On the east side of the Grand-Place, stands a group of 7 houses (from n° 13 to 19) behind a monumental facade (decorated with golden pilasters): "THE HOUSE OF THE DUCS OF BRABANT" (observe the 19 busts of the dukes of Brabants which are at the origin of the name of the building).
At number 15, the "MAISON DE LA FORTUNE" (in Dutch: De Fortuine) or "MAISON DE LA CORPORATION DES TANNEURS" and the Estaminet
‘T KELDERKE (« the little cellar » in brussels)
Grand Place 15, 1000 Brussels
Open from 12:00 to 23:00
This institution of our capital awaits you in an old vaulted cellar of the XVIIth where reigns a calm, relaxed atmosphere.
Atmosphere "of the past". Dimmed light .
The decor is sober and authentic. Simplicity is the motto of the house, in the kitchen as in the manners.
Ideal for an evening with friends, "à la bonne franquette".
They work in a short circuit with seasonal products, local products and avoid waste. Opportunity to discover Belgian producers: the farm NO PILIFS, fruit Collect…
Nos Pilifs, is an ETA, a company of adapted work which makes work people carrying a handicap located at Neder-Over-Heembeek.
The name Nos Pilifs is none other than the anagram of the name of Nelly Filipson, founder of this center in 1971.
You have among other things the possibility to go and eat at the "Estaminet", their restaurant.
As for Fruit Collect, this Brussels association (located in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode) collects the excess of uneaten fruits from private gardens, wholesalers...to redistribute them.
You want to organize an event? Privatize the establishment 'T KELDERKE.
On the menu, you will also find the Belgian specialties sought after by visiting tourists: vol au vent, chicons au gratin, Flemish-style carbonnades, waterzooï à la gantoise, bloedpens à la bruxelloise ...
Dishes that some restaurateurs like to revisit.
As you can see once again, this restaurant offers you local dishes of which some explanations (perhaps) may whet your appetite.
Isn't reading also a food to be consumed without moderation?
• BLOEMPANCH (in dutch Bloedpens)
it is nicknamed the poor man's steak. It was often found on the plates of working-class families.
A kind of large spherical black pudding made of offal, pieces of lung, fatty bacon (small cubes of pork fat). To be eaten cold or hot.
In the Marolles, the bloempanch was called "bufsteik mi roiete" (beefsteak with tiles), an expression that described this meat spiked with pieces of fat, also called "Bufsteik van de Congo" ("Congo steak", because of its black color).
The rue de l'Abricotier is nicknamed Bloempanchgang in Brussels, i.e. the impasse of the Boudin. The legend says that a butcher would have thrown a blood sausage at the head of a customer and that this one would have rolled down the street to the rue Haute.
At number 7 of the rue de l'Abricotier, a fresco entitled “Entre Aide / Wederzijdse Hulp”, was made in 2020 by the collectif 7e Gauche on a wall of a building of the CPAS, near the Saint-Pierre hospital. In honor of the people on the front line in the fight against the coronavirus.
This fresco is part of the city's street art circuit.
As well as the mural by the artist from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rikardo Druškić, entitled "On ne voit bien qu’avec le cœur", (2019), rue du Marché aux Peaux (calm).
Visible from some rooms of the ARIS GRAND PLACE HOTEL. Then book the rooms ending with the numbers 1/2/3/4.
Street art is part of the landscape of the Aris Grand Place hotel. What more could you ask for?
It is not easy to find this "checkered pudding" in the shops in Brussels. If you want to buy it, push the door of the butcher's shop Don Luc in Saint-Gilles (Rue Vanderschrick 29) .
Their white pudding is excellent.
Subway stations : Porte de Halle (see blog, episode ......)
Opportunity to see the suspended work in height (12 vertical panels) of the Belgian artist De Keyser (1930-2012). Painter of the infinitesimal and the poetic.
He was influenced by Roger Raveel (voir blog, épisode..1).
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Nieuwe Visie » (new vision)
Or the metro station de Parvis de Saint-Gilles (in dutch : Sint-Gillisvoorplein)
As any Brussels commuter, you will not be insensitive / challenged by the ceramic mural composition of the artist, trained as an architect - urbanist: Françoise Schein (born in Brussels but based in Paris). 1600m2.
The full text of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (it will be 75 years old in 2023) is written in white letters without space on this blue mosaic in French and Dutch.
This work is called Dyades (1993).
Human rights artist.
Our « beefsteak avec des carreaux » is also sold in another neighborhood butcher shop « Spek & Boonen » (Rue Blaes 155, 1000 Bruxelles) in the popular district of Marolles, near the Place du Jeu de Balle (daily flea market, emblematic place of Brussels).
A passionate person who serves you in 3 languages.
Easily accessible on foot from the Arbany hotels.
⁃ THE CARBONNADE (or carbonade) flemish is a typical Belgian dish, undoubtedly the most famous after the mussels and French fries.
The term "carbonnade" comes from the fact that originally, coal mine workers simmered their leftover meat on coal. This dish later became a beer stew.
The word comes from the Latin "carbo", charcoal which became "Carbon" in the 14th century, then later "carbonade".
It is called stoofvlees (stew or pot-au-feu) or rundstoofvlees in Dutch when prepared with beef.
The carbonnade is a dish of meat cut into small pieces simmered in beer, with gingerbread and mustard (from Bister?)
Bister is a Belgian mustard factory known for its famous Imperial mustard.
This family business founded a little less than a century ago in Achène (Ciney) is the largest mustard manufacturer in Belgium.
Dish often accompanied by French fries!
A delightful treat.
There are several variants, several interpretations.
The choice of beer is crucial. It is the aroma and strength of the beer that will give the sauce its flavor.
This typical Belgian dish (a great classic) can be found on many menus in Brussels.
The Carbonade à la bruxelloise is a Flemish carbonnade with gueuze.
In Willebroeck (a municipality in the province of Antwerp), since the end of the 19th century, one of the specialties has been called "schep": horse meat casserole.
• THE VOL-AU-VENT
Many Belgian restaurants include this beloved Belgian dish in their menus / cards under "local products".
However, vol-au-vent is not originally a Belgian recipe, but a French one.
Originally, the word "vol-au-vent" refers to the puff pastry that contains the dish, which must be light, so light that it flies away at the slightest breeze.
And the famous bouchées à la Reine? Name given in France in homage to Queen Marie (1703-1768), the wife of Louis XV (known as « le Bien-Aimé », 1710-1774), who liked salted puff pastries.
This is somewhat funny considering the fact that the French no longer have queens. On the other hand the Belgians...
In our country, it has become a main course, traditionally based on chicken or hen, veal meatballs and sweetbreads, and mushrooms.
Today, vol-au-vent is an adopted Belgian dish.
In the popular language, a vol-au-vent means a head, a skull.
One of the "monuments" of Belgian gastronomy.
A winter classic.
If it's a question of eating Belgian, seasonal and tasty, chicory is the key. Belgians are still the biggest chicory eaters in the world.
Le chicon (endive) is a discovery of the 19th century. Its cultivation was only perfected in 1850 by the head gardener of the Belgian Horticultural Society, Frans Bresiers. It was by chance that one day, in the cellars of the Botanical Garden, Bresiers covered some wild chicory roots with soil and soon after, discovered a new vegetable, tightly packed in its leaves, and delicious with a pleasant bitterness (see blog episode .....).
"Witloof" is the first name (name of Dutch origin, "white sheet").
The term “chicon”, was coined by Frans Bresiers, who was inspired by the Latin name "cichorium" for chicory.
"Brussels sprouts" once?
This « Belgian Endive » is still today a historical Belgian vegetable of choice.
If you want to know the recipe for a chicory gratin with grey shrimps (more and more fashionable!), consult the book « La cuisine belge de Gérard et Adrien » (2015).
A Confrérie des compagnons du witloof was founded in Brussels in 1975..
Its purpose is to defend the traditions and folklore of Evere and Brabant ...
The Belgians sometimes use the expression "twisting his chicon". No need to define it.
The culture of this vegetable "made in Belgium" is registered (since 2021) on the list of the Brussels intangible cultural heritage. The French fries, beer and speculoos, are already present in the Inventory.
• The WATERZOOÏ (or waterzooi in dutch)
Waterzooi is a traditional Belgian dish from the city of Ghent, capital of the former county of Flanders, located on the river Scheldt.
Etymologically, in old Flemish, the word comes from "water" and the verb "zooien" (to cook or boil).
A dish that keeps the body warm. In Belgium, the waterzooï, a soup speciality of the country, delights the taste buds of the Belgians.
Simmered soup with white meat or fish and vegetables in a creamy broth.
In the comic strip by René Goscinny (1926-1977) and Albert Uderzo (1927-2020) « Asterix in Belgium » (24th album), published in 1979, this emblematic dish is honored.
Indeed, during a banquet, the guests have the opportunity to discover a typical dish of the region, which is none other than a delicious waterzooï!
This dish is again evoked shortly before the final battle, the famous line "Waterloo! Waterloo ! Waterloo ! morne plaine !" is diverted into "Waterzooie ! Waterzooie ! Waterzooie ! Morne plat !".
A nod to "L'expiation", poem that evokes the Russian campaign led by Napoléon Ier, from « the Châtiments », poetic and political collection of Victor Hugo.
When he arrived in Brussels in 1852, Victor Hugo took up residence in the Maison du Moulin à Vent on the Grand-Place. Finding the place too cramped for his taste, he moved a few numbers away to a more spacious room in the Maison du pigeon (De duif in dutch). It was the house of the painters' guild.
"Dear friend, I am quite dazzled by Brussels, or to put it better, by two things I saw in Brussels: the Town Hall with its square, and Sainte-Gudule "
This is how Victor Hugo begins a letter he sent to his wife from Brussels in August 1837.
Today, the trace of Victor Hugo's passage in this place is engraved on a commemorative plaque fixed to the facade of number 27 of the square.
Not far from the Arbany hotels !
