Revisiting travels - Advocaatje

The day after we cycled to Damme and back from Brugge, we went for a wander to find a couple of places, but in our usual way, we ended up somewhere other than where we were aiming for and found ourselves back at the ring road and the line of 4 old windmills up against the canal.  It was high time to eat lunch, so we found a little bakery and selected some bits and pieces and went and sat on the hill beside one of the windmills.  The following is something I've never come across before, and unless I can convince Simon's baker cousin to start making them, I doubt I'll see them ever again.

Called Advocaatje, this was a truely delectable piece of baking goodness (and I don't mean that in the healthy sense of the word!).  Wrapped in an almond icing, and topped with a shallow pool of some sort of advocaat based liquid, surrounded by whipped cream.  The whole thing was fairly well refrigerated, which was very nice, making the sponge (details to come) not too spongy and the cream not too soft or messy.

Turn it around and you can see, along with my teeth marks, the full strata of this little beauty....

So the base is a meringue, topped with (I think) whipped cream, then a layer of sponge cake and finally that generous dose of advocaat flavoured liquid - I can't honestly call it an icing, it was too runny for that, and had to be eaten carefully to prevent it running out and down the sides!  The combination of flavours - the sweet of the meringue, the fattiness of the cream, the alcoholic sharpness of the topping were all beautifully balanced, especially once wrapped in the almond icing.  Amazing.  Not even vaguely healthful, but what an experience!

A few quiet beers with Tom, Nick and Jane in Brugge with a bite to eat at The Habit

It was good to catch up with friends Tom and Nick yesterday in Brugge. At the conclusion of the Procession of the Holy Blood we headed off in search of chocolate (which isn’t exactly hard in Brugge). We decided to head to The Chocolate Line (where Jane & I had purchased some excellent chocolates previously) although we managed to walk past it and a further 500 meters down the round. Oh well, no worries there were many other chocolate shops around.

After eating a couple of superb chocolates we decided a beer was needed so headed to the De Halve Maan brewery where I enjoyed a Straffe Hendrick Tripel (one of the best beers I’ve had whilst away) and the others had Bruges Zot Dubbel.

After the brewery we headed to Brugs Bertje where they have more they 300 hundred Belgian beers. This little bar had an excellent vibe and was packed; we were very lucky to get a table.

We then decided we were in need of food, so headed next door to The Habit where it was a lot quieter.

Flemish Beef Stew and fries accompanied by a Belgian beer is a superb mix. The meal was simple but very flavoursome and the meat nice and tender.

Jane had the Waterzooi that she found was okay, but after tasting the beef stew wished she had order that instead.

Procession of the Holy Blood, Brugge

Each year on Ascension Day in Brugge (which was yesterday) there is the “Procession of the Holy Blood” which is a huge parade that dates back to the Middle Ages. The event is even protected by the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The parade that tells biblical and historical stories and runs over several hours with thousands of participants. About every 30 meters the procession went, the stories were retold and a play enacted. It was superbly done.

Camera in hand we sat on the ground whilst almost everybody else was very civilised on lovely dining chairs and took lots of shots. Yep, we got a few strange looks.

As each part of the story was told, a number was held up for people to follow if they had a programme.

There were even sheep and camels as part of the procession!

The holy blood was also part of the parade.

 

The procession was very well done and thoroughly recommended.

Huis Koning, Brugge is a superb B&B / Boutique hotel in all ways possible

Huis Koning is a superb B&B in Brugge and Lynn goes the extra mile to make your stay magnificent. We have just finished staying for 4 nights and would not hesitate to return. This is without a doubt the best B&B / Boutique hotel we have ever stayed in.

Sitting beside the canal having breakfast consisting of freshly squeezed orange juice, a variety of salamis and cheeses, home-baked bread, croissants, jams, eggs, yoghurt and muesli was a magnificent way to start the day. After wandering around Brugge it was lovely to return to a home-cooked treat each afternoon and lots of candles lit throughout the home. Free Wifi was also very useful for looking up where to dine of an evening.

We stayed in the Augustijn room, which was beautifully furnished with an excellent attention to detail. The bathroom was very spacious and the L'Occitane products a lovely touch.

Huis Koning is located about 7 minutes walk to the Markt, which was a nice distance to still be close to the centre but away from the hustle and bustle. There were also bikes available for our use.

The brilliant hospitality combined with everything else being magnificent contributed to a very positive and memorable stay.

PS: For photos check out our previous blog post.

Salvador Dali followed by the De Halve Maan brewery

Jane introduced me to Salvador Dali’s art today and said to me as we walked around the extensive exhibition in Brugge that I look confused. Me confused? Dali was obviously the confused one! Surprisingly we were told as we went in that we were allowed to take photos.

Here are a few photos of some of my favourite exhibits.

After Salvador Dali, we went off in search or lunch and walked a long way before eventually ending up for lunch at Caffé Da Noi where I had a waffle and beer and Jane had a meatball salad that was okay but kind of weird.

The De Halve Maan brewery is the only brewery within 30km of Brugge and has been in operation since 1856.There is a EUR 6 fee for a brewery tour, but this money is well spent, particularly when you get a free normal sized glass of beer at the end of the tour.

Andrew was the tour guide I had for the brewery tour and he was larger than life and gave a superb explanation of how the brewery operates and its history with lots of humour along the way.

The brewery tour does involve a lot of narrow steps up to the roof of the building where there are magnificent views.

The walk back down through the building however is so steep at times that people are encouraged to go down the steps backwards.

At the end of tour we got a complementary beer that went down well. I do like how beers in Belgium have their own glass.

Brugge Market

Each Wednesday there is a market in the centre of Brugge. The market sells fruit and veges,

flowers,

saucisson,

and through an archway (actually this photo is looking back once through the archway)

and over a bridge and canal

we came across fish

and shellfish.

Restaurant Review: El Greco, Brugge

Located slightly north west of the Markt on Sint-Jakobsstraat, we ate Greek for dinner last night at El Greco. There was a nice atmosphere in the restaurant with the buzz of many full tables, greek music playing in the background and a well decorated Greek themed interior.

We started off with a large and excellent taramasalata with bread.

I had the lamb souvlaki for my main and found that the lamb was very tough and whilst there was a lovely char-grilled flavour to the lamb the other flavours I am used to with souvlaki, in terms of lemon, garlic and thyme and/or oregano were lacking. My expectation is that this souvlaki was not marinated overnight.

Jane had the Pastitsio (macaroni, mashed meat and bechamelsauce in the oven) that she found was okay but nothing special.

We won’t be rushing back.

Bistro Den Huzaar, Brugge

Through the use of Google Places and Tripadvisor we narrowed down our dinner choices this evening and went to Bistro Den Huzaar at Vlamingstraat 36 this evening. After walking about twice as far as we needed to due to deciding we didn’t need to use the map we arrived at this bistro that was very busy and we were lucky to get a table.

As it turns out we were lucky enough to be sitting next to a gentleman that frequents the restaurant often and knew the family well that owned and ran the restaurant and talked with us for the entire evening about Brugge, politics, neighbouring countries, New Zealand, the family associated with the restaurant and lots of other topics. It made for an excellent atmosphere and memorable experience.

We both went with the €32 set menu of three courses and got 50cl of the house white wine to share (which as it turned out was very enjoyable). I started with a crab dish that was excellent and Jane had a Bouillabaisse that she thoroughly enjoyed (although the mussels were a lot smaller than back home in New Zealand).

For our mains we had pork cheeks cooked in beer and cherry that were very tender and flavoursome and a generous portion of sole filled with shellfish accompanied by a rich sauce. Both dishes were superb meals of honest food.

For dessert I had the brugge swan which was pear and icecream with meringue and a chocolate sauce and made to look like a swan and Jane had the most delicious passionfruit sorbet that was accompanied by half a passionfruit and what we think was passionfruit schnapps.

After all three courses I was very full; in fact I was full after the second course.

The gentleman beside us insisted on buying us each a coffee, introduced us to various family members and as we left the restaurant it was as if we were all old friends and we had a chorus of farewells.

We would definitely be happy to return.

Cycling from Brugge to Damme

Having successfully cycled in Amsterdam we decided to give it a go in Brugge too and cycled out to the countryside along the side of a canal.

It was a lovely cycle on a hot day and just before Damme we came across this windmill that is apparently still operational. In the weekends you can go inside, but unfortunately it was closed today.

Damme is a small town.

On the far side of town is this lovely church

and we rested beside the canal with a lovely outlook.