Thursday, September 1, 2011

Brussels: Waffles!

Waffles!  As one quickly learns, there are two types of waffles ("gaufres" in French) sold in Brussels: the Liège waffle and the Brussels waffle.  The Liège waffle is more popular among locals, where it is enjoyed sans adornment other than a light dusting of powdered sugar.  This waffle has rounder/uneven edges, but most importantly is denser and has this incredibly caramelized exterior.  The Brussels waffle is more in keeping with the non-Eggo waffles that we get in the U.S. - square, thicker, and fairly fluffly.  Needless to say, the Liège waffle is so deliciously appealing that in the FIVE times (count 'em...2.5 waffles/day is really not terrible, right?...especially compared to our averages for frites and beer) that we ate waffles, we never even bothered to try the Brussels style.  And of course, we didn't bother with the extra toppings because the Liège waffle has enough caramelization and little bits of chewy melted sugar that it really doesn't need anything else.  We tried waffles at the following places (in order of best waffle):

1) Dandoy (we went here twice, the waffles were that good!):  there are several branches of this store throughout Brussels.  They are known for their Belgian biscuits (cookies) but as we learned, they make amazing waffles.  The waffles were dense but yeasty, with the perfect amount of little melted bits of sugar to sweeten the dough, and a beautiful, dark amber exterior.  Warning: they do make the Liège waffles earlier in the day and re-warm them in waffle irons to order, but despite this, they were really excellent!


2) A little "Gaufres" van at Place du Grand Sablon - our second favorite, perhaps partially because I was on the verge of a tired, "my feet hurt", dehydrated (shout out to Cantillon Brewery for letting me try their deliciousness in the early afternoon!), hypoglycemic episode and both the aroma and the waffle itself had serious restorative powers.





3) Waffle World - this was a little stand near our hotel where, despite the name, we hungrily sought out a cheap and quick breakfast option before immersing ourselves in the work of René Magritte.  Surprisingly, it was pretty delicious - simple formula: dough+sugar+warm= yum.

4) La Funambule - this stand was also very near our hotel and the waffle was enjoyable.  But really the photo op is the true winner here:




1 comment:

  1. Just wanted to let you know that we took a waffle maker to India and we plan to try that out tomorrow from scratch. Will see how they turn out. I am sure not as delicious as the one you had!

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