Love at first bite
The inside scoop on foodie favourites with Bernard Lahousse
Fancy banana with tomato ketchup and almonds? How about foie gras with raspberry and black tea, or chocolate with fried onions? These and countless other concoctions have been brought together by flavour specialist Bernard Lahousse and his colleagues at Foodpairing. Based in Bruges they use science to analyse flavour components in food to discover which ingredients go best together. Their work has inspired some of the world’s top chefs and barmen and they’ve just launched a Foodpairing app for ipad. So, next time you’re at the supermarket you can check whether cauliflower and custard really are the perfect match. www.foodpairing.com
RESTAURANT
That’s really hard. I’d pick a chef from the younger generation, like Hertog Jan in Bruges (www.hertog-jan.com), In de Wulf in Dranouter (www.indewulf.be) or L’Air du Temps in Eghezée. If I have to pick one, since it’s close to Brussels, I’ll chose L’Air du Temps. When I go to a restaurant I always like to be surprised and the chef there is very active in new types of experimentation. He’s really looking to the future of gastronomy.
L’AIR DU TEMPS
181 Chaussée de Louvain
Eghezée 081.81.30. 48
We say: Korean-born Sang-Hoon Degeimbre’s two-Michelin-star restaurant in the countryside north of Namur is one of Belgium’s great gastronomic temples. Highlights of the €120 winter menu include mackerel with courgette, pear and black garlic and saddle of hare with quince.
BAR
That’s another difficult question. There is also a young generation of bar tenders coming through. One place which is supporting the younger generation is Cocktails at Nine in Antwerp. The bartender is a fan of Foodpairing and he’s pushing the boundaries of cocktails. He makes a great genever, seaweed and ketchup combination.
COCKTAILS AT NINE
9 Lijnwaadmarkt
Antwerp 03.707.10.97
We say: A classic cocktail bar with cosy leather armchairs and a warming fire in the heart Antwerp’s historic centre. They pride themselves on the quality of their traditional cocktails and their champagne, cognac and whisky, as well as the more adventurous mixtures. If you can’t stagger home, there’s a stylish hotel upstairs.
DRINK
I’ve worked with chefs for a long time, but I’m quite new into the cocktail world. I’ve got huge respect for bartenders who are able to combine the expertise of mixing drinks with being a good host. The Corps Reviver #2 is a cocktail I tasted for the first time at Le Lion in Hamburg. This is a wonderfully complex drink, perfectly balanced, combining the subtle finish of anise, the floral notes of Lillet, the orange peel flavour of Cointreau with a base of gin.
We say: Le Lion (www.lelion.net) is a sophisticated watering hole in old Hamburg. To make your own Corps Reviver #2, take equal measures of gin, Cointreau, Lillet Blanc (a French wine aperitif), and fresh lime juice, add a dash of absinthe, shake with ice, strain and serve with a slice of orange peel.
INGREDIENT
Yuzu is an Asian citrus fruit. Asian ingredients are coming up quite fast and are more and more available to consumers. These have really nice citrus flavours.
We say: something like a cross between a grapefruit and a mandarin, its juice and zest are widely used in Japanese cuisine. Yuzus can be found in specialist stores in Europe. If you prefer, you can also taste it in iKi beer, marketed in the Netherlands and made in collaboration with the Liefmans brewery in Oudenaarde. The beer is flavoured with yuzu and green tea. www.ikibier.nl
SHOP
Jan Demonie is one of the famous foodies of Belgium. He’d done a lot of cookery competitions before he decided to open a shop here in Bruges. He also delivers ingredients to the three-Michelin starred chefs in Belgium. He has great products, from all over, spices, drinks. It’s really a foodie paradise.
DE OLIJFBOOM
58 Smedenstraat
Bruges 050.34.16.39
We say: located just off Bruges’ t’Zand square, the shop sells 80 varieties of olive oil and 20 types of balsamic vinegar. There’s hand-rolled M’Hamsa couscous from Tunisia, Pondichery peppers from India and a vast range of Japanese products – including yuzu juice and yuzu chutney.
RECIPE
There are lots on our web site. This one is easy to make and it’s something really Belgian, with a twist. As well as using butter in the Béarnaise sauce, we add white chocolate. It works really well. The white chocolate we use a Dominican Republic chocolate. The white chocolate can’t be very sweet and should still have some of earthy cocoa notes.
(The Just Chocolate range by Chocolaterie Duval includes Dominican Republic white chocolate: 19 Rude des Chardons, Schaerbeek, www.chocolaterieduval.com)
WHITE CHOCOLATE BÉARNAISE (for STEAK)
Gastrique:
370g shallots
25g tarragon
20g crushed white pepper
1 bottle of white wine
260g vinegar
20g salt
500g water
8g sugar
Béarnaise:
4 egg yolks
55g gastrique
75g butter
25g white chocolate
salt and pepper
tarragon to garnish
Mix all the gastrique ingredients and bring to a boil. Leave to infuse according to taste. Strain and leave to cool. Mix the egg yolks with the gastrique in a heat-proof bowl and beat over a pan of simmering water. Chop the chocolate in small pieces and stir into the whipped yolks. Stir the butter into the mixture until it melts and mixture forms a smooth sauce. Season to taste and garnish with tarragon. Serve with steak, fries and a tomato salad.
