Hi Sarah. As a Belgian living in Scotland I discovered your Substack thanks to your post on Belgen in Great Britain. One of the things I miss most living here in Bonnie Scotland, is a selection of pastries and tarts as you get at Belgian bakeries. During Covid-19, the longing was so bad, I bought the Stefan Ellias bakery books as they provide authentic recipes. Spent most of my weekends baking, from mattentaarten to génoises met fruit, to aalsterse vlaai (I am from the Aalst area) and many more. Also pistolets, sandwiches and mastellen were weekly on the menu. My Scottish husband loved it.
Thanks for this enjoyable post, Sarah! I'm informed, entertained, and now hungry as well! 😅 Happy to have found your newsletter through Mika's Find My Tribe. :)
Only just found your Substack and I’m obsessed! I’m from The Netherlands and we get lots of Belgian foods in our stores and shops here. (I’m particularly obsessed with the belgian seashells (please tell me they are originally Belgian, haha) and ‘Vlaamse Frieten’
Thank you very much, Monique 💃! Haha, yes, the seashells are originally Belgian🙂. I had to look up who invented them, I wasn't sure if maybe it was Leonidas, but they were in fact invented by Guylian so those are the original ones. I've also seen extra intense ones now that the main producer of chocolate moulds came out with a faceted seashell mould so they glitter like diamonds!
Love learning about the history/origins of food. Now I'll be telling all my American friends about the truth behind "French" fries. Who knew? Thank you for sharing.
Hi Sarah. As a Belgian living in Scotland I discovered your Substack thanks to your post on Belgen in Great Britain. One of the things I miss most living here in Bonnie Scotland, is a selection of pastries and tarts as you get at Belgian bakeries. During Covid-19, the longing was so bad, I bought the Stefan Ellias bakery books as they provide authentic recipes. Spent most of my weekends baking, from mattentaarten to génoises met fruit, to aalsterse vlaai (I am from the Aalst area) and many more. Also pistolets, sandwiches and mastellen were weekly on the menu. My Scottish husband loved it.
I didn't know this about the fries until this summer and my visit to Belgium - I never saw so many potato fields before :)
Haha, hopefully you enjoyed your trip!
Yes, I really have and I will be back :)
Thanks for this enjoyable post, Sarah! I'm informed, entertained, and now hungry as well! 😅 Happy to have found your newsletter through Mika's Find My Tribe. :)
Aww, thank you Regina!
Are Belgian waffles from Belgium?
Ha, stay tuned for that one!
Only just found your Substack and I’m obsessed! I’m from The Netherlands and we get lots of Belgian foods in our stores and shops here. (I’m particularly obsessed with the belgian seashells (please tell me they are originally Belgian, haha) and ‘Vlaamse Frieten’
I loved this, instant subscribe! 🥰
Thank you very much, Monique 💃! Haha, yes, the seashells are originally Belgian🙂. I had to look up who invented them, I wasn't sure if maybe it was Leonidas, but they were in fact invented by Guylian so those are the original ones. I've also seen extra intense ones now that the main producer of chocolate moulds came out with a faceted seashell mould so they glitter like diamonds!
Be still, my beating heart...
Love learning about the history/origins of food. Now I'll be telling all my American friends about the truth behind "French" fries. Who knew? Thank you for sharing.
Thank you, Jade!
Thank you Sarah. I enjoyed reading about some Belgium and not Belgium foods!
Thank you, Emma! Love getting these comments 💃.
I understand that. Knowing that someone is reading and enjoying your writing is a wonderful feeling!