My Life, My Food, My Places

No, I don’t miss living in Belgium. The Philippines are ‘at home’ for me since more than 6 years already. But, sometimes, I miss some foods, dishes whom only are as they have to be in Belgium. What dishes am I talking about? To start with, I noticed that I had no less than three dishes based on witloof (chicory or Belgian endives), that fantastic and versatile vegetable. Before really the pride of Belgium nowadays imitated by the Dutch and the French in hydro culture, less labor-intensive, cheaper but surely not the same thing! My absolute favorite dish with chicory is Witloofrolletjes uit de oven , the gratin of chicory with good Belgian cooked ham (not that plastic stuff of the supermarket) with a rich béchamel sauce topped with Gruyere cheese and cooked in the oven till the cheese is melted and golden brown. A few years ago this dish was elected by the Flemish part of Belgium as the ultimate comfort f...

Every country has their famous ‘national’ sandwich. The Americans have their burgers and hotdogs, the French are very proud on their Croque Monsieur, a baked sandwich with cheese and ham, and their fresh baguettes with ham, the famous 'jambon beurre' , the Italians like their Panini as the Vietnamese have their favorite Banh Mi sandwich. And the Belgians have their Martino sandwich. "Invented" in 1951 by a former soccer player, Albert De Hert, who was running the small sandwich bar named  Quick at the famous De Coninckplein in Antwerp.  The story goes that one evening another soccer player nicknamed ‘Martino’, came in after drinking obviously a few beers too much and asked for a sandwich with ‘everything’ and it had to be spicy. In the kitchen Albert got a half baguette, spread it with ‘filet americain’ (minced raw beef mixed with mayonnaise, mustard, some capers, pepper and salt) and topped it with minced onion, chopped pickles, tabasco sauce, some ket...