A Visit to Bruges (Belgium) - Part I

The breathtakingly beautiful City of Bruges, Belgium is one of my very favorite places to visit so we went for a one-day visit - what a lovely birthday present from my family.

Bruges is called the "Venice of the North". This splendid medieval city is one of Belgium's crown jewels. In no other European city are the feel and the look of medieval times so present as here in this city close to the North Sea.

For centuries the canals of Bruges have linked the city to the sea, a guarantee of wealth and prosperity. International merchants built up Bruges into one of the largest Hanse cities.

Today Bruges has a population of about 45.000 people (the old center) or 120.000 people (center together with the suburbs). These numbers clearly show that Bruges is not a tiny miniature city. It ranks, even today, among the important cities of Belgium. It is also the capital and the largest city of the Belgian province of West-Flanders. 

It is quite poular with tourists to take a  half-hour carriage ride along Bruges´ historic winding streets.

We started our visit with a stroll to one of the many monasteries.

And paid an obligatory and fun visit to my favorite kitchenware store - you can only find DILLE & KAMILLE (dill & chamomile) stores in Belgium and the Netherlands - last August (also around the time of my birthday) I did a whole blog post about one of these amazing stores in the equally charming City of Middleburg (NL).

This is the beautiful red brick wall of a monastery or "Klooster" with wonderful pink and white hydrangeas in full bloom...

...and carved angels watching over the wooden entrance door.

Dominique Persoone, the man who runs The Chocolate Line, is a legend both at home and abroad. The Chocolate Line is one of the three chocolate shops that is mentioned in the Michelin guide. The Chocolate Line delivers pralines to "Hof van Cleve" and "Oud Sluis",  top restaurants in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Bruges is a chocolate city par excellence. The city has more than 50 passionate chocolatiers. Bruges is a place where established names and fresh up-and-coming talents certainly complement each other. Here you can both sample the traditional chocolate craft and many new chocolate creations. It is said that nowhere in the world will you find better chocolate.

This is a picture of the seal of the Bruges Chocolate Guild which depicts the Bruges swan (Brugsch Swaentje), a local specialty creation. The exact recipe remains a secret, but amongst the key ingredients are almond paste, "gruut" (a local type of spiced flour) and "kletsekoppen" (a local Bruges biscuit). Created in January 2006, the Bruges swan has been sold in the shops of the city’s officially recognised confectioners, all of whom are members of the Bruges Chocolate Guild.

In one of the countless chocolate stores, you can chose from many varities of chocolate truffles such as these. These lovely truffles are a chocolate confectionery, traditionally made with a chocolate ganache centre coated in chocolate, icing sugar, cocoa powder or chopped toasted nuts (such as hazelnuts, almonds or coconut), usually in a spherical, conical, or curved shape. Other fillings may replace the ganache such as cream, melted chocolate, caramel, nuts, almonds, berries, or other assorted sweet fruits, nougat, fudge, or toffee, mint, chocolate chips, marshmallow, and, popularly, liqueur.

In many of the chocolate stores you will also find very pretty mendiants, a traditional French confection composed of a chocolate disk studded with nuts and dried fruits representing the four mendicant or monastic orders of the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans and Carmelites. Each of the nuts and dried fruits used refer to the color of monastic robes with tradition dictating raisins for the Dominicans, hazelnut for the Augustins, dried fig for Franciscans and almond for Carmelite  - you just cannot resist these treats, trust me. I think, David, you know what I am talking about!

There are countless stores and unbelievably pretty buildings to marvel at...

...and countless Cafés and incredible restaurants (there are presently eight star-studded restaurants listed in the Guide Michelin 2013 and thirty-six in the Gault Millau 2013).

Colorful huge flags were on disaplay in many streets throughout the city - this particular one was one of my favorites and it depicts the very popular fiets (bicycles) - although almost all streets of Bruges are one way, they are both ways for bikes. Therefore the bicycling is a very popular way  to visit Bruges and its surroundings.

A view of one of the many narrow and utterly charming alleyways...

...and pretty gables.

Bruges is truly a city of bicycles enthusiats, these were parked in the main market place.

World-famous Godiva Chocolatier originated in 1926 in Belgium. The founder and chocolatier Joseph Draps developed a unique formula for a very rich and smooth chocolate and shell-molded designs. In 1926, Draps opened his first Godiva Chocolatier shop on a cobblestone street on Grand Place, Brussels’ central square. Today the GODIVA brand is known – and loved – in over 80 countries around the world. Godiva owns and operates more than 450 boutiques and shops worldwide but this picture was taken in the Godiva store in Bruges - look at these paper cones filled with lovely ripe strawberries dipped in delicious white Godiva chocolate.

For those who prefer treats without chocolate, there are famous macarons, a sweet meringue-based confection made with eggs, icing sugar, granulated sugar, almond powder or ground almond, and food colouring. The macaron is commonly filled with ganache, buttercream or jam filling sandwiched between two biscuits. The name is derived from the Italian word macarone, maccarone or maccherone, the Italian meringue.In Bruges you can find them in every conceivable color and flavor combination - actually, they are even available in four different varieties at that rather famous fast food restaurant with the golden arches - that´s Belgium.

More bicycles and sight-seeing in the main market square or Markt - it is dominated by its Belfry, for centuries the city’s foremost edifice and the perfect look-out in case of war, fire or any other calamity. You can still climb to the top of this medieval tower as a narrow, steep staircase of 366 steps leads to the top of the 83-metre-high building, which leans about a metre to the east - for those of you who are interested in not so mainstream movies, this is the building that was a central feature of the 2008 film "In Bruges" a 2008 British-American black comedy.

At the foot of the Belfry is the statue of Jan Breydel and Pieter de Coninck. These two popular heroes of Bruges resisted French oppression and consequently played an important part during the Battle of the Golden Spurs in 1302. Their statue looks out onto the Gothic revival style Provinciaal Hof (Provincial Palace).

Bruges local police - on bicycles! "CSI: Bruges", no doubt!

You can also choose to take a rather romantic and individual tour in the heart of Bruges´ medieval centre, a tour in a horse-drawn carriage will take you along the canals and over the typical small bridges (you can hear them throughout the city and they are fast). The coach driver will explain the city to you, and halfway through the tour, the horse (and the passengers) get a rest...

...at the Beguinage or "The Princely Beguinage Ten Wijngaarde" with its whitewashed house fronts, tranquil convent garden and beguinage museum that was founded in 1245. Today the nuns of the Order of Saint Benedict inhabit the site.

More alleyways and Cafés...

...and a visit with Tintin and his dog Milou - "The Adventures of Tintin" ("Les Aventures de Tintin") is a series of comic albums created by Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi (1907–1983), who wrote under the pen name of Hergé. The series is one of the most popular European comics of the 20th century.

More chocolate wrapped every so elegantly in golden paper...

...or placed in paper cut-outs resembling the old buildings in Bruges...

...or with papers that looked like paintings depicting one of the many bridges and more buildings in the city.

And, of course, there is the artisinal Belgian beers and ales with the most delightful names, labels, bottle designs and flavors you will ever taste and see or ever come across - did you notice the "Hercule Stout" - a nod to Hercule Poirot a fictional Belgian detective, created by Agatha Christie - along with Miss Marple, Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters.

This was just one if the countless glasses - there seems to be a different glass for almost every kind of beer that is available at this famous Bruges beer store...

...and quite a few of them can be marveled at when walking along the so-called "Wall of Beers" - quite popular with tourists I might add (Mary, do you recognize the three girls wearing the Aspen caps...).

This stately, late Gothic building is called Perez de Malvenda House. This striking 15th-century mansion was restored from the rafters to the cellar in neo-Gothic style and nowadays accommodates the shop that sells not only local specialties like the famous Avocaat (egg liquor) but also many of the above mentioned beers and chocolates.

If you rather not take the bike or tour the city by horse-drawn carriage and prefer to see the city from a different angle, why not take one of the frequent canal boat tours. During the half-hour boat trip you are treated to some fantastic views of monuments and historical buildings. A tour through the canals of Bruges takes you through a major part of the city - also extremly popular with the many tourists that were visiting that day, actaully every day.

This is a statue of Saint Nepomuk watching over the bridge with the same name....

...more lovely gables.

Golden statues gracing the Basilica of the Holy Blood (Basiliek van het Heilig Bloed).

This double chapel consists of the Romanesque Church of Saint Basil (1139-1149) on the ground floor and the Basilica on the first floor, rebuilt in Gothic revival style in the 19th century. The Relic of the Holy Blood is kept in the Basilica.

After this virtual tour of some of the most wonderful places and things to visit and look at and things to taste while in Bruges, all that is left to say at the end of PART I of my Bruges post is that "when visiting Belgium, make sure to stop by Bruges - this Belgian city is certainly worth a visit"!

Part II of my two-part mini series will feature one of the most beloved and famous and utterly delightful Speculoos bakeries in Bruges...

TwD: Eastern Mediterranean Pizzas

Today´s recipe for the Tuesdays with Dorie group is Eastern Mediterranean Pizzas by contributing bakers Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid.

This unusual pizza has a pita bread dough base and a topping that consists of shallots (I used red onions), garlic, ground lamb, plum tomatoes, salt and pepper and the warm spices cinnamon and allspice. The first task is the pita bread dough with dry active yeast, water, whole wheat flour, salt, olive oil and all-purpose flour. Pita bread is an oval-shaped Middle Eastern flat bread. It can be opened up to form a pocket which can be stuffed with a variety of fillings or it can be served alongside main dishes or cut into wedges and used to dip in mezze dishes such as babaganoush and hummus. But in this recipe it is used as the base for the pizza.

I tried two versions of the pita dough, I made the first batch with all wheat flour and the second batch with all whole wheat flour – since I bought quite a bit of flour at my local artisanal flour mill a few days, I was anxious to use some of it for these mini pizzas with the intriguing topping. We liked both versions and this recipe is certainly easy to work with and versatile enough that you can vary the flour that you use.

The topping for the mini pizzas was quite a success at our house – I added rather generous amounts of the ground lamb mixture on top of the pita rounds but considering that eight people were standing in line with their plates in hand after a long day at the swimming pool, I did not think twice and piled on the topping. We like lamb at our house and I did not hesitate to use it for the topping today. For serving, I added some baby spinach leaves to the plate and some marjoram flowers from the herb garden.

Since they were such an incredible success at our house and since I have tons of the wonderful flour left, I will certainly make this recipe again soon.

To see what the other members of the Tuesdays with Dorie group thought about this recipe, please click here.

For more information about the flours from the local flour mill called "Broicher Mühle", please visit the following website at http://www.muehle-bedorf.de

Gooseberry Cake - Stachelbeerkuchen

Die Stachelbeeren oder „gooseberries“ (wörtlich übersetzt „Gänsebeeren“) haben die Größe von Trauben, aber sind etwas kugelförmiger. Sie gehören zu die Familie der schwarzen Johannisbeeren (die ich schon in meinem Post über die schwarzen Johannisbeer Kekse mit Zitronenverbene vorgestellt habe) und sind eine beliebte Sommerfrucht in vielen europäischen Ländern.

The gooseberries or “Stachelbeeren” (literally meaning “prickly berries”), are the size of large grapes, but with a more spherical shape. They are related to the black currants (that I featured in my recent post about Black Currant Cookies with Lemon Verbena) and are a popular summer fruit in many European countries.

Am Anfang der Saison eignen sie sich am besten zum Kochen, sie haben eine eher blass grüne oder sogar goldene Farbe, sind ziemlich hart und eher herb. Später in der Saison gibt es dann die weicheren, süßeren Sorten. Diese sind oft gelb oder rot gefärbt, manchmal herrlich tief burgunderfarbig und man kann sie auch wunderbar roh genießen. Aber auch wenn die Stachelbeeren nicht mehr ganz so fest und grün sind (oder besser gerade dann), backe ich mit ihnen am liebsten, weil sie dann zwar nicht so eine unglaubliche Farbe haben, dafür jedoch eine wundervolle würzige Süße. Am süßen Ende ihrer Erntezeit sind sie eben völlig reif und von der Sonne getränkt.

Early in the season they are best for cooking as they are rather pale green or even golden with a veined effect on the skin, and quite hard and tart. Later on in the season, the softer, sweeter varieties become available, often yellow or red colored, sometimes gorgeous deep burgundy colored, and then they are best they when eaten raw. But I still love baking with these beauties late in the season because they have such an incredible color and sweetness to them towards the end of their harvest time. At the end of the season they are fully ripe and sun-soaked, with a slight tang and lots of fragrant sweetness.

Juni und Juli ist die Hauptsaison der Stachelbeere. Aber man kann auch noch Anfang August Stachelbeeren auf den Märkten finden. Im Kühlschrank, halten sie für bis zu einer Woche. Wenn man nicht eigene Stachelbeeren im Garten hat oder sie nicht auf dem Markt oder beim Obst- und Gemüsehändler finden kann, können auch mal gefrorene Beeren verwendet werden, aber nur, wenn man beabsichtigt damit zu kochen, da die Beeren nach dem Auftauen sehr viel Flüssigkeit abgeben und nicht mehr wirklich zum Backen geeignet sind. Wenn man jedoch mit frischen Beeren kocht, braucht man nur ein wenig Wasser, gerade genug, um zu verhindern, dass die Beeren anbrennen. Man sollte die Beeren auch nur solange köcheln, bis sie leicht im Topf zusammenfallen, also nur recht kurz.

June and July is peak gooseberry season. But you can still find gooseberries in the markets now at the beginning of August. In the fridge, they will keep for up to a week. If you do not happen to grow your own and you are not lucky enough to find them fresh-picked locally, you could use frozen berries, but only if you intend to cook them as they will wilt quite a bit while defrosting. In fact, this fruit leaks out its juices so readily that you should not need to add water to the pan. But if you cook with fresh berries, add only the minimum of water, just enough to stop them burning before they release their own delicious, fragrant liquid. Cook until they collapse, but make sure not to boil them too hard.

Zum Vorbereiten der Stachelbeeren fürs Backen oder Kochen sind nur eine wenige Schritte nötig. Eine schnelle Wäsche, gefolgt vom Entfernen der Stiel- und Blütenreste und beiden Enden der Frucht. Das wird am besten mit einer kleinen Küchenschere oder einem scharfen kleinen Messer erledigt. Das Entfernen ist natürlich nicht nötig wenn die Früchte gekocht und anschließend durch ein Sieb passiert werden.

Getting the gooseberries ready for baking or cooking is quite simple. A quick wash followed by a so-called “top-and-tail”. You can either use those reliable kitchen scissors or a sharp little knife to nip off the tough stalk from the top of the berry and the dried remains of the flower from the other end (obviously, both are unnecessary if you are going to sieve the cooked berries).

Stachelbeerkuchen Zutaten für den Kuchen 225 Gramm feinster Zucker, geriebene Zitronenschale und Saft von 1 Orange (Bio, bitte) 225 Gramm weiche Butter (ungesalzen), plus extra für die Backform 2 TL Bourbon Vanille Zucker, eine Prise feines Meersalz 1/2 TL gemahlener Zimt 225 Gramm Weizenmehl, plus extra für die Backform 2 TL Backpulver, 4 Eier (L), Bio oder Freilandhaltung wenn möglich 225 g frische Stachelbeeren, gesäubert 140 Gramm Zucker Zubereitung des Kuchens Eine 20 x 30cm Backenform mit Butter ausstreichen und mit Mehl ausstreuen oder mit Pergamentpapier auslegen. Den Ofen auf 180 Grad Celsius vorheizen. In einer mittleren Schüssel den Zucker und die Orangenschale mit den Fingerspitzen reiben damit die Öle aus der Orangenschale den Zucker besser aromatisieren.. In einer weiteren Schüssel die Butter, den Orangenzucker und den Vanillezucker schaumig rühren. In einer anderen Schüssel das Salz, mit dem Zimt, Mehl und dem Backpulver mischen. Die Eier einzeln nacheinander zu dem Buttergemisch geben und solange rühren bis der Teig cremig und geschmeidig ist. Fügen Sie die Mehlmischung zu der Buttermischung hinzu und dann nur solange mischen, bis der Teig glatt ist. Vorsichtig die Stachelbeeren unterheben. Den Teig in die Backform füllen und ein wenig glatt streichen (so gut es geht). Den Kuchen zirka 35 Minuten backen – die Backzeit kann aber durchaus auch etwas länger sein wenn die Stachelbeeren schon sehr reif sind. Während der Kuchen backt, den Orangensaft und Zucker zusammen in einem kleinen Topf leicht erhitzen bis der Zucker geschmolzen ist. Den warmen Orangensirup über den noch warmen Kuchen löffeln. In Quadrate schneiden und servieren.

Gooseberry Cake Ingredients for the Cake 225 grams fine (caster) sugar grated zest and juice of 1 orange (organic, please) 225 grams softened butter (unsalted), plus extra for the cake pan 2 tsp pure vanilla sugar  a pinch of fine sea salt 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon 225 grams wheat flour, plus extra for the pan 2 tsp baking powder 4 eggs (L), organic or free range whenever possible 225 grams fresh gooseberries, topped and tailed 140 grams granulated sugar Preparation of the Cake Butter and line a 20 x 30cm baking pan tin with baking parchment. Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.  In a medium bowl rub together the sugar and the orange zest with your fingertips in order to release the oils from the orange zest into the sugar. In the bowl of your mixer, cream together the butter, orange sugar and vanilla sugar. In another bowl whisk together the salt, cinnamon, the flour and the baking powder Add the eggs, one at a time, to the butter mixture and beat thoroughly until creamy and smooth.  Add the flour mixture to the butter mix and beat just until smooth. Stir in the gooseberries. Spoon the batter into the baking pan and level the surface with an offset spatula. Bake the cake for 35 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. While the cake is baking, stir the orange juice and granulated sugar together in a small saucepan and heat slightly until the sugar has melted. Spoon the warm orange syrup over the surface of the warm cake and leave to cool and set.  Cut into squares and serve.

Leider scheinen die Stachelbeeren heute nicht mehr ganz so beliebt zu sein. Aber es lohnt sicherlich lohnt sie einmal auszuprobieren. Wenn man die Beeren in seinem Garten oder einen Markt findet und dann sollte man vielleicht diesen Stachelbeerkuchen ausprobieren. Er ist nicht nur einfach ist zu backen, besonders mit köstlichen Stachelbeeren im Spätsommer, er ist auch sehr saftig, mit einem zarten Hauch von Orange, Vanille und Zimt – was mehr kann man sich von einem Sommerkuchen erwarten.

Unfortunately, these delicately bristled gooseberries seem to be somewhat under-appreciated these days. But it is certainly worth giving them a try when you find them in your garden or a market and this recipe for the Gooseberry Cake might surprise you – it is easy to bake, studded with delicious late summer gooseberries and it is very moist with delicate hints of orange, vanilla and cinnamon – what more could you want from a summer cake.