In Bruges

Celebrating Belgium with Beer, Food, and Film

The 2008 movie In Bruges was written and directed by the gory and hilarious Irish playright Martin McDonagh.  I was first exposed to the work of McDonagh when I went to see one of his plays, The Lieutenant of Inishmore performed by a small theatre company in Ottawa called Gladstone Productions.  The play, which is about the leader of the Irish National Liberation Army getting revenge for the murder of his pet cat, was the most violent play I had ever seen performed.  By the end of it, the entire stage was covered in buckets of fake blood (not too nice smelling, I think it was tomato juice.)  But it wasn’t  just grisly, it was extremely funny and very political.  After seeing the play I determined to see the movie In Bruges, which I had avoided because of a dislike of Colin Farrel.

If you don’t like Colin Farrel this movie will make you love him.  He is wonderful in it, as are his co-stars Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Finnes.  It is the story of two hitmen sent on a vacation to the Belgian city of Bruges after an incident involving Farrel accidentally murdering a young boy while on a job.  Though this plot is admittedly disturbing, I laughed through the entire thing (minus the part when the little boy getting shot in the head of course.)  McDonagh’s brilliant screenwriting  and the wonderful cast aside, the cinematography of the beautiful city of Bruges is incredible.  As is the copious amount of Belgian beer shown in this film.  It made me very thirsty.

Belgian beer is what this party is all about.  In my opinion, it is the best beer in the world because of its very unique flavours dating back to the Middle Ages.  And the kinds, there are so many…

• Witbier – This is White Beer which is infused with the flavours of coriander and citrus.  The most famous one is Hoegaarden.
• Ales – Leffe Blonde is my favourite beer of all time and the most popular of the Belgian Ales.
• Pilsner or Lager – The most famous is Stella Artois.  Though I’m not a fan of the beer, I love their commercials.
• Abbey or Trappist Beers – Trappist beers are the brewed-by-monks real deal and cost a pretty penny but are totally worth it.  Abbey beers are similar but are not necessarily brewed by monks.  Often a corporation has bought out the production of a monastery beer (like Leffe) or made a beer comparable in taste to a trappist beer, thereby calling it an Abbey beer.
• Lambic Beers – Lambic beers are fizzy like Champagne and often flavoured with fruit.  They are amazing.

Okay, so this is the tip of the iceberg but it would take me all day to write about Belgian beer.  If you want to learn more, read a good beer book or check out the Belgian Beer Board.  What you need to do is get to a good beer or liquor store and purchase a wide variety of Belgian beers for this party and get your friends to do the same.  As each bottle gets opened, divide it into little 1 or 2 ounce shot glasses so that everybody can taste each beer.  Make notes. Read the label.  Keep the labels.  Find out why I am not the only one who thinks Belgian beer is the best in the world.

Now you know what else Belgium is known for of course…waffles.  The beautiful thing about waffles is that you can put whatever the fuck you want on them – ice cream (vegan of course,) fruit, whipped cream (again, the vegan kind,) syrup, etc…  You can make a literal smorgasbord of toppings and serve it all like a salad bar.  There is a wonderful vegan website called WaffleParty.com which is all about throwing vegan waffle parties.  They have a great basic vegan Belgian waffle recipe on there that you need to try at this party.

So taste the beers, eat the waffles, watch In Bruges, and enjoy some wonderful vegan food inspired by Belgian cuisine.

Menu

Drink

Belgian Beers

Appetizer

Salade Liegeoise

This is basically a bacony potato salad without mayo.

• Scrub new potatoes and boil until tender.
• In the last 2 minutes of boiling the potatoes, toss in trimmed green beans.
• Fry 2 sliced onions and 1 package of chopped vegetarian bacon in 2 Tbs of vegan butter until browned.
• Add your boiled potatoes and green beans to the pan and toss the whole thing together.
• Season with salt, pepper, and a drizzle of red wine vinegar.

Main Course

Frites en Mayo

Belgians invented French Fries.  This is a lower fat version than the original.

• Preheat oven to 400.
• Scrub and dry potatoes, cut into wedges.
• Toss in a few Tbs of vegetable or olive oil.
• Bake until nice and browned and crispy, turning once in a while.
• Remove from oven and while still hot, sprinkle with coarse salt.
• Place them in a dish that has a paper towel at the bottom to absorb the oil.
• Serve with Belgian-style vegan mayonaise.

Belgian-Style Mayo

• Combine 1/2 cup of Veganaise with 2 Tbs of olive oil and 2 Tbs of dijon mustard.
• Use to dip your frites.
• This is also great on everything in the world.

Vlaamse Stoofkarbonaden aka Belgian Beef Stew

Bizarro Flemish name, super simple beer stew.

• On medium heat fry 3 large sweet onions in 2 Tbs of vegan butter until they are caramelized (i.e. very brown and sticky looking.)
• Toss in 3 packages of chopped vegetarian beef and fry until browned.
• Sprinkle the whole thing with 1 Tbs of brown sugar and 1 tsp of fresh or dry thyme and continue to fry for another few minutes.
• Now cover the veggies and beef with lots of Leffe Brune beer and season with some salt and pepper.  If you can’t find Leffe Brune, use another brown or dark beer.
• Now here’s the weird part; Take a slice of dark brown bread (like pumpernickel or rye,) spread it with 1 Tbs of dijon mustard, and plop it face down on your stew.  Let your stew simmer until the bread has dissolved and your sauce is nice and thick.

Dessert

Naked Vegan Waffles from WaffleParty.com

Be sure to include a complete toppings smorgasborg.  Some great toppings include;

• vegan ice cream
• vegan whipped cream
• vegan chocolate syrup
• maple syrup
• fruit syrup
• jams
• cherries
• berries
• peaches
• bananas
• cooked apples
• shaved dark chocolate

Tags: fried, roasted, salads, stews