Mussels in Brussels

BRUSSELS BELGIUM

Brussels is an hour’s drive from the Belgian coast but, as a great medieval trading city, it has a historic connection with the sea. It’s no surprise, therefore, that the classic Belgian dish of mussels and fries is the mainstay of many of the capital’s restaurants. It’s a simple, hearty, and nutritious dish that depends crucially on fresh, quality ingredients being cooked to perfection.

In 1561, an ambitious new waterway – the Willebroek Canal – was completed, leading to the heart of Brussels and giving the city a direct link to the sea. The canal terminated at Place Sainte-Catherine, a stone’s throw from the city’s splendid centerpiece, the Grand Place. In the late 19th century, when the canal’s course was diverted and the basins at the city’s center filled in, the area became the site of a huge fish market, the Marché aux Poissons. The fish market has since disappeared, but the connection with the sea remains in the wonderful fish restaurants of Place Sainte-Catherine. Belgium has acquired a dizzying reputation for good food in recent decades, and its capital is also the effective capital of the European Union, attracting a cosmopolitan crowd that demands high standards. In the Belgians themselves, a culture of good food is instilled from an early age: they like to eat well, but have little tolerance of pretension. Moules-Frites (mussels and fries) falls into this tradition. The high-end restaurants here are too grand to serve such a simple dish, and you’re more likely to find it in bistros and family restaurants, but moules-frites is not to be sniffed at. It’s a simple enough dish: the mussels are usually cooked marinière (steamed with chopped shallots, celery, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, and a glass of white wine), then served in large casseroles accompanied by copious Frites (fries). But its creation en masse in lively restaurants creates glorious scenes reminiscent of the festive village celebrations painted by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, a resident of Brussels in the mid-16th century. There is plenty for the visitor to see and admire in Brussels, including a fine cathedral and excellent art museums. But the real joy of visiting the city lies in glimpsing something of its individual character, which nurtured the Surrealist vision of René Magritte, and gave birth to Art Nouveau architecture and Tintin, the famous cartoon reporter. In the same spirit, the Belgian artist Marcel Broodthaers produced his most famous sculptural work in 1964–6 in several versions. His Grande Casserole de Moules is just what it says – real mussel shells filling a blackened casserole.