Food Is an Important Part of a Balanced Diet
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Food is an important part of a balanced diet. Fran Lebowitz (1950 - ) CHAPTER 3 Speciality Foods Belgian Beer Weekend At the end of the summer The Belgian Brewers’ association and the ‘Chevalerie du Fourquet des Brasseurs’, in collaboration with the City of Brussels organizes the BELGIAN BEER WEEKEND at the Brussels’ Grand’Place. Speciality Foods Many small, medium-sized and large Belgian Belgium boasts the largest range of distinctly breweries will present to you their best different beers and labels in the world. Or selections of beers. Entrance is free and beer then again you could wish to have a pleasant prices are very democratic! ... Breweries will chat with the brewer of your favorite beer. be present! And you like spending time in pavement Perhaps you are a confirmed beer lover cafés, so the idea of sipping a delicious or you are keen on tasting something new. glass of Belgian beer on the most beautiful Or maybe you honestly never realized that Market Place in the world sounds very 60 Best of Belgium tempting. Belgium offers a unique range of beers having the most contrasting tastes and flavors. Nowhere else in the world you can find a larger choice of regional, authentic and colorful beers. www.weekenddelabiere.be Best of Belgium 61 Royal-quality Belberry Preserves makes money for jam From west Flanders to the world’s elite, Belberry Preserves is the story of a small-scale jam-maker turned top luxury food exporter. Speciality Foods When Andre Vandererfven, a small-scale fruit syrups, sauces and vinegars – are honoured way without artificial flavourants or delicatessen owner in the medieval west highly sought-after in exclusive department preservatives. This ensures the fresh aromas Flemish town of Kortrijk since 1956, was stores in 20 countries and are personally and exquisite flavours of the ripe fruit are asked by the local pharmacist’s wife to requested by royalty and nobility. retained in a naturally beautifully, luxurious produce a batch of marmalade according finish. “The core of what we do is the to her family’s ancient recipe, he started Artisanal production: small is beautiful preservation of fruit,” says Thierry. “Hereditas a modest production of preserves using As Thierry well knows, the secret to excellent fructus in posterium.” traditional methods to sell in his store. His preserves is top quality fruit. A wide variety son Thierry took over the business in 1990 of only the freshest, unblemished fruit is Traditional and innovative and saw an opportunity to expand production sourced year-round from across the globe, Belberry Preserves is both a traditional and and sell further afield. This was the start of fully processed in-house and carefully innovative brand. Far from the stuffiness a remarkable success story. Since attending crafted according to traditional methods. its name might imply, the brand name is his first international trade exhibition in the Small batches of fruit, fine sugars, juice and actually a play on “Belgian berry”. The UK in 2000, Thierry Vandererfven hasn’t natural apple pectin (to set the jams where refreshingly young but established “feel” looked back. His premium quality products necessary) are boiled in copper urns over an of the brand is carried through in exotic — from royal marmalades and jams to open gas flame and preserved in the time- flavours such as Morillo Cherry, Seville 62 Best of Belgium Orange, Mango & Maracuja, Rhubarb and include the finest department stores all Belberry Preserves bvba Strawberry, Figs & Port and the delicious but over the world. Thierry’s products also Doenaertstraat 11 still-experimental figs and chocolate. aptly fly First Class, as luxury food items B-8500 Kortrijk – Belgium on the in-flight menu of several airlines. Tel: +32 56 220 560 Royal quality With the company expanding at an Fax: +32 56 221 560 Belberry Royal Marmalade, an imaginative astonishing 70% a year, Belberry Preserves www.belberry.com assortment of eight citrus-based is clearly making strong inroads into the marmalades, derives its name both from luxury food market. Following the 2005 trade the supreme quality of the fruit and the mission to Japan led by Prince Philippe of royal stamp of approval. It has become a Belgium, Thierry and a Japanese partner tradition that every time Thierry develops launched Belberry’s own pilot concept store in a new marmalade, a sample is sent to midtown Tokyo, which is strategically placed Queen Paola of Belgium (who is known to showcase the brand for the growing Asian to love marmalade) for approval. One market. This store is also an opportunity to day Thierry received a call from the promote Belberry’s newer product lines such Queen’s personal assistant to say that as sugar-free jams, as well as fruit vinegars, the monarch was delighted with the taste dessert sauces (including three old fashioned of his products. Since then Belberry syrups: Sweet Elderberry, Canadian Cranberry Preserves regularly supplies the Belgian and Wild Blueberry) which are proving monarchy. As befits a royal product, increasingly popular. Belberry is also a multiple winner of Attention to quality at all levels of Tavola and other Fine Food Awards. production — from sourcing the freshest and finest fruits and sugars to innovative Select distribution channel flavours and products through to a highly While production is small and still done efficient marketing and distribution channel by hand — only 3,000 jars are produced — ensures customer satisfaction and brand per day — an efficient marketing and loyalty. With premium quality as Belberry’s distribution channel ensures that these recipe for success, it’s hardly surprising premium products are flown to exclusive that customers such as the Emir of Qatar, department stores across the European who regularly visits his hunting lodge in Union as well as further afield to America, the Belgian Ardennes forests, annually Hong Kong, Korea and Japan. Elite clients request their own personal supply. Best of Belgium 63 JULES DESTROOPER Quality, authenticity, pure natural ingredients and a never ending passion for biscuits. Speciality Foods After being founded more than 120 years the almond thin, a delicate biscuit that was ago, NV Biscuiterie JULES DESTROOPER to please generations of people all over the is still growing fast. What began as a world. In that way, in 1886, the biscuiterie local business driven by one man, now JULES DESTROOPER was founded. is a world-wide company with highly Driven by the success of his product and appreciated standards. The professional by his natural talent, JULES DESTROOPER approach may have changed, the original worked out his own recipe of a traditional recipes remain untouched from day one. Belgian butter wafer, which he successfully launched on the Belgian market in 1890. In Belgium, second half of the 1911 the almond thin was rewarded with the nineteenth century... prestigious golden award at the famous food show in Paris. Driven by passion, JULES DESTROOPER, JULES DESTROOPER , motivated by a colonial trader, combined the best of the this international recognition, continued spices he imported from Africa and the East his efforts to improve the quality of his with the best of nature’s ingredients. That’s products. Several other national and how he obtained a very unique flavour for international awards stimulated a first PURVEYOR TO THE BELGIAN ROYAL HOUSEHOLD selective export of the products. The art naturally involve a lot of changes, the of preserving the quality and the freshness modern computer-aided production methods of their products was one of the major guarantee optimal quality and hygiene, but concerns of the second and third generation the founder’s original recipes will never be of the Destrooper family. By means of changed. Just as they were in 1886, JULES an airtight aluminium packing method, DESTROOPER biscuits are completely free the family succeeded in increasing the of any kind of artificial colouring, flavouring shelf life of their natural and therefore or preservatives. Each biscuit is the honest delicate products to up to nine months. product of our sustained desire to offer the This of course enabled the first step best biscuits from creamery butter, fresh to world-wide export. From then on, eggs, flour and selected sugars. gastronomes from the four corners of the This youngest generation can also be world could enjoy the unique freshness, very proud of a brand new line of chocolate the delicate flavour and the crispiness of covered biscuits. Several new biscuits the original JULES DESTROOPER biscuits. have come to please all gastronomes: the BISCUITERIE Moreover, in this period, a third delicious Florentines with Almonds and Nuts, the JULES DESTROOPER biscuit was baked: a sister of the butter Hazelnut Florentines with Crispy Rice (since Gravestraat 5 wafer, the Paris wafer or butter crumble. 1991), and the Cinnamon Biscuits enrobed 8647 LO Today, the JULES DESTROOPER biscuits with chocolate (since 1993). Each of these Belgium are the pride of the 4th generation. The fine biscuits contain nothing but original Tel: +32 58 28 80 41 biscuits are still based on the secret family natural ingredients of highest quality such as Fax: +32 58 28 93 82 recipe, as JULES DESTROOPER developed Valencia Almonds, Cinnamon from Indonesia E-mail: [email protected] it. More than 120 years of experience (class 1) and the purest Belgian chocolate. www.destrooper.be Best of Belgium 65 BBCW - The Art of Blending Tradition and Excellence BBCW (Best Belgian Chocolate of the World) is a young, non-profit-making association that aims to promote the know-how of Belgian Master Confectioners who perpetuate Speciality Foods the purest handicraft tradition of chocolate making. 66 Best of Belgium To take Belgium’s image to the highest 3. A chocolate of quality level, BBCW has selected the most authentic ambassadors of handicraft Following the debate inspired Belgian chocolate from among the by the European directive on the many potential craftsmen in the country.