Scholliers, Peter. "Belgium." Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia: Europe. Ed. Ken Albala . Santa Barbara: © ABCClio Inc, 2011. 39–50. Bloomsbury Food Library. Web. 5 Mar. 2024. <https://www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com/encyclopediachapter?docid=b-9781474208680&tocid=b-9781474208680-000584>. Accessed from: Accessed on: www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com Tue Mar 05 2024 20:11:19 Central European Standard Time Access provided by: BFoLAdvisBoard2 Copyright © ABC-Clio Inc. All rights reserved. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Downloaded from www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com on Tue Mar 05 2024 20:11:19 Central European Standard Time. Access provided by BFoLAdvisBoard2. IP address: 94.225.211.152. Subject to the Bloomsbury Food Library terms of use, available at www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com/terms-and-conditions. Belgium Page Range: 39–50 Bordered by the Netherlands in the north, Germany and Luxembourg in the east, France in the south, and the North Sea in the west (with England nearby), the Kingdom of Belgium (12,500 square miles) has three distinct geographic regions: lower, central, and upper Belgium. Lower Belgium is flat (under 350 feet above sea level), with 40 miles of coast and very fertile lowlands. Central Belgium (up to 700 feet above sea level) has very fruitful clay plateaus and many gentle hills. Upper Belgium (700 feet or more above sea level) is full of woods, with large, fertile valleys and plateaus. Belgium gained its independence from the Netherlands in 1830. This brought together two regions into the Belgian nation: Flemish-speaking Flanders in the north and French-speaking Wallonia in the south. The new state had a long-standing urban and trade tradition, with Roman, medieval, and early-modern cities like Tongeren, Tournai, Bruges, Ghent, and Antwerp. Later, industrial areas around Mons and Liège and the service city of Brussels generated huge wealth as well as social inequality. Today, Belgium is one of the most urbanized and densely populated countries of Europe, ranking as the 15th-richest nation in the world. Antwerp is the third most important harbor of Europe, and Brussels hosts the headquarters of many international organizations and corporations. Once an essentially Catholic country, religious control has greatly diminished since the 1950s, except for moderately growing Muslim influence that came with migrants. State reforms reorganized the nation into three communities based on language (Flemish, French, and German) and three regions (the Flemish region, the Brussels Capital region, and the Walloon region), with each having a parliament and government. Reforms did not abolish the federal parliament and government, so this little country of about 10 million people now has seven parliaments and six governments. Sylvie Delfosse, from Liège, and Hans Martens, from Bruges, have lived in Brussels since university. They fell in love, easily ignoring linguistic and cultural differences. She is a teacher, and he works in the advertisement business. They earn enough, but the children (Jaak, seven years old, and Evy, four years old) cost more than Sylvie and Hans expected. They rent an apartment in a trendy neighborhood, regularly set aside time for themselves, and are trying to save money to buy a house. The family represents the average European urban lifestyle of a couple with young children. Weekdays begin in chaos. Everybody needs to be somewhere by 8 a.m., and breakfast is often limited to a cup of coffee for the parents, orange juice for the children, and a piece of toast with jam for all. Consequently, Sylvie, Hans, Jaak, and Evy need a snack around 11 a.m. (a chocolate bar or a waffle). Lunch is eaten in cafeterias or sandwich bars, although Hans occasionally has a business meal in a fancy restaurant. The children pay a small amount for a hot school meal (soup, a meat dish or pasta, and dessert), Sylvie uses the salad bar at her school, and Hans is happy with the sandwiches he purchases near his firm. Returning from her school at 4 p.m., Sylvie fetches the children and buys food in the supermarket, which offers a very rich variety. Around 6 p.m. the family is home. Sylvie and Hans cook together, serving fresh and healthy food every day. They try to limit meat, although Evy and Jaak like hamburgers, sausages, and chicken nuggets. The Downloaded from www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com on Tue Mar 05 2024 20:11:19 Central European Standard Time. Access provided by BFoLAdvisBoard2. IP address: 94.225.211.152. Subject to the Bloomsbury Food Library terms of use, available at www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com/terms-and-conditions. evening meal is limited to a hot dish, but occasionally there’s dessert, mostly fruit. The children drink water or soda; Hans is keen on a glass of beer, but Sylvie prefers wine. On weekends the family takes more time for cooking and eating, although outdoor activities sometimes take precedence. Sunday breakfast consists of fresh croissants. Sylvie loves to experiment for lunch and often reads through cookbooks from around the world. A treat on weekends is visiting the local open market where exotic food is sold. Occasionally, the family goes to a restaurant; before they had children, Sylvie and Hans very often ate in restaurants, which they adored. As in most European countries bread forms a staple food in Belgium. Not that long ago, most of the tilled land was utilized to grow grain, mostly wheat, but today it occupies only 20 percent of all agricultural land. Importation of grain has always been significant. Bakers sell diverse sorts of bread and are continuously expanding their offerings. For a long time, the most common bread ( pain de ménage, a 1¾-pound oval bread) was made of highly refined wheat flour. Until 2004 the government controlled its price by setting a maximum. Gradually, customers began to prefer so-called improved or special bread made of a mix of grains or containing raisins, nuts, or honey. Within a couple of decades, the hierarchy of bread types has totally reversed: Today, dark bread is much more appreciated and expensive than the wheat bread that had been the bread of the rich people until the 1950s. For a long time, turning milk into cream and then into butter was time-consuming and very costly, so until the 1950s many people spread lard on bread. When more milk was produced and dairy machines appeared, the price of butter fell, and specialized dairy factories produced more and more cheese, cream, and, later, desserts like ice cream. Butter comes in diverse forms. Some people could not do without salted butter, but others profoundly dislike the salty taste. Margarine is available in numerous brands and types, and it is marketed as a health-conscious choice (for example, advertised as lowering cholesterol). Belgium produces three types of cheese: cottage cheese, soft cheese, and hard cheese. Quite popular is cottage cheese mixed with salt and pepper and garnished with thin slices of radish. Pungent, soft cheese made with unpasteurized cow milk, fromage d’Herve, has had the European Union’s certificate of Protected Designation of Origin since 1996. Belgian hard cheese is similar to Gouda. Processed meats, such as ham, salami, sausages, pâté, or kipkap (minced, seasoned meat), are much appreciated. These have a very long tradition that catered to both affluent consumers, in the case of ham and salami, and more modest ones, with preparations made of offal. The latter, enriched in various ways, are gaining new appreciation recently. Before 1800 potatoes were eaten with reluctance as they were seen as pig fodder, but by 1850 they had become a staple food, eaten by rich as well as poor people. Nowadays, pommes frites (French fries) are very popular. In particular, the “fries shack,” mostly small, separate constructions with a window on one side where the fries are sold in paper cones and eaten while standing outside, is typical of Belgium. Rice and especially pasta have become popular but do not challenge the potato’s position. Belgians see meat as the centerpiece of a hot meal. Pork, beef, and poultry are very popular. Lamb, horse meat, and goat are rarely eaten, while game, rabbit, and other sorts are limited to particular seasons or social groups. Ground meat, mostly a mixture of pork and beef, gained great importance because of its use in sausages and hamburgers. All meat together adds up to an annual consumption of 220 pounds per person. Meat has always been a strong marker of social status, which is also true of fish: Rich people consume expensive species (like turbot or crustaceans), Downloaded from www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com on Tue Mar 05 2024 20:11:19 Central European Standard Time. Access provided by BFoLAdvisBoard2. IP address: 94.225.211.152. Subject to the Bloomsbury Food Library terms of use, available at www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com/terms-and-conditions. but poorer people buy cheap ones (like herring or mussels). Mussels have become very popular among all classes since the 1920s. Carrots, turnips, and cabbage were the ingredients of a simple, hot meal, forming the base of today’s well-liked hutsepot (stew). Gradually, other vegetables like cauliflower, asparagus, brussels sprouts, and witloof (Belgian endive) have been increasingly consumed, marking largely present-day Belgian identity. Most vegetables are bought fresh, leaving the canned and deepfrozen supply far behind. Chocolate in Belgium is a matter of both daily and special consumption. It is everywhere: in shops, advertisements, people’s minds, and household cupboards. The 1.4-ounce chocolate bar is a classic. In addition to plain milk chocolate and dark ( fondant) chocolate bars, there is an enormous selection: white, extra dark, with nuts, and with fillings (cream, banana, strawberry, cherry, and more). Pralines, or small filled chocolate bonbons, are particularly popular and have long been considered the perfect gift. There are dozens of brewers and hundreds of beers in Belgium, together with many beer museums and beer restaurants. Belgian beers are famous worldwide, with several brands appearing in recent top 100 lists of best beers. Their international success contrasts with the continually declining consumption in Belgium over the last century. Of all the beer consumed in Belgium, about 70 percent is plain pilsner beer. Then come the renowned Trap-pist beers made by monks and abbey beers, the specialty beers (regional varieties), and the lambics (fruit beers). Declining beer consumption is due to the success of wine and soft drinks. 1 rabbit (about 2½ lb) 1 tbsp butter Salt and pepper 5 shallots 1 bottle dark beer (1½ c) Thyme and bay leaf Prepared mustard 1 slice bread ½ lb dried plums (about 2 c) Cut the rabbit into large pieces, and fry in butter until the meat is brown; sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Then, chop the shallots and add them. After 10 minutes, put in the beer, thyme, and bay leaf; spread the mustard on the bread and add to the meat. Simmer for at least 40 minutes on a very moderate flame, then add the plums. Cook for another 15 minutes. Serve with floury potatoes or croquettes. The way Belgians obtain and prepare food is constantly changing, depending on such factors as agriculture, imports, manufacturing, retailing, and kitchen technology. Because of its open, international character, Belgium quickly picks up new trends and serves as a region for market testing. Hence, Belgian foodways are particularly sensitive to international changes. Today, most Belgians buy food in supermarkets of various types, where they make 94 percent of total food purchases, with the remaining 6 percent of sales coming from traditional (“corner”) shops, open markets, and farmers. Almost all towns and villages have a weekly market offering vegetables, dairy products, and fruit. Individual bakers and butchers are able to compete with the huge sale of bread and meat in supermarkets by offering highly specialized products. Within Belgian supermarkets the supply differs, but all sell food: the bigger the supermarket, the more choice, variety, and price diversity. Apart from their size and supply, the hierarchy between brands of super-markets is equally important. Crucially, because of their scale and international network, supermarkets are the places of food innovation. Through purchases in supermarkets, many people for the first time experience frozen products, convenience foods, foreign spices, unfamiliar fish or meats, organic and health foods, beverages, and other items. Today, almost 80 percent of Belgians regularly buy ready-made food. Frozen pizza is extremely popular. Buyers of convenience food are primarily young families with little children, who appreciate the taste, the speed and ease, the variety, and the recent price decrease. However, Downloaded from www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com on Tue Mar 05 2024 20:11:19 Central European Standard Time. Access provided by BFoLAdvisBoard2. IP address: 94.225.211.152. Subject to the Bloomsbury Food Library terms of use, available at www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com/terms-and-conditions. most consumers think convenience food is too sweet, salty, and fatty; still quite expensive; not very healthy; and of average quality. The rapid growth of ready-to-heat dishes goes along with new technological devices that have become very familiar in many Belgian kitchens. Microwaves embody this. Yet traditional home cooking remains the rule. Today, almost two-thirds of Belgians cook with electric stoves and ovens, while the remainder use gas. Home cooking in Belgium is primarily done by women, and most learned their cooking skills from their mothers by watching and imitating. However, they do not follow recipes or procedures exactly: Most interpret, modify, and innovate. In the 1990s, women reacted to the industrialization and globalization of the food business by revalorizing their mothers’ techniques. Since mothers and daughters take less time for cooking, daughters have to learn the skills elsewhere. Most women rely on cookbooks to experiment and learn. Belgian cookbooks have been published since the 1850s, and some were particularly successful, such as Ons Kookboek (Our cookbook), which has the reputation of being present in every Flemish household. In many Belgian bookstores the gastronomy section is one of the largest. In addition to cookbooks, housewives may find recipes, ideas, and ingredients in magazines and newspapers and on daily television programs and numerous Web sites. Relatively new are the very popular cooking classes for adults. Professional cooking is taught in so-called hotel schools, and today Belgium has about 35 of these. Boys and girls between 12 and 18 years of age are trained as cooks, pastry chefs, waiters, or butchers and may receive one year of further training (in cuisine gastronomique, for example). Pupils of these schools often win international prizes. Also, they are invited to provide the catering for special occasions. Belgian restaurants are highly appreciated by both Belgians and foreigners, to which the many stars, forks, or toques in international eating guides testify. Some of these guides claim that Belgium is, in gastronomic terms, the “best-kept secret of Europe.” Since the late 19th century, cookbooks and school manuals have presented a three-meal pattern as traditional and optimal: breakfast ( petit-déjeuner or ontbijt), lunch ( dîner or middagmaal), and dinner ( souper or avondmaal). Four to five hours between each meal are recommended, which implies breakfast around 7:30 a.m., lunch around noon, and dinner at 6 p.m. Eating between these meals is discouraged. Rigid eating times were highly encouraged as enhancing digestion and thus promoting good health. In general, eating hours are shifting, and more and more people skip breakfast and eat lunch and dinner later in the day than they used to. The proportion of total family expenditures spent on food eaten at home fell from 17.6 percent in the late 1970s to 12.3 percent in 2006 (whereas housing, communication, and leisure expenses rose significantly). The lowest-income groups spent 3.2 times less on food than the highest-income groups. Compared with a decade earlier, this gap has widened. Breakfast time is between 7:30 and 10 a.m., which is later than in the mid-1980s. On average, Belgians take 11 minutes for breakfast (a couple of minutes more on the weekends). Only onefifth of Belgians have a regular breakfast, which worries nutritionists, since they assume that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. This should consist ideally of light and varied food that should be consumed in a relaxed setting. A glass of milk, some yogurt, two to three slices of whole wheat bread with a little jam, cheese, or ham, and some fresh fruit make the perfect breakfast. In fact, most Belgians limit themselves to coffee, some bread, or a bowl of cornflakes with canned orange juice. A sweet snack later in the morning often replaces the breakfast. On Sundays, Belgians love to have a full breakfast with fresh coffee and croissants, pistolets (a little, round, crusty bread), and other viennoiseries (little sweet breads) bought at the bakery. Downloaded from www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com on Tue Mar 05 2024 20:11:19 Central European Standard Time. Access provided by BFoLAdvisBoard2. IP address: 94.225.211.152. Subject to the Bloomsbury Food Library terms of use, available at www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com/terms-and-conditions. Lunch may be eaten hot or cold. Many Belgians prefer a hot lunch, although outdoor activities force people to have a cold lunch in a cafeteria or a sandwich bar. A typical hot lunch is still considered ideal. One-third of Belgian people eat a meal at home between 12 and 1 p.m., and in general, lunch takes about 25 minutes. Since the 1960s, lunch has been later and shorter. Belgians tend to linger at the table on Sundays. As with breakfast, nutritionists advise people to pay ample attention to lunch and to reinstate it as the freshly prepared family meal that it once was supposed to be. Soup is a classic opener. Then comes the main dish, which includes the “golden trio” of potatoes, meat, and vegetables, all put onto one plate and covered with gravy. Plenty of potatoes are crucial, and these come in many forms, including steamed, fried, boiled, simmered, mashed, and baked. Pommes frites (fries) are increasingly viewed as an identity marker for the nation. Vegetables form another part of the hot meal, although many Belgians, particularly those with lower incomes, eat only small portions out of a feeling of obligation (caused by dieticians’ great emphasis on the nutritive and digestive value of vegetables). Perhaps Belgians’ low enthusiasm for vegetables should be explained by the fact that plain, overcooked vegetables formed the core of hot meals for most people in past centuries. The Belgian top three vegetables are tomatoes, carrots, and various types of lettuce. Quite popular is the combination of mashed potatoes with carrots, beans, or leeks. Meat is the central part of the typical Belgian hot midday meal. It has always been highly valued by all social classes. Even today, after the weakening of meat’s status since about 1980, there are still noticeable differences in family expenditures, with high-income families spending more on meat than low-income households. After World War II, beef and veal became popular, reaching a peak in the 1970s, but now poultry has taken over. Nutritionists see fish as a healthy alternative to meat, but although average fish consumption rose recently, meat’s position remains largely unaffected. Commonly, light beer is drunk with the hot meal, but recently wine and sodas have challenged beer’s position. A small dessert ends the lunch. This may consist of fruit, but increasingly dessert is bought in the supermarket, which offers an astonishing supply, including a gigantic variety of containers of yogurt, ice cream, puddings, sweet rice, and cheese. Belgians tend to eat their dinner much later nowadays than they used to, while they also take less time for it, about 25 minutes. Nutritionists worry about Belgians eating late, having television dinners, and snacking individually, and they recommend eating varied, light foods, with little or no sweet toppings or fillings. Many Belgians limit their dinner to slices of bread with ham, bacon, pâtés, salami, or meat salads with mayonnaise, with hardly any salad or fruit. Several times a year, freshly made pancakes or waffles with sugar, whipped cream, or jam may replace the bread meal. Light beer, but especially coffee, is drunk. ½ lb minced pork Salt, pepper, and nutmeg 1 lb veal 3½ tbsp butter 1 onion Bay leaf and thyme Flour 3 tbsp Madeira wine 1 tbsp tomato puree Mix the minced pork thoroughly with some salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Cut four to five thin slices of the veal, put the minced pork on it, and roll to make cylinder-like shapes. Bind each piece with a thin thread, and brown the meat in a hot pan with butter (2 teaspoons). Dice the onion, and put it in the pan, together with the thyme, bay leaf, and some salt and pepper. Add half a cup of water, and simmer for half an hour. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: Melt the remaining butter, add flour, and stir well, adding some water if the sauce is too thick. Gently pour in the Madeira, add the tomato puree, and leave on low heat for about 5 minutes. Serve with potato croquettes. As in most European countries, since about 1970, Belgians increasingly eat out. A reliable indicator of this increase is the share of total household expenditures spent on eating out. This Downloaded from www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com on Tue Mar 05 2024 20:11:19 Central European Standard Time. Access provided by BFoLAdvisBoard2. IP address: 94.225.211.152. Subject to the Bloomsbury Food Library terms of use, available at www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com/terms-and-conditions. reached 1.9 percent in 1961, rising to 3.3 percent in 1978, to attain 5 percent in 1990. Since 1990, this proportion has remained fairly stable. Urban dwellers, couples without children, and big earners eat out the most. The 1.9 percent of 1961 reflects a very different way of eating out than the recent 5 percent does, with the big change being that since about 1970 many more people eat out for pleasure. Before then, this had been the privilege of richer people, whereas eating out related to work has long been common for many people. There are crucial differences with regard to the location and style of eating out. In the late 1980s, 27 percent of meals eaten out were eaten in restaurants, 8 percent in snack bars, 57 percent in the cafeterias of schools and companies, and 8 percent in other places such as milk bars or fries shacks. Most eating out is thus work related. White- and blue-collar workers away from home buy snacks in a sandwich bar. This is a small shop with a large display window, divided into two parts by a counter, selling slices of bread or baguette with cheese, meat, or fish salads and drinks such as coffee or soda. Other snack bars sell simple dishes such as roll mops (salted herring fillet), oeuf à la Russe (hard-boiled egg with cold chopped vegetables and mayonnaise), tomate aux crevettes (fresh tomato with North Sea grey shrimp), or filet américain (raw minced beef with capers, Worcestershire sauce, pickles, small onions, salt, and pepper). Snacks may also be eaten at fries shacks, which sell fries in paper cones, with salt and mayonnaise and some meat. The coming of American-style fast-food outlets in the early 1970s only added to the wide choice for snacking. School and company cafeterias appeared in the 1950s in response to the desire to have a hot lunch at noon. Initially, they served a cheap, often overcooked lunch, but nowadays they offer a growing choice of tasty, healthy, and relatively cheap food. Eating out for pleasure is relatively new. Many of the aforementioned eateries offer food also during nonwork occasions. Shoppers, students, theatergoers, or soccer supporters may enjoy a cone of fries, a cheeseburger, or a sandwich with tuna salad before, during, or after their activities. In the entertainment districts of the big towns one may indeed find a wide assortment of food almost 24 hours a day. About two centuries ago, however, a new form of eating out appeared in Europe, one that was exclusively oriented toward enjoying gourmet eating: the restaurant. This became such an extraordinary event that it made a special trip to another city or country worthwhile. The legendary Michelin guide labels this as vaut le détour (worth taking the detour). For decades now, Belgian restaurants are worth the detour. Belgium followed closely the Parisian restaurant model because of its close bonds with France. By 1820, French chefs and waiters owned restaurants in Brussels, cooks from Paris worked in Belgium, and Belgians moved to France to learn the French way of cooking. Today, many restaurants in Belgium depict themselves as serving Belgian-French cuisine. This French character has always been highly appreciated by travel guides, which have assigned French cuisine the highest status. Belgian restaurants generally have done well in these guides. Not all restaurants in Belgium have been influenced by French cuisine, however. Throughout the 19th century many restaurants, brasseries, cafés, and cabarets had a German, English, or Swiss ambiance. In the 1890s fancy Italian and Jewish restaurants appeared in Antwerp and Brussels, and in the course of the 20th century many more ethnic restaurants were opened. Today, there are about 80 different ethnic cuisines in Belgium. Until the 1890s, gastronomic restaurants disregarded any reference to local dishes, ingredients, or methods of preparation, the French influence being absolutely dominant. This changed by 1900. More popular restaurants opened and were appreciated by tourists, while fancy cuisine became aware of local ingredients and foodways. Culinary reviewers then described these restaurants as Downloaded from www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com on Tue Mar 05 2024 20:11:19 Central European Standard Time. Access provided by BFoLAdvisBoard2. IP address: 94.225.211.152. Subject to the Bloomsbury Food Library terms of use, available at www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com/terms-and-conditions. places where Belgians and foreigners adored eating informally and copiously, enjoying mussels with fries, carbonnades à la flamande (a beef stew with beer), or waterzooi de poulet (a souplike chicken dish with vegetables). Beer was typically drunk, and prices were moderate. Many other old and new plats belges typiques (typical Belgian dishes) are served nowadays, some of which had been prepared in the estaminets (small cafés) of the poorer town quarters in the early 19th century and some in petit bourgeois kitchens, although others are quite recent creations that are promoted as authentic and traditional. Belgian chefs eagerly responded to the increasing interest in Belgian cuisine, and they readily incorporated local ingredients and ways of preparation in the fancy cuisine. There are common features of eating out in Belgium. Bread is always abundant and close by, second helpings of pommes frites are free, and the choice is wide. But there is more. Fancy restaurants affect the way food is prepared, presented, and named in snack bars and cafeterias. Haute cuisine seems to be everywhere: not just in the street but also in the media and the everyday talk of the common people. This presence leads to a diffusion of the restaurant culture, to which even the food in sandwich bars and cafeterias testifies. This is a typical Belgian dish that is prepared in many homes but increasingly also in Belgian top restaurants. 4 medium-sized onions 1 green cabbage (about 1 lb) 10 big carrots 5 big turnips 4 stalks celery About ½ lb leeks 1 lb brussels sprouts 7 tbsp butter, melted 6 c chicken stock Bouquet garni of thyme, bay leaves, and parsley Salt and pepper 2¼ lb potatoes Clean and wash the vegetables. Mince the onions and the green cabbage very fine, and chop the carrots, turnips, celery, and leeks into coarse chunks. Cut the brussels sprouts in two. Put a large pot on low heat, and melt the butter, then add all the vegetables to sweat ( suer) for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, stir regularly. Then add the chicken broth, the bouquet garni, and some salt and pepper. Heat until boiling, cover the pot, reduce the heat, and leave for about 30 minutes. Peel and cut the potatoes into little pieces, and put these into the pot; cook for another 20 minutes, stirring regularly. Finally, heat the pot and stir well, and add salt and pepper. Serve really hot. Salted bacon is a typical accompaniment. In the past, stringent traditions regulated eating and drinking during celebrations in Belgium. Restrictions on drinking alcohol were mostly connected to the numerous Catholic festivities throughout the year. There were about 40 “high days” in Belgium in the past, but regulations in the 1780s limited this number. Today, only six Catholic celebration days remain as public holidays. Belgians now have 10 official holidays when shops, schools, and firms are closed. Of course, Belgians do not celebrate only the official holidays. In addition to these, which aim to foster religious and regional communities, local and private feasts are celebrated, which contribute to regional and intimate group identity. A renewed wave of local celebrations emerged in the early 1950s and particularly in the 1970s, which has led to a “feasting culture” nowadays, meaning that virtually every village and city district has its feast. All of these public and private occasions include food in diverse forms and quantities. An average year means 10 festive dinners for the Belgians, with at least 5 grand meals for Christmas Eve, New Year’s Eve, one’s birthday, Easter, and a life-cycle ritual like a first communion or wedding. The highest-income group spends 6.3 times more on feast eating than the lowest-income group does, and a lot of this money is spent on champagne, of which Belgians are the fifth-highest percapita consumers in the world. Downloaded from www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com on Tue Mar 05 2024 20:11:19 Central European Standard Time. Access provided by BFoLAdvisBoard2. IP address: 94.225.211.152. Subject to the Bloomsbury Food Library terms of use, available at www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com/terms-and-conditions. Since the mid-1990s, the traditions and rules of the older celebrations have tended to disappear totally. Fasting and its corollary, excessive eating, are virtually gone, whereas only traces remain in the link between feasts and the eating of particular foods, such as fresh eggs on Easter. Old traditions remain or are rediscovered during carnival feasts (Mardi Gras), which are organized in about one-third of the Belgian communes in February, including famous parades such as those of Aalst (East Flanders, going back to the 16th century but with an annual parade since 1851) and Binche (Hainault, maybe appearing in the 14th century; in 2003 it was put on UNESCO’s World Heritage list). While making fun of the rich and famous via decorated floats, funny masks, and clothing, thousands of people eat pancakes, waffles, and pies but also eels, mussels, smoutebollen (doughnut balls; called beignets or croustillons in French), and sausages in little breads, while they consume quarts of beer. In general, rites of passage give rise to plentiful eating and drinking, providing the opportunity for families to gather and to renew or intensify ties. Christian families celebrate First and Holy Communion, whereas nonbelievers have the Spring Feast and the Feast of the Secular Youth. Today, there are no longer fixed rules with regard to the food at communion feasts, which may mirror perfectly well the persisting trend toward innovation. Belgian’s declining religiosity implies the loss of traditional eating and drinking associated with Easter, Christmas, and other Catholic holidays. Since the 1950s the increasing purchasing power of Belgians has allowed them to abandon the traditional fasting and the correlated short-lived excesses after breaking the fast, while growing individualization has freed people from longestablished community constraints. Yet Catholic high days are still moments of special eating. The biggest festive meals in Belgium are those around Christmas and New Year’s. Generally, Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Year’s Day are spent with family and close friends at home, while New Year’s Eve is often spent eating out with friends. In December 2007 a survey found that 89 percent of the interviewees celebrated Christmas, and 77 percent celebrated New Year’s Eve. Most people prepare familiar food, although they search for inspiration in cookbooks, Web sites, and magazines, which pay a lot of attention to grand feasts. Christmas dinners are rather traditional, with turkey, shellfish, salmon, game, and foie gras, along with wine and champagne. Since the 1970s, however, magazines and newspapers emphasize innovation with regard to the December feasts: the latest aperitif, an out-ofthe-ordinary soup, or a fashionable dessert. In general, New Year’s Eve dinner is less elaborate than the Christmas meal. The food eaten on special occasions not only mirrors the general development of the Belgian diet but also shapes it in that many home cooks wish to excel in preparing special food. This leads to a continuous quest for new tastes, combinations, dishes, and ingredients when the festive days come into sight. Web sites, magazines, television programs, books, and specialized sections of newspapers are oriented toward guiding the home cook in this search. Often, new festive dishes have been tried out on the close family. If the meal was a success, particular dishes or ingredients may make their way into the daily cooking of the family. Festive eating thus introduces and diffuses new things. This contrasts with old traditions, when most feasts were linked to particular foods. Still, many people prefer to stick to familiar festive food with such classics as asparagus, game, lobster, croquettes, salmon or turbot, cranberries, foie gras, and, most certainly, champagne. 1 tbsp yeast ⅓ c milk 1⅔ c flour 1 egg 1 tsp sugar ½ tsp salt 1 small bottle witbier (white beer, Hoegaerden type) 2 tbsp butter Oil for deep-frying Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk, and add the flour, sifting it well. Separate the egg, and add the egg yolk, sugar, salt, and beer to the milk-andflour mixture; stir well, and add the melted Downloaded from www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com on Tue Mar 05 2024 20:11:19 Central European Standard Time. Access provided by BFoLAdvisBoard2. IP address: 94.225.211.152. Subject to the Bloomsbury Food Library terms of use, available at www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com/terms-and-conditions. butter. Then, beat the egg white and fold it gently into the dough. Cover the dough, and let rise until its volume has doubled. Keep it out of the cold. Heat the oil to 350°F. Very gently stir the dough, then drop teaspoonfuls of the dough gently into the frying oil and fry until golden brown, which takes about 1 minute. Use a slotted spoon to remove the doughnuts from the fryer, lay on a plate covered with a paper towel to absorb excess oil, and serve with powdered sugar. Today, in Belgium, food is on sale 24 hours a day, and most Belgians may eat whatever, whenever, and wherever they want. Compared with the past, this is a drastic change. If the pre–World War II food-related problems are viewed in terms of shortage and imbalance, with lack of calories, vitamins, and protein, leading to loss of weight and strength, edema, anemia, lethargy, and, for children, slow growth, the post-1950 abundance has caused problems of a new kind related to body shape and health: Being overweight and obese increases the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and stroke, and some cancers. Today, 52 percent of the Belgians are considered to have a “normal” weight according to the body mass index (BMI, or the relation between a person’s weight and height). The number of obese people, however, is growing slowly but constantly, and about 13 percent of Belgians are considered obese (with a BMI over 30). This worries nutritionists, doctors, and health workers, and public organizations regularly launch information programs aimed at convincing Belgians to move more such as by using the stairs instead of the elevator, while eating less sweet and fat food. Belgians have many ways of trying to lose weight. Slimming products such as laxatives are popular, but starting exercise, or simply more physical effort, is rarely considered. A minority of Belgians calls on a physician for help with losing weight, and stomach reduction has gained popularity. However, the most popular way of losing weight is dieting. This takes many forms: eating less in general, eating less sweet and/or fat food, eating more fruit and vegetables, skipping meals, starting to use diet products, and/or following, strictly or loosely, the latest fad in dieting. Slimming is not necessarily prompted by health concerns but may be purely cosmetic, to attain the ideal body. Slim ideals appeared among the higher social classes in Belgium in the 1920s but spread to all classes in the 1950s. By the end of the 1930s, many cookbooks suggested a reduction in consumption of meat, cheese, and eggs, for both health reasons and slimming. Calories started to rule the lives of thousands of people. The public authority’s influence on what Belgians eat has largely increased in terms of safety monitoring, information, and recommendations. Belgians nowadays eat more safely than ever before, and, above all, they are much more informed about the tiniest food risk, food-safety procedures in supermarkets, organic foods in cafeterias, and dieting schemes. Yet despite the greater sensitivity regarding health and safety of food, recent crises have shown the very feeble trust most people have in the food chain. For some, eating copiously provides the badly needed security in today’s uncertain times. Belgian Beer Paradise. http://www.beerparadise.be . Devriese S. , I. Huybrechts , M. Moreau , and H. Van Oyen . Enquête de consommation alimentaire Belge [Food Consumption Survey, Belgium]. Report æ D/2006/2505/16. Brussels : Scientific Institute of Public Health, 2005. Available at: http://www.iph.fgov.be/epidemio/epifr/foodfr/table04.htm . Gastronomica.be. http:// www.gastronomica.be . Jacobs Marc , and Jean Fraikin . “Belgium: Endives, Brussels Sprouts and Other Innovations.” In Culinary Cultures of Europe: Identity, Diversity and Dialogue , edited by Darra Goldstein and Kathrin Merkle, 75–85. Strasbourg, France : Council of Europe Publishing, 2005. Resto.be. http://www.resto.be/ware/index.jsp . Scholliers Peter . Food Culture in Belgium . Downloaded from www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com on Tue Mar 05 2024 20:11:19 Central European Standard Time. Access provided by BFoLAdvisBoard2. IP address: 94.225.211.152. Subject to the Bloomsbury Food Library terms of use, available at www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com/terms-and-conditions. Westport, CT : Greenwood Press, 2008. Van Waerebeek Ruth , and Maria Robbins . Everybody Eats Well in Belgium Cookbook . New York : Workman, 1996.