Love at first bite with Hélène Lacour

Hélène Lacour is the founder of CHÁ MAN, a tea shop and cultural space at 49AParvis de Saint-Gilles, where she sells a selection of natural tea leaves from the six families of tea.

It’s a unique selection, put together by her with her partner during their five years in China, where Lacour worked as a translator. CHÁ MAN sells quality loose-leaf teas as well as some other Chinese products, which you can taste in their colourful and welcoming shop. Tea, for Lacour, is all about diverse natural flavours and a healthy lifestyle.

www.cha-man.com

Drink

White tea (bai cha), is without a doubt my favourite drink. I couldn’t live without it! We advertise it a lot in CHÁ MAN, and offer no fewer than six types: ‘white silver head’ (bai hao yinzhen), the most refined one, is made of buds that are available only two days out of the year and is full of antioxidants. I generally like to drink it towards the end of the morning when I can best appreciate its delicacy. Then there are three types of ‘white peony’ (bai mudan), a mixture of buds and leaves in different proportions. I drink this type of tea as soon as I wake up for its invigorating aromatic properties. And, finally, there’s ‘long-life eyebrows’ (shou mei), composed of long leaves only, which is pleasant and smooth at any time of day.

Bar

The very rock’n’roll LiBrE AiR, in front of CHÁ MAN, is known for its live gigs, often wild atmosphere and good selection of rum. It’s easy for me to pop in there after work for some fun. There’s always an eclectic mix of people from all over, but it’s a place where everyone is equal.

We say: LiBrE AiR is hip all on its own, but even more so with a stage that’s fully booked almost every night with the best rock, pop and alternative bands from across Brussels and beyond. Search for LiBrE Air on the Zone02 website for the long list of upcoming shows: www.zone02.be

Libre air
26A Parvis de Saint-Gilles
1060 Brussels
Tel 0479.09.11.65

Restaurant

Le Vieux Mila, a Cameroonian restaurant not far from CHÁ MAN, is the first place I go to get in a whole new mindset, it’s almost like travelling to another country. They have excellent food at reasonable prices. The owner’s name is Parfait, which is the perfect name to represent the level of culinary performance accomplished by his family team. They specialise in things like fried bananas, n’dolé chicken, grilled goat meat, prawns, a variety of fish and world wines.

We say: Reviews of Le Vieux Mila all agree on one thing – come with a big appetite, for the portions are generous and the food delicious. Discover some exciting new spicy flavour combinations and soak up the warm atmosphere from a spot on the lively terrace

Le vieux mila
28 Rue de Moscou
1060 Brussels
Tel 02.850.28.14
Tue-Sun, 12.00-23.30

Ingredient

Ginger! I use it a lot in my cooking, but just the fresh roots, not the powder. It also helps me keep healthy in the winter when I add it to tea with a spoonful of honey. Ginger also gives a nice flavour boost to my homemade green iced tea, which we serve at CHÁ MAN. It’s well-known for its health benefits and energising powers.

Shop

I usually buy food (and ginger root, of course) early on Sunday mornings at the Parvis de Saint-Gilles market. Before I even open CHÁ MAN, I sell tea leaves there, just in front of the shop. This market is famous and crowded, offering lots of goods and pesticide-free products. It conveniently runs until 14.00, so people can get their needed lie-in and still make it on time to buy some groceries.

We say: The Parvis de Saint-Gilles market is an impressive three blocks long and has everything you can imagine, from farm produce and ingredients from around the world to clothing and bargain furniture. For more information on markets in Brussels, visit this handy blog: brusselsmarkets.blogspot.com

Recipe: Honey-roasted duck

Serves 4 people
• 1 whole duck
• 100ml olive oil
• 1tbsp salted butter
• 100ml vegetable stock
• 1kg carrots, peeled and chopped
• 450g honey
• A bunch of fresh mint
• 400g tinned artichoke hearts, drained
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 125ml red wine

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place the duck in the sink and pour two kettles of boiling water over it. Remove any stray feathers and pat dry. Place the duck on a trivet over a roasting pan, season with salt and pepper and rub with two tablespoons of olive oil. Add the artichoke hearts to the roasting tray and cook in the oven, with the duck, for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, parboil the carrots until soft. Drain and stir in the butter, two tablespoons of honey and finely chopped mint. Make a glaze with the remaining olive oil and honey, remove the duck from the oven after 30 minutes and baste with the mixture. Turn the oven down to 160°C and cook for another 30 minutes. Then lift the duck from roasting tray and keep warm. Remove the trivet and pour away the fat, place the tray on the hob over medium heat and add in the wine. Reduce by half and pour in the stock. Reduce again until you get a rich gravy, then strain. Serve with the minty carrots and rice