Every now and then you end up in foodheaven and this last Friday it was bingo!!! R and N, one of our French speaking Belgian friends, had invited us over to Huy!!! It is not one of these postcard villages and rather surrounded by the so typical industrial fumes and grey plants that you most of the times would rather cruise by. R and N live there already forever and had invited us over before and then it already had been a culinary success but this time R had added the words:'C'est formidable que cette femme faites dans sa cuisine!'
So last Friday I ran out of my lecture to get in a record time to my car, tried to beat the traffic rush, jumped into my outfit, tried to hide my thousand wrinkles and jumped into P's car!Arriving in Huy the first thing that is rather tricky is finding parking space but we managed to find a one rather close to the city center! Huy isn't that big and if you ever intend to go it won't be that hard to find this foodie-heaven! Once you are standing in the middle of the market square search for the smallest building and there it is: restaurant Li Cwerneu! And when you pass over it's treshold you will be in for a culinary discovery lovecruise!
First of all you will notice that there are not that many collegue taste inspectors! Only about twenty a night can book a table and that already makes it a special place to dine! In total you will meet three to four staff members and that includes the chef, if she feels like peeping out of her domain!
The menu is the next surprise and might turn you a bit nervous: only a few courses and one menu for you to choose from. But then no difficult dillemas!! By then we were nipping of one the house cocktails and we were off to get our tastebuds warmed up with some appetizers. Our favourite 'the virtual olive': a real taste explosion in your mouth! R and P then decided to let the man of the house, Pierre and wine connaisseur (in a previous life a car mechanic!) make up his mind about the wines to serve with the food his beloved wife was preparing in her tiny kitchen!
I am not going to describe in detail every dish that passed by that night but they were just so unique and so creative that our respect started to grow for this exceptional ladychef out there working to treat us like king and queens. My favourite courses of the night the goose liver (foi-gras) soup with figues (!) and the violet sorbet. P raved about it till he fell asleep and it really made us remember the moment that we tasted for the first violet candies as a child!
Now and then our glasses were filled up with divine grape flavours that just made the delicious food feast complete. We stuffed the empty spaces that were left over with talks about our latest adventures and by midnight we felt like we were on cloud number nine! Outside the first snow of the season was arriving but here we were sitting in perhaps one of the smallest restaurants of this country we had this warm feeling that makes some evenings memorable!
And if I have not tickled your curiousity then this might help: Arabelle is the lady chef of 2008, exceptional creative with ingredients including plants and flowers, one of the modest chefs I know (she will turn red when you make her a compliment), keeps her kitchen running smoothly by herself, doesn't make it too complicated (what you see is what you get), tries not to go too big (living proof the size of the restaurant), a devoted mother (when you stay long enough you might get to see the youngest resident of the house: a tiny baby daughter) and last of not least her women's friendly ladiesroom! I can rave on for hours but the taste of the pudding is in the eating!
Arabelle Meirlaen is one our Belgian cooking gems to keep close to your heart. So when you happen to drive by Huy next time you might want to leave the highways and check out if Arabelle still has the magic touch! Don't be surprised to see me there because I will be back graving for more of her culinary beauty!
If you really can't resist:http://www.licwerneu.be/
dinsdag 25 november 2008
maandag 10 november 2008
(Bo)o(k)bstacles at the Bookfair!
One of the highlights for me, being a book addict, is the anual bookfair in Antwerp! I try to stay away because I end up spending a fortune there. Most of the books you can buy there are in Dutch so when I was graduated I did not go because I had my English bookstores in Leuven, Brussels and the Fnac. But you try to look for excuses and mine is 4,5 years old, about one meter of height and loves a good read!
The first years that A was on this globe I drove there at my own and was able to make my own selection. And yes, it were books that I loved because of the storyline, the content, the drawings and the lay-out! I even went through magazines and newspapers to find out what the bestsellers were for toddlers. Clavis, Davidsfonds, Lannoo, De Eenhoorn and children bookstores De Olifant and Poespas were the lucky ones to get their hands on my money.
A had no choice he had to love these books! He seemed to make no objections and 9 out 10 books he approved of. This little intelectual-to-be made these books then his personal property by adding his own artwork, scratching out words that he found useless and stamping leftovers of his lunch on the pages. The ones that made it on his bestsellers list were dragged into his bedroom.
But time flies by and now A has his own opinion about what he will wear, eat, drink, watch, visit and also read. This meant that I was not in the position to drive on my own to Antwerp. The little rascal was going to check out this bookheaven and make his own personal selection! His mother then had to make sure that he wouldn't get lost amongst all the other hundreds or rather thousands of potential bookbuyers. I can already picture myself with the red cheeks that I am going to show up with at lost and found! And then I still have to mention the typical traps for those younger clients being gadgets, snacks, games, dvd's and tons of stuff that is not a book but makes kids go wild!
Like you can read the prospect of taking A there made me getting sweaty palms. This was not going to be an easy stroll amongst publishers and taking long glances at the recent releases! No this was going to be a funride at the highest speed!
A first of all did not like the prospect of having to walk to the fair. This is not like finding a parking spot when going grocery shopping. I explained him that there were no parking spaces close by but that it was worth the distance. By the time we made it to the entrance he already mentioned the fact that his tummy was making akward noises! But huray A got in for free and I got a 2 euros discount because of my Student ID! Good start!
'Mum, where are the funrides and were are the pencils that I can make drawings with!' All I could do whas shrug my shoulders and hope that he would find out this was a nice place to hang out for a bit. It didn't take him a long or he noticed the first books. I started to pray, hoping that he was going to stay now focused. While walking amongst tons of children books I started to notice the other bookidiots, the heat and the less appealling noises of the fair. I started to sweat and had to get rid of my coat, scarf and A his bonnet and cardigan!
By then A had overtaken some people and started to yell! 'Mum, where are you? ', and he stopped in the middle of a alley filled up with kids, books, toys, puppets, games, grown ups, salespeople and last but not least prams! I hate people that bring their kid in one of these. They keep you from attacking the one book you after in order to make the buy of the year!
Thanks to my son there was a major traffic jam caused by him. Behind him was a young couple with pram. 'Please, Alexander let the lady pass!'. While I was saying this I took a closer look at the father who was lingering next to his beloved wife and baby. 'Uhm, I know this guy but where from?' 'What do you think Brian? Should we get her some or not?' 'Did she just say Brian? And she has got curly blond hair! I only know one combination of a blond girl with curls with a gigantic guy named Brian and a pram!
My son is blocking the way of Kim Clijsters&Co! A was not aware of what the sporty identity was of the people waiting behind him to move. He then noticed some games and screamed:'Look, mum that I want!' Big surprise? It was no book. A was pointing at some toy cooking utensils! By the time Kim, Brian and their sleeping beauty Jada Ellie had passed by my son was baking hambugers on the barbecue! While he was preparing his food Kim made a personal selection for her daughter Jada and then yelled at Brian for her wallet.
A seemed not to be interested in this spectacle and also not in the books. It took some time to push him on and I had to bribe him with a car stickerbook and Smurfs book before he wanted to take a more earnest look at children's litterature!
Two hours later and many more obstacles (that I am not going to mention) we ended up in the car with three plastic bags filled up with books. I am happy to announce that most of these were chosen by my son. He ended up with four books and I with two!
A is now asleep and already turned his stickerbook into a personal item with artistic touches. He was very happy whith his smurfbook and he loved the Fanta he was allowed to drink as a special treat! No mention of the two serious books we had picked out. My personal highlight of the day was the moment when we walked back to the car and A asked very seriously:'Mum, have I been a good boy?' 'Yes, you have been good boy!' A trip to remember and not just because of the books! We will be back next year and I already wonder whose way A will block then?!
The first years that A was on this globe I drove there at my own and was able to make my own selection. And yes, it were books that I loved because of the storyline, the content, the drawings and the lay-out! I even went through magazines and newspapers to find out what the bestsellers were for toddlers. Clavis, Davidsfonds, Lannoo, De Eenhoorn and children bookstores De Olifant and Poespas were the lucky ones to get their hands on my money.
A had no choice he had to love these books! He seemed to make no objections and 9 out 10 books he approved of. This little intelectual-to-be made these books then his personal property by adding his own artwork, scratching out words that he found useless and stamping leftovers of his lunch on the pages. The ones that made it on his bestsellers list were dragged into his bedroom.
But time flies by and now A has his own opinion about what he will wear, eat, drink, watch, visit and also read. This meant that I was not in the position to drive on my own to Antwerp. The little rascal was going to check out this bookheaven and make his own personal selection! His mother then had to make sure that he wouldn't get lost amongst all the other hundreds or rather thousands of potential bookbuyers. I can already picture myself with the red cheeks that I am going to show up with at lost and found! And then I still have to mention the typical traps for those younger clients being gadgets, snacks, games, dvd's and tons of stuff that is not a book but makes kids go wild!
Like you can read the prospect of taking A there made me getting sweaty palms. This was not going to be an easy stroll amongst publishers and taking long glances at the recent releases! No this was going to be a funride at the highest speed!
A first of all did not like the prospect of having to walk to the fair. This is not like finding a parking spot when going grocery shopping. I explained him that there were no parking spaces close by but that it was worth the distance. By the time we made it to the entrance he already mentioned the fact that his tummy was making akward noises! But huray A got in for free and I got a 2 euros discount because of my Student ID! Good start!
'Mum, where are the funrides and were are the pencils that I can make drawings with!' All I could do whas shrug my shoulders and hope that he would find out this was a nice place to hang out for a bit. It didn't take him a long or he noticed the first books. I started to pray, hoping that he was going to stay now focused. While walking amongst tons of children books I started to notice the other bookidiots, the heat and the less appealling noises of the fair. I started to sweat and had to get rid of my coat, scarf and A his bonnet and cardigan!
By then A had overtaken some people and started to yell! 'Mum, where are you? ', and he stopped in the middle of a alley filled up with kids, books, toys, puppets, games, grown ups, salespeople and last but not least prams! I hate people that bring their kid in one of these. They keep you from attacking the one book you after in order to make the buy of the year!
Thanks to my son there was a major traffic jam caused by him. Behind him was a young couple with pram. 'Please, Alexander let the lady pass!'. While I was saying this I took a closer look at the father who was lingering next to his beloved wife and baby. 'Uhm, I know this guy but where from?' 'What do you think Brian? Should we get her some or not?' 'Did she just say Brian? And she has got curly blond hair! I only know one combination of a blond girl with curls with a gigantic guy named Brian and a pram!
My son is blocking the way of Kim Clijsters&Co! A was not aware of what the sporty identity was of the people waiting behind him to move. He then noticed some games and screamed:'Look, mum that I want!' Big surprise? It was no book. A was pointing at some toy cooking utensils! By the time Kim, Brian and their sleeping beauty Jada Ellie had passed by my son was baking hambugers on the barbecue! While he was preparing his food Kim made a personal selection for her daughter Jada and then yelled at Brian for her wallet.
A seemed not to be interested in this spectacle and also not in the books. It took some time to push him on and I had to bribe him with a car stickerbook and Smurfs book before he wanted to take a more earnest look at children's litterature!
Two hours later and many more obstacles (that I am not going to mention) we ended up in the car with three plastic bags filled up with books. I am happy to announce that most of these were chosen by my son. He ended up with four books and I with two!
A is now asleep and already turned his stickerbook into a personal item with artistic touches. He was very happy whith his smurfbook and he loved the Fanta he was allowed to drink as a special treat! No mention of the two serious books we had picked out. My personal highlight of the day was the moment when we walked back to the car and A asked very seriously:'Mum, have I been a good boy?' 'Yes, you have been good boy!' A trip to remember and not just because of the books! We will be back next year and I already wonder whose way A will block then?!
woensdag 5 november 2008
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