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MIMI'S FOOD LINKS
by Denis Blais and André Plisnier
Phoenix Illustrated/The Orion Publishing Group/Orion House/ 5 Upper
St
Martin's Lane/ London WC2H 9EA ISBN 0753804905
Copyright 1998
Reviewed by Brian Mailman
Hmm. I can count on my thumbs (allllll of them!) the times I've been tempted to try a restaurant after reading its cookbook. Especially true for like Belgo, which is described as "mechanomorphic" with metal-and concrete walls and "a dyed-concrete base bar complete with an amoeba-shaped wooden top." I thought it was going to be an extremely tedious chore to read this book, with little or no information about the food ethnography of the Belgian people. Just fancy "restaurant" food.
I was pleasantly and extremely surprised by what I found and the next time I'm in London, I'll make it a point to stop there. "Belgo" and "Burp" both begin with the letter B. I haven't had such a fun read in ages. Took me ages as well, because the typeface is somewhat difficult to read. It's eccentric, like the rest of the book, and somewhat difficult to follow which column went where on which page. There is, fortunately enough, only one mention of Hercule Poirot.
Founded by Denis Blais and André Plisnier in 1992, blasé Londoners had not seen such a thing...a restaurant that actually served Belgian food and was successful at it. Belgo Covent Garden is actually two restaurants with two distinct kitchens separated by a walkway. One can grab a snack of mussels and fries ("frites") in a casual, on-the-go atmosphere or a more formal dinner of mussels and frites served in a more intimate environment. Both accompanied by a selection of high quality and unusual beers. And unlike the ketchup-doused fries we have here in the States, it seems the Belgos like to dip their frites into a mayonnaise. Unfortunately, that's one of the lacks of this book. It's taken for granted that this spicy, tangy preparation is so common, there is no recipe for it since everyone knows how to make it!
Make no mistake. This is a pretty quirky book and one needs a discerning eye to determine when the authors are pulling a fast one or not. I still have not figured out if the story that frites were invented by poor peasants in the winter is true, false but believable, or just sheer tomfoolery. Blais and Plisnier tomfool quite a bit. It seems according to this story, that when the cold came and the people could no longer fish because the river froze over, they cut potatoes into fish-shapes and fried those. B&P claim the French grabbed the potato from this and made it theirs.
But. The authors make no mistake in not leading the reader astray when it comes to their mussels, their fries, and their beers. Beer is to Belgium as wine is to the French. Originally brewed in Trappist monasteries, there are dozens of beers made in the country. Aperitif? Try Scotch Silly--an 8% Scotch-flavored ale. Or a McGregor. With your dinner, try a Pauwel Kwak, another 8% beer with a light liquorice flavor. Be thirsty, it's served in a "yard of ale" glass! For dessert, Chimay Grande Reserve, an ideal accompaniment to Stilton cheese. Or for a sweet finish, a Belle-vue Frambozen or Belle-vue Kriek--raspberry and cherry, respectively. These last two are "lambics"--a very old process; sort of a sourdough beer. No yeast is added at any time during the process, just whatever wild yeasts are captured.
The book is organized into six chapters: Mussels (where they're grown, the differences between varieous species, instructions on how to eat them), Fries (the chapter is devoted to the making of the perfect French (a-hem) fry and scoring different countries' techniques), Biéres, Traditional Belgian Dishes, and the specialties of the house. What is Belgian cookery? Well, to begin the authors define it as "French technique with German portions." It seems that what is now considered London chic is actually a centuries-old cuisine. In the Middle Ages, Belgium and its neighbor Holland (there are a couple of cute "ethnic" jokes about the Dutch) were known as the vegetable-and-fruit market of Europe. Does it seem to matter whether lunch, brunch, dinner or snack to these folkz? Not one whit. Not even two whits. There are also several small sections (including a handy-dandy conversion chart for metric <-> imperial measures) with essays on chocolate, the gin-like genever, history of Belgium, and a day in Brussels.
With the surrounding sea and rich farmland, Belgium seems to be awash in ingredients of both water and earth. Leeks, asparagus, potatoes, beets, fennel, endive, herbs of various sorts, salmon, shrimps, and of course MUSSELS!! Yet, the recipes in Belgo are easy to follow and unlike other "restaurant foods" can be done easily at home. Moules Marinière, Moules Espagnole (Mussels with olive oil and garlic), Carbonnade Flamande (Flemish Beef Stew), and Witloof au Gratin (Braised chicory with ham and cheese sauce) are among those that are very, very accessible to the home cook. Every recipe comes with a mouth-watering picture, and there are plenty of photographic side digressions of the authors asserting their right as the authors to clown around. I know the feeling well.
There is a caveat to the recipes. While presented well, and
the preparations are simple and easy to follow, they don't seem to consider
water as an ingredient. So you'll come-a-cropper of "add the water"
and wonder "WHAT water?" As I wrote before, the typeface is difficult
to read (but wouldn't have been so difficult if somewhat larger) and I
really wish there'd been a recipe for the mayonnaise. I like mayonnaise.
These are not nits to pick which interefered too very much with my enjoyment
of this book. So, as the before-food toast is shouted: "ALLEZ PEI ET MEI
(Boys and Girls, Let's GO!!)"
