Excerpts from Belgium

We were in Belgium for 23 days (14 of which were spent volunteering on a permaculture farm). We learned some fun quirks and tidbits about the country that I wanted to share. These fun facts don’t normally fit into my typical recap-type blogs, so I’m giving these excerpts from Belgium their own post!

Excerpts from Belgium

Confusing Political System

The country of Belgium is divided into three regions – Brussels, Flanders, and Wallonia. These regions have as much power as the central government. There are three official languages in Belgium – Dutch, French, and German. But many people also speak Flemish. Most regions have primarily one language, though you can find pockets of French-speaking Belgians in a Dutch-speaking area, and German-speaking folks in a French-speaking area. To help support these minorities, three communities were developed, each having their own government and parliament as well. Confused yet?? This YouTube video will do a much better job than I can at explaining this convoluted system.

Food Loves

Fries – Belgians are obsessed with frituuren/frites. These aren’t your typical fries though. A Belgian fry is deep fried twice. Once at 150C then a second time at 170C. The second frying at a hotter temperature makes the fries crispy but still soft on the inside. They’re typically served with mayo, but ketchup will suffice as well.

Bread – my carb-loving heart (and stomach) was happy to learn that Belgians are still as obsessed with bread as the French. Bread is typically had for both breakfast and lunch – with dinner being the main cooked course of the day. The typical way to eat a slice of bread is to load it with spreads, fold it in half, and mow down. Many Belgians we stayed with even had a designated ‘bread tray’. This tray is filled with various spreads and toppings for bread.

Hagelslag – Speaking of bread toppings… One of the funniest toppings we found was Hagelslag. Hagelslag is (are?) chocolate sprinkles. These tiny brown turd-like toppings are liberally sprinkled on a piece of bread with a hefty slathering of butter. I say ‘turd-like’ because hagelslag has the affectionate name of muisjes, which means mice in English.

Paprika Flavoured Everything – From what we experienced, paprika is one of the most commonly used spices in Belgium. Mac was especially pleased to find paprika-flavoured potato chips – which instantly became his go-to flavour for snacking.

Peanut Butter – my favourite Dutch word is probably pindakaas, which is peanut butter. But the reason I find it so funny is because kaas is cheese, so pindakaas means peanut cheese!! You would think that would make it less appetizing… not so!!

Beer & Chocolate – I feel like these don’t need much explanation. Both Belgian beer and Belgian chocolate occur in abundance everywhere you look. I had a few interesting first experiences with Belgian beer. It’s a lot stronger than the beers I’m used to in Canada. The most popular beers are minimum 6%, with many being 8%+. It was a quick reminder to savour the beer and drink it slowly. One beer in particular that I was quite fond of was kwak. Even though it’s 8%, it’s so smooth! And it comes in the coolest glass. It’s rumoured that some bars will actually make you leave your shoe as a deposit for the glass to prevent it from getting stolen!

Organization

We found that the Belgians are very neat and tidy. Almost every car we got into was free of any specs of dirt. Homes are kept very minimal and were always clean and organized. Even their waste disposal is orderly! Mac accompanied one of our CS hosts to the local recycling centre. Cars will wait in line and queue up to deposit their recyclables. There are different containers for each type of recycling. Call me nerdy, but I found this fascinating!

Were any of these excerpts from Belgium surprising?? Do you love bread as much as the Belgians??

Check out my Excerpts from France!

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