A lovely lean sort of brioche from Belgium, this particular version comes from Wittaner, arguably the best pastry shop in Brussels, and is featured in Nick Malgieri’s “A Baker’s Tour.” This bread should be cut into relatively thin slices and makes great sandwiches and toast.
A classic French way of serving radishes, simple and yet so good; crunchy radishes are simply served with fresh butter and sea salt. I like to serve mine with Fleur de Sel, which is the caviar of French sea salts. You will be offered this in most French homes as an aperitif snack or as an appetiser before a meal. All that is needed is some traditional French bread to accompany it for a light lunch or supper dish. Table salt is fine if you cannot source Fleur de Sel or a good sea salt. (Information on Fleur de Sel: Many consider fleur de sel, which means “flower of salt” in French, the finest type of sea salt available. Its price reflects its high quality, as it costs about 10 times more than your average sea salt and 100 times more than table salt. The delicacy with which it is hand-harvested accounts for much of the expense. Fleur de sel floats on the surface of shallow salt water marshes and is scraped off with a special rake called a lousse à de fleur. The raking must be done carefully by hand to prevent mixing the fleur de sel with the coarse gray salt beneath it. France harvests most of the world’s fleur de sel, with the town of Guérande possibly being the most famous producer. Fleur de sel has a higher mineral content than table salt, a natural greyish hue, a moist texture and a violet-like fragrance. Sprinkle it on food before serving to enliven flavours.)
I adore Moules Frites – for me it is quintessential French and Belgian Bistro food at its best – plus I love tactile eating! You can treat yourself to Moules Frites anywhere in France and Belgium, and for most of the year. I often make the “Moules” part at home – Moules Marinière – but now and then, for a treat I also do the “Frites” bit as well……chips or French fries! Serve these with lots of paper towels or napkins, and a glass of chilled white wine would be the perfect accompaniment! I bought special Moules Frites dishes, as shown in the photos, but a couple of bowls would be fine – and don’t forget a large bowl for the shells. If you really want to be 100% authentic, it is de rigueur to serve the frites with mayonnaise my dear…..sinfully good! Vive la France! Historical Note: Did you know that French Fries are really Belgian? Deep-fried chipped potatoes (“fries” in American English; “chips” in British English) are a very popular food item – and one which the Belgians claim to have invented. They are called frieten in Dutch and frites in French, whatever the name, they are my guilty pleasure!
These taste wonderful with mashed potatoes. (To make mashed potatoes the Belgian way, you also put some nutmeg in with the salt and pepper) I hope you will enjoy these as much as I do. Endives are a little bitter, but cooked they are sometimes a mixture of bitter and sweet.
Make and share this Gentse Waterzooi recipe from Food.com.
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