A Guide to Belgian Food

When you think of Belgian food happy images of beer, fries, chocolates, and waffles flood your mind. You have some serious eating to do during your stay, so here is a guide to what is not-to-be missed on a Belgian food adventure.

Belgian Fries

The Friteur/Frietkot is a Belgian institution, a takeaway fry stand much like the Germans sell sausage or the French sell crepes. Somewhere along the twists and turns of history fries became universally known, apart from a brief, awkward moment when they were Freedom Fries, as French Fries. They are, as any Belgian will attest, in fact Belgian. And boy do they love their fries. Belgian fries are freshly cut at 10mm thick, double fried at two different temperatures, the secret to their crispy shell and soft insides, and served in a cone with mayonnaise. They are a pre-meal or post-meal snack and a meal in itself.

Waffles

It’s not just the fries that get the gastronomy glory. You cannot visit Belgium without eating a waffle. Belgian waffles are more delicious than their breakfast food counterparts. These are anytime of the day food, particularly good as desert or simply when you walk past. Served fresh off the iron, Belgian waffles are warm, crispy, doughy and chewy. How you enjoy them is up to you, with a dusting of powdered sugar, whipped cream, fresh fruit or chocolate. There are generally two different types the Brussels/Belgian and Liège waffle which are typically sweeter, denser and chewier. To be safe sample both.

Chocolates

It would be rude not to sample the iconic chocolate. The praline was invented in Brussels and chocolate continues to be one of Belgium’s biggest food exports. Belgian chocolate follows strict guidelines in regard to quality of ingredients and tradition with many shops still hand making chocolates.

A quiet drop…

After all the sugar and salt, stop and sample the local brew. There are over 700 different beers in Belgium all brewed in different ways including lambic, abbey, trappist ale, witbier (wheat) sour ale, brown ale, amber ale, and strong golden ale. Also worth trying is the array of flavoured beers particularly the kriek, cherry beer. If you are feeling adventurous also try Jenever, local gin made from juniper berries.

And for the main course

If you have room for a meal or want a something post-fries and pre-waffles Belgian restaurants serve up a feast of French, German and Dutch food traditions. It is generally considered that Belgian food has the quality of French cuisine with the hearty, portion size of Dutch food. The national dish is moules-frites, mussels cooked in white wine served with fries. If you arrive outside the September to February mussel season you can sample other local fare like vlaamse stoofkarbonaden, the perfect example of Belgium itself, a fusion of cultures. It is a Flemish stew based on the French beef bourguignon but in true Belgian style, beer is used instead of red wine.

Now what?

You can finish the meal off with speculoos, the national cookie. A crisp, spicy treat traditionally served on St Nicholas Day and perfect with coffee. Afterwards another waffle can’t hurt.

Discover the best Brussels restaurants to try all of these delicious foods.