Typical Belgium (I love Fries)

Photograph @ Marc Boseret

Belgium is best known for its chocolate, waffles, fries and beer and 

Moules-frites or Moules et frites is a popular main dish of mussels and fries 

considered as the national dish of Belgium

Hmm.. I personally love fries 

Just imagine a night out in the cold and then feel the warmth in your hands from the hot bag of fries you’ve just bought.

Ok ok ... back to reality, I have looked around for the secret recipe (it available online though)

Step by step 

1. Peel the potatoes and cut it into strips around 10mm thick. 

2. Rinse these raw fries in cold water to remove the excess starch and dry them thoroughly.

3. Pre-frying stage: gently lower the fries into the fat, heated to 150°C, and leave them to swim for 4-5 minutes. During this stage the raw potato will be cooked without turning brown. 

4. Once the fries have started ‘singing’ – they will bubble to the surface – gently lift and shake them

5. Pre-fried fries now be spread out and cooled down for at least half-a-hour

6. Heat the fat to 180°C. Gently lower the pre-cooked fries into the fat for a few minutes. They will start to sing after two or three minutes, then remove them and shake off the fat. 

Note: Precooking takes some of the moisture out of the potato. If the oil is too hot, the potato sticks will burn and the moisture has no means of escape, producing soggy fries. 

2nd Fried makes them deliciously crispy.

Flower Carpet

Officially, the first Floral Carpet as its present-day form was created in 1971 on the Grand-Place by the landscape architect E. Stautemans, but, in fact, it was the culmination of a whole series created in various towns in Flanders.

The relic of the Holy Blood

The Basilica of the Holy Blood (Basiliek van het Heilig Bloed) in Bruges houses a venerated relic of Christ: his very blood, collected by Joseph of Arimathea.

Myth and Mystery
Legend has it that after the Crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea wiped blood from the body of Christ and preserved the cloth. The relic remained in the Holy Land until the Second Crusade, when the King of Jerusalem Baldwin III gave it to his brother-in-law, Count of Flanders Diederik van de Elzas. The count arrived with it in Bruges on April 7, 1150 and placed it in a chapel he had built on Burg Square.

Names: Basilica of the Holy Blood; Basiliek van het Heilig Bloed
Type of site: Catholic shrine
Date: 12th century
Address: Burg 10, Bruges, Belgium
Phone:
050/33-67-92
Hours: Apr-Sept daily 9:30am-noon and 2-6pm; Oct-Mar daily 10am-noon and 2-4pm (closed Wed afternoon)
Cost: Basilica free; museum 1€ adults, .50€ children

Reus from Dendermonde

In De Wael from Dendermonde send me this postcard (via post-crossing)

The 3 different costume of the people named
1. Reus Indiaan
2. Reus Mars
3. Reus Goliath


* Dendermonde (French: Termonde) is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of East Flanders.

(Edited)
Preserve the Polar Regions and Glaciers!

In 2009, Finland, Chile and about 40 other countries will issue stamps on climate change. The common theme is Preserve the Polar Regions and Glaciers. The international stamp campaign is being coordinated by Itella’s Philatelic Centre in Finland.
Each participant country will issue its stamps on its own schedule in the period January-March 2009. Each country will also decide independently on the illustration theme for its issue.

Tags: Reus Indiaan | Reus Mars | Reus Goliath | Dendermonde | Belgium | Preserve the Polar Regions and Glaciers 2009