Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Fooding around Brussels



I only knew Brussels for the EU Parliament, Committee,
belgian beers and european, white-collar workers.
In the past months I visited Belguim for a gastronomic
event taking place in the Parliament.

I had the chance to get to know a little bit of the other side of the coin: what Brussels taste like.


First stop was Le pain Quotidien in Sablon.
Fresh bread, soury goat cheese, dried tomato, basil pesto, olive oil.
A little of le goût de la Méditerranée in center Europe.

Passing to the other side, I entered Wittamer finest pastry shop.
The reason of my visit was straight and clear: eclair au chocolat.


Sticky chocolate glaze, soft, flufy pastry, thick and smooth chocolate filling.
Strong and acid aftertaste of the fruity notes of the grand cru chocolate.
Très elegant.

Before dinner I went shopping.
Beer shopping.
In Grand Place among others there is a wooden old store, with a huge selection of Belgian beers.


 Apart from handsome, he was polite and willng to help me find the beer
that best matched my taste criteria. Unfortunately, I can't remember his name.
I gave him a smile, he gave me a praline bonbon.


With a sweet flavour filling my mouth, I left la Grand Place heading to Marcolini's "jewellery store", the Haute Chocolaterie of Sablon
The intercontinental chef pâtissier, so famous for his upper class chocolate creations is travelling form Europe to Brazil, Mexico, Ecuador, Madagascar, Venezuela to find and choose by himself the best cocoa beans.


This is a dark gran cru tablet chocolate from Bahia- Brazil. It is slightly acid, made 78% Forastero cocoa. In their site you can find more of information. 
I enjoyed it with a Taf Rosebud espreso shot and it was divine.

Little do we know about Pierre Marcolini as a person, but, let's admit that we do care much more about his profesional capacity and his edible, tiny visions- his chocolates. 
The originals are handmade and signed.

PS. I dedicate this post to my beloved friends Eli and Michael with all my love for a great new start in the heart of Europe. A votre santé mes amis!