dream attack
Joined: 15 Jul 2008
Posts: 265
Location: Amsterdam
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 Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 2:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Lore wrote: | | dream attack wrote: |
As a complete off topic (I likes me 'tangents'!  ), the colonialisation and/or enslavement (the Dutch WERE, after all, the LAST nation in the Western World to abolish slavery - yet ANOTHER 'proud' Dutch FACT!) of Suriname, The Antilles and Indonesia has brought Roti's ( a kind of pancake served up with curried meat), and Rijstafels to popularity in NL. What's the ethnic colonial food in Belgium? Congonese ???.
As another aside, my ex-Dutch g/f told me that in Belgium, Water Konijn is a delicacy. I believe the English translation means "Water Rabbit", but most know it as Rat! Is that true?
I love Brussels at Xmas time ... the food IS great and the Grande Place is unfeckinglybelievable at night all lit-up. As for the rest ... no offenceintended ... yawn and snore ... |
There's hardly been any influence from the colonies on Belgian cuisine... but then again, we did have a cuisine to start with while I can't really imagine any typically Dutch dishes . And besides some grocery stores in the African/Congolese quarter of Brussels, there are hardly any African restaurants. One very good Ethiopian place, though... yummie.
And yep "waterkonijn" or as we call it "muskusrat" (cause it's more of a huge rat than a rabbit) is considered to be a delicacy in some (very small) parts of Flanders, but it's starting to disappear (mainly because only old folk still prepare it). I've been told that it ressembles rabbit, though the meat is a bit tougher.
As for Brussels... well, it has its moments. It would be an incredible city if it would get cleaned up and if people felt a bit more pride for their city. But December is probably my favourite month of the year as well: I live in the old city centre, so because of the x-mas market there's a special atmosphere (and I don't really have too much hassle from the tourist overload)... and every day there's a new food/drink stall to try out  |
Thanks for the reply, Lore.
I believe that Ethiopia was a former Italian colony, so what's an Ethiopian dish? Dried Antelope with Fettucini?
I was once in Brussels at Xmas and was dismayed about the general dreariness of the place. The back streets and the buildings in the centre were filthy, it reminded me VERY much of poor Parisian suburban backstreets. And, another impression was, the greyness of the skin hues of people on the metro, compared to the 'typical' Dutch ruddy cheeks and blonde hair was a culture shock.
One everlasting memory I have was arriving at Brussel's Midi Station and descending into the Metro, where I first enquired, in Dutch, how much a ticket was to the nearest Metro to the Holiday Inn. (I don't speak Dutch, came the reply, in French). Okay, in English, same question. (I don't speak English, came the reply, yet again in French!). My inscenced reply was something along the lines of "Listen, you ignorant fvckwit! We're in the capitol of the EU and you don't speak English and don't speak Dutch? Get a fecking life, retard!"
Anyway, I returned a few months later and stayed near the (formerly named) Heysel Stadium, beside the Atomium. That was a VERY weird experience!!! In most places I’ve visited there are out-of-town shopping malls featuring Pets R Us, Toyz R Us, etc. However, here we found mock cobbled streets lined with “El Ranchero” Mexican-themed bar, “Homer’s Duff Beer Bar” American-themed bar, et al. Okay, the names may be an exaggeration, as my memory is a wee bit addled to the true names 6 or 7 years on, but I clearly recall we ended up in a karaoke bar in this false out-of-town “entertainment mall” around 2 a.m. where we saw 7 or-at-a-push, maybe, 8 year-old girls being shuffled up by their proud parents on stage to warble to renditions of “Simply The Best”, etc. Utterly shocking/depressing!
That said. My mate, Bill, went down to Brussels about 6 months ago, on some highly overpaid IT contract. He’s loving it!
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