My Life, My Food, My Places

Writing about my memories on the horrible school canteen of my youth I remembered ‘Jacques Soup’. He was a soup merchant selling fresh soup out of his car from door-to door in the small town I lived. And he delivered also the soup at the school refectory. And I remembered that his car had a huge bronze bell to let the house wives know that he was on his way and that they had to prepare their pots and be standby at their door! He was always dressed in a spic and span white coat complete with shirt and tie. But that was almost all I got out of my deep memory as help was just around the corner.  I emailed the ‘Aarschot Historical Society’, whom has as objective to keep the history of our small town alive for the generations to come and the next morning I had a reaction and a few hours later a second one, with picture this time. The next morning a new update. One of the board members of the society had contacted, the daughter of ‘Jacques Soup’ as everybody called him wit...

My mom always told me that it was exceptionally cold for the time of the year that day in March when I was born 61 years ago. I was the first born in the family and the first grandchild. Both my parents were teachers, my mom teaching French language and my dad applied economics. Both in the same school were I would spend 14 years of my young life, from kindergarten over elementary till my high school graduation when I was 18. Detail, I got French class from my mom during 3 years and two years my dad was my economics and finance teacher. You can imagine how adventurous my high school days were (except for meeting my girlfriend when we were 16 and got married 7 years later). My grandmother, (the mother of my dad) was a World War 2 widow and lived with us taking care of the house and, most important, of the kitchen till the day she, suddenly, passed away in March 1969 only 61 years old. My grandma had a huge impact on the developing of my taste and on how to experience food. ...