• Click to preview 3 randomly chosen illustrated recipes from within the Benelux recipes category

Gravensteen, Ghent, Belgium

In this category you will find recipes which have their roots in Belgium, Holland and Luxemburg.

About Benelux recipes

Belgium is the nation of Gourmands rather than Gourmets which translates into big cuisine rather than fine cuisine. In reality this means that along with big portions, you get pretty good quality and a kind of unpretentiousness. The word Gourmandise originally meant gluttony, but like in France it has taken over the above meaning. It is often said Belgium serves food with the quantity of Germany and the quality of France.

Typical dishes include:

Mosselen-friet/moules frites: mussels and chips.

Konijn in geuze/lapin à la gueuze: rabbit in geuze, which is a spontaneously fermented, sour beer from the area around Brussels.

Stoemp: potato mashed with other vegetables, often served with sausages.

Salade Liégeoise: a salad with green beans, pieces of bacon, onions and vinegar, associated with Liège.

Vlaamse stoofkarbonaden: a Flemish beef stew, similar to the French Beef Bourguignon, but made with beer instead of red wine.

Waterzooi: (lit. 'boiled water') a rich stew/soup of chicken (or sometimes fish), vegetables, cream and eggs, associated with Ghent.

Paling in 't groen/anguilles au vert: Eel in a green sauce of mixed herbs.

Gegratineerd witloof/chicons au gratin: a gratin of chicory in béchamel sauce with cheese.

Slices of rustic bread and an uncovered spread, often pâté or soft cheese, served on a board and eaten with knife and fork. A typical variety is a slice of bread with quark and sliced radishes, often accompanied with a glass of geuze.

Pensen/Boudins: a type of sausage, often eaten with potatoes and apple sauce.

The Ardennes is notable for Charcuterie, or cold meat products, particularly paté, which may be made of game such as wild boar.

Waffles, sometimes eaten as a street snack.

Chocolate, particularly pralines (filled chocolates).

Dutch agriculture roughly consists of five sectors: fishery, animal husbandry, and tillage-based, fruit-based, and greenhouse-based agriculture. The last has had little or no influence on traditional Dutch eating habits.

Tillage-based crops include potatoes, kale, beetroot, green beans, carrots, celeriac, onions, all kind of cabbages, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, endive, spinach, Belgian endive, asparagus and lettuce. Recently some initiatives have been started to encourage interest in such "forgotten" vegetables as common purslane, medlars, parsnips, and black salsify.

Greenhouses are used to produce tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, and sweet peppers.

Fruits include apples, pears, cherries, berries and plums.

The Dutch keep cows for milk, cheese and meat, chickens for their eggs and for meat, pigs for their meat and sheep for their wool and meat. Traditionally horse meat was a common dish (steak and sausage), but horse meat is seldom eaten nowadays.

The fishery sector lands cod, herring, plaice, sole, mackerel, eels, tuna, salmon, trout, oysters, mussels, shrimp, and sardines. The Dutch are famous for their smoked eel and soused herring, that is eaten raw.

Luxembourg's position on the border between the Latin and Germanic worlds is heavily influenced by the cuisines of neighbouring France and Germany. More recently, it has had influence from its many Italian and Portuguese immigrants. Most native dishes share roots in the Luxembourgian peasantry, similar to German cuisine and in marked contrast to more sophisticated French.

Luxembourg has many delicacies: pastries, Luxembourg Cheese, the fresh fish from local rivers (trout, pike, and crayfish), Ardennes ham smoked in saltpetre, game during hunting season (such as hare and wild boar), small plum tarts in September (quetsch), smoked neck of pork with broad beans (judd mat gaardebounen), fried small river fish (such as bream, chub, gudgeon, roach, and rudd), calves' liver dumplings (quenelles) with sauerkraut and boiled potatoes, black pudding (treipen) and sausages with mashed potatoes and horseradish, and green beans soup (bouneschlupp). French cuisine is featured prominently on many menus as are those of Germany and Belgium but not as much as French.

AOP and BOB ingredients

AOP stands for ‘Appellation d'Origine Protégée’ and BOB stands for ‘Beschermde Oorsprongsbenaming’ which in the UK we know as 'Protected Designation of Origin' (PDO). Under the EU agricultural product quality policy, this "covers agricultural products and foodstuffs which are produced, processed and prepared in a given geographical area using recognised know-how". The following Benelux ingredients are those which are registered as AOP or BOB.

IGP and BGA ingredients

IGP stands for 'Indication Géographique Protégée' and BGA stands for ‘Beschermde Geografische Aanduiding’ which in the UK we know as 'Protected Geographical Indication' (PGI). Under the EU agricultural product quality policy, this "covers agricultural products and foodstuffs closely linked to the geographical area. At least one of the stages of production, processing or preparation takes place in the area." The following Benelux ingredients are those which are registered as IGP/BGA.

STG and GTS ingredients

STG stands for ‘Spécialité Traditionnelle Garantie’ and GTS stands for ‘Gegarandeerde Traditionele Specialiteit’ which in the UK is known as 'Traditional Speciality Guaranteed’ (TSG). It "highlights traditional character, either in the composition or means of production". The following Benelux ingredients are those which are registered as STG/GTS.

We have sections that list recommended French ingredient suppliers and German ingredient suppliers

We also have a wealth of information on Belgian, Dutch, French and German cheeses.

BENULUX RECIPES