie” places are literally everywhere. I’d be curious to see just how much the Belgian population consume in frites per year. …I’m guessing quite a bit.

In my attempt to try new things I have had a crack at cooking rabbit, zebra, poussin and also guinea fowl (as well as regular chicken). Have to say, my experience with cooking poultry here has been better than any I’ve prepared at home (Bianca: the poussin was ridiculously delicious, I may never buy a regular chicken again). The rabbit must have been farmed, as it was soft and tender and not gamey at all (unlike my memories of wild rabbit from home). And exotic meats in general have been tasty (felt more than a bit bad about the zebra steak, but it was delicious). There are also frogs legs, snails, ostrich, horse and bison available in the supermarket and as yet untried… However, I’m not sure just how adventurous I plan to get… Probably won’t get as far as insects, fabulous source of protein though they may be.

Well, I think that’s it for another week. Once, again. A wee bit late (a certain someone was to add commentary and seems to have forgotten about it, so I’m posting it sans-comments). Ireland is just around the corner!