Public Market, Brussels Belgium

I already gave my thoughts as to why the Europeans have a much better philosophy about food so, I'll save you another lecture from atop my soapbox. Anyway, I went to this fantastic market in the a Spanish and Italian neighborhood in Brussels today I then made my rendition of the sandwiches from Snack Sandwiches (see below). Also pictured: white peaches (my ALL time favorite fruit), garlic brined olives, and six month Manchego cheese...EPIC!

Arty photos courtesy of my new iPhone app...

Snack Sandwiches, Brussels Belgium

One of the things I love about vacations is finding spots that are not on your radar. Tommy stumbled upon this little sandwich shop and we fell in love with it. In two days I managed three meals from this humble little shop.

There are three things that make a great sandwich in my opinion:
1) Someone else makes it
2) The quality of the toppings
3) The bread (probably the most important!)
Snack Sandwiches has all three of these in spades! They are assembled by a husband and wife duo that dance around each other and prepare your lunch with love and respect. The meat and cheeses here shine but the real stars are the vegetables. Cucumber, mixed greens, roasted peppers, carrot julienne, and tomato all made an appearance on one or all of our sandwiches. All the baguettes are fresh baked in house (in fact, with our first order the bread was still hot!!!) These things are the type of sandwich I dream of. I once drove four hours to Pittsburgh to get a sandwich. I envision a day when I will have to buy a plane ticket and fly eight hours to get a salami sandwich from Therese and Dominique!

Lobsterlicious!

Founeau, Brussels Belgium
For our second to last night in beautiful Brussels we decided to do it up right at a nice restaurant, one last hoorah before the journey home. Enter Fourneau, an excellent, upscale, bistro near the Magritte museum in Brussels. Upon arrival we had a little trouble deciphering the menu but were soon helped and guided towards a five-course prix fixe menu of homard (lobster).

The first four courses were all different preparations of lobster and the meal was finished with a crème brulee for dessert. An amuse bouche arrived before our meal and it was a play on the meal we were about to have. One piece of sushi, a shot of lobster bisque, and potato chips with lobster salt were presented, as the meal was to be lobster maki roll, lobster tempura, and lobster bisque. The amuse bouche mirrored the meal, a playful move from the kitchen that I found to be genius.

The first actual course was lobster maki and sushi rolls. Well made rolls with high quality lobster that was cooked to perfection. A whole claw and part of tail were plated in an eye appealing way that aided in our pleasant reception of this dish.

The next course was the tempura, and easily the star of this meal. The batter here was just enough to change the texture to crispy. The vegetables were done just right, they still crispy, not soggy or oily as is often the case with tempura vegetables. The lobster, again, was cooked masterfully: crispy, warm, butter, soft, and most importantly NOT tough.

Next out of the kitchen was my least favorite course. Lobster ravioli served in a pool of lobster bisque. The filling was good, lobster mixed with diced potato and shallots, but perhaps a bit heavy on the white pepper. The real failing here was the pasta was a little chewy. This was either a result of not being cooked in enough water or simply not having enough time in the water.

The main course was a mystery to us, as we did not know what “lumpia” was from the menu. We soon found out that it means spring roll. The simple roll was filled with that same, well cooked, buttery, lobster meat as well as French green beans. The deep fried roll was crisp and hot. All of this was served with lobster infused butter sauce and a light green salad to help balance the plate.

Dessert was crème brulee, a dessert that is often offered and seldom done well. This one was quite good. As Elizabeth noted the inside was cool and the caramelized top was perfect, not too thick or over bruleed.

Fourneau was a job well done and a good way to wind down our European eating extravaganza!

Airport Sheraton, Brussels Belgium

EasyJet left us high and dry in the Brussels airport with no flight and no chance of getting to see Berlin. They were "kind" enough to put us up in the Sheraton at the airport for a night which was an improvement on our other Brussels accommodations so we gladly accepted. With this came a free "meal". This was hands down the worst food I've had in Europe and some of the worst I've ever been served. Over cooked vegetables, nondescript fish in no-name sauce, cous cous, boiled sliced ham, slice processed "swiss" cheese, and stale rolls with margarine...NO THANKS, I'M GOOD!

La Fringale, Brussels Belgium

Street-Za! Lunch+Europe+Tommy+Pizza=Fucking Good! ‘Nuff said!

Why are they better?

Because they care about food and they know what to cook and what time of year to cook it! I haven't seen one Taco Bell in a week and I am happy. Bring on real food!

Culinaria 2010!

Culinaria is a yearly event that gathers together Michelin starred Chefs from all over Europe. By happenstance we were in Brussels the very same weekend that this festival was happening. Tommy and I ventured onto the Brussels’ subway for the first time and made the trek to the expo center to eat lunch. After getting turned around and walking way further than needed we found the Culinaria, bought tickets, got confused, spoke broken French, and were herded inside. Forty-five Euros bought us a ticket in and a four-course lunch, each course prepared by a different Master Chef plying his trade. In addition to lunch there were vendors from all over the continent selling food and food related products as well as chefs giving demos and classes (sadly, all the instruction was in French or Dutch).

Tommy and I were blown away with our lunch experience! The menu was as follows:

Langoustine, dans de la brume, fenouil, orange, algues, ail des ours

Shrimp bruleed with fennel and oranges

Lard de ferme confit, soufflé et laque aux epices

Farm-raised pork belly, confit and soufflé, lacquered in spices

Joue de veau braisee, celery-rave, estragon, Parmesan

Braised veal cheek with celery root, tarragon, and Parmesan cheese

Ceci n’est pas une orange

Orange dessert served several ways (my liberal American translation)

Each course was expertly and painstakingly tended to and the flavors melded and worked together like a fantastic piece of art. The presentation of the shrimp involved dry ice so it was the most impressive visually. The entrée of veal was like the best pot roast you ever had but from another planet! The two standouts for me were the second and fourth courses. The pork belly was so tender they only handed out spoons. It was served with a pork fat soufflé, fried pork skin, and bacon. This was an otherworldly experience for me. For someone who lives and breathes pork it was a new experience for me. Unbelievable! The dessert was a study on orange, which after the two previous courses being so heavy was needed. Everything on the plate, except the graham cracker was orange flavored. Frozen orange mousse, orange sorbet, orange jelly, candied orange zest, and did I mention the plate was painted with 14K gold leaf before plating.

Tommy and I have set the bar really high for only our second day in Europe. We have 9 more days of eating ahead of us. Here’s hoping it goes up from here, tomorrow…PARIS!

www.culinariasquare.be

What a difference a day makes

I ate a "cheesesteak" in the Philadelphia airport. The next actual meal I ordered, unless you count the airplane slop, was roasted bone marrow and garlic croutons, and an endive salad with blue cheese, golden raisins, and toasted pine nuts. Needless to say the "cheesesteak" was head and shoulders above the classical French offerings I had for lunch in a street side cafe in Brussels...oh, no it wasn't!

Airplane food, does it HAVE to suck?

Yes! A thousand times over, yes!

Europe better get ready for a spanking!

After a long hiatus I am back! Tommy and I are on our way to Europe. We are planning on eating the shit out of that continent! We will be in Berlin, Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam. Keep an eye on this spot plus the ever popular "I Crushed This" for all Tommy and I ingest in the coming weeks. Lastly, look forward to a slightly delayed post from last week's Chicago meals...