Over the past few years of my volunteering in Motorsport, Belgium has become one of my favorite countries in the world to visit, certainly it is my favorite country in Europe. And every time I visit Belgium I end up going on a foodie tour sampling some tasty dishes and flushing them down with my favorite style of beer: Kriek.
On this trip it seems I’ve gone on an exclusive “fritten” diet. I think I had fries almost every day!
The first meal I had after arriving in Stavelot, near the track was a carnet of frites with some curry ketchup. Followed by a box of frites with mayo from the same place for dinner a few hours later.
A few days later, we went out to eat in Malmedy Friday night. Malmedy is one of the neighboring towns near Spa, Francorchamps, Stavelot and Coo. The mussels were an excellent appetizer.
I was even taught the proper technique to eat them:
But for the main meal I had a delicious plate of beef full of flavor as it was cooked in local beer specific to that town.
And it amazes me that even for such a fancy meal the side dish was a bowl of Belgian fries.
And to help with digestion most of my meals were washed down with a cold kriek – cherry beer. My favorite!
At the track Pol was on chef duties whipping up some tasty meat dishes several times a day for a few days of our volunteering for Spa 24h race. Here the sauce made all the difference, and I made sure to buy a bottle of Hot Curry sauce to go with the tasty meat fresh off the grill.
It wasn’t long until I discovered a Frituur / Friterie near the main gate closest to our campsite and post on track. So I made the ten minute hike to sample their fries, and they were delicious!
Belgians take their fry making very seriously. And whenever I offered some fries to fellow marshals nobody turned my offers down which shows how much they appreciate their national dish.
Even after we’ve left the track and just before I flew back home, Pol and I stopped at a Frituur / Friterie to have some Frit mit Souflees, a delicious beef stew served with fries and mayo. Man was that stuff good!
I can’t wait to go back to Belgium for the fries alone. (and the Kriek)