Belgium-The Home of Chocolate!

Okay so first of all, Hello I am fat! And its all Belgium's fault! Ha! Seen as I took a trip to the home of chocolate, mussels, waffles, chips and of course beer! I thought I would make a little post about some of the great chocolatier's and other traditional Belgian food that I encountered on a trip to Brussels and Bruges.

Food Market-Including Donkey sausage, Deer pate  and  lots of cheese

Marzipan Easter Sweets 

Food Market-Markt, Wednesdays.

Belgian Chocolate Sea Shells 

Waffles and of course, Nutella 

The Belfry, A must see. 

How true...

Bruges Zot Beer

Owl Chocolates

Mussels-T'oud Kanthuys Restaurant 

Begijnof 

This trip was a Christmas present to my boyfriend and also we love travelling and were over due a holiday. If you are thinking of taking a weekend break, Bruges was a fantastic place to visit, plenty to see and do and very romantic. Also the Eurostar is so quick and cheap that it makes a holiday very doable. If you do go make sure you don't miss the fantastic food market in the Markt on Wednesday and go for a tour of De Halve Maan Brewery  (the only one still producing beer in Bruges) you get beer at the end! Also a good tip is too make sure you visit some of the chocolatiers that make the chocolate in shop, as there are 50 chocolate shops but only a few make the chocolate in store.

Whilst I was away I made a little purchase from a Chocolate tea-room we visited called The Old Chocolate House that boasts the best Hot Chocolate in Bruges... it really was amazing and massive! Made with real chocolate and in a huge mug/bowl that you assemble your self complete with afternoon tea-esque cakes and chocolates to go with it. In the Chocolatier shop in the tea-rooms you could buy your own mug and chocolate to make your own Belgian Hot Chocolate at home! So I thought I would make mine with an extra twist! I mixed my Belgian Chocolate with warmed milk and added a drop of peppermint extract that I drank in my huge bowl-mug!!

If you did want to make your own hot chocolate at home then try this great Laduree recipe in the absence of a Belgian at home kit, which I found on the fantastic The Extraordinary Art of Cake blog. Hope this will warm you up a bit in this cold weather!