From Our Man in Antwerp

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

About Blood Sausage

Blood sausage is of no great consequence in much of Europe

Oh yes, I'm very familiar with it. Any butcher or meat stand has dark "beuling or bloedpens" and its big brother, the large "bloedworst", as well as the white variety from Liège.

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You will rarely find it on the menu in a Belgian restaurant, because it appears so often in home cooking, especially in winter, as "Blood Sausage with Red Cabbage and Boiled Potatoes". It's a very easy and tasty recipe, so easy that home cooks hate to spend money on it in restaurants. It's also very nutritious, just think of all that lovely iron in it. If I were a picky cannibal, I'd go for the liver, the brain and the blood.

The red cabbage is sliced and mixed with a diced apple, seasoned to taste and simmered until soft. The potatoes are just plainly boiled.
The corpse sausage needs a bit more care though. After taking it well cooled from the fridge, carefully skin it without hurting the sausage proper. Gently slide a dull round-ended table knife between the casing and the filling, from one end to the other. Then rub the edge of a fork or spoon along the knife's edge and peel of the casing.

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On low heat, panfry it until both sides have a crispy crust (tap it with a spoon, you'll hear the difference).

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Serve it all hot.

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If you like it spicy you can make a partial cut lengthwise and fill the cut with strong mustard. The world's best is Tierenteyn (from Gent, Belgium), but Grey Poupon or Maille will do fine too. Or use (a tiny amount of) Wasabi.

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Enjoy.

[voralfred]

The white variety is not made with blood. We have in in France, too ('boudin blanc"). But I wonder if the difference between your "beuling or bloedpens" and your "bloedworst" is just of diameter, or also of composition. In France any blood sausage is called "boudin noir". Not being an expert, I don't know if they all come in the same diameter or if there are various diameters, but even if the second case holds, there is only one name anyway.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

The large diameter blood sausage (+/- 9 cm, no larger because the butcher's wife needs to be able to grab any sausage ) is sold in slices of +/- 1 cm thickness, also to be panfried. It is interlarded with dice of white fat (porc's, I think). That could be an Antwerpian variation.
The thinner "boudin noir", that I've eaten, never had dice of fat in them (I don't know where that particular photo was taken).
I think the fat dice are the only difference between thick and thin sausages.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

About worm parasites

All my life I've often eaten raw minced beef and sometimes, while my mom wasn't looking, I pilfered some spiced minced pork before she made soup marbles of it.

When I was a student (in the late sixties) I've had a confirmed intestinal worm, a (stepped-onus wormus). The pharmacist gave my a single extremely large pill to swallow and told me to not exert myself and to stay within a thirty seconds distance of a toilet for up to twelve hours. So that day for me no pub-crawling, no rock 'n' roll and certainly no girlfriend(s) around. Oh well, that wasn't too hard. And I did lose the worm, no problem.

Years later (about 1979), my wife had herself surgically sterilised. While the surgeon was at it, he also removed her appendix, which on closer examination proved to be infected with a round type of worm. Of course she had medication to eradicate any critters left over in her gut.
The doc told her that she got the infection most probably from eating very rare or raw beef, lamb or pork.
Now there was a high probability that I, her husband, had the same worm infection. So I had to take the same anti-parasitic medication (no side-effects that I noticed), just in case.

All this gave me no sufficient reason to stop eating raw meat. But now, thirty years later and considering the high frequency that I eat raw beef and rare lamb, I might once again ask my physician for some anti-worm medication. That will carry me for the next thirty years. Statistically, that is.

Why am I telling this? Bear with me, it will become clear in a next post.

Edit: corrected spelling of pork

[Darb]

You're not going to post about casu marzu are you ?

And no, I've never had it. Curious to try though.

[MidasKnight]

Brad and EPS ... the things you two bring up make me feel like an old-fashioned, close-minded old woman.

[gpackin]

You're not going to post about casu marzu are you ?

And no, I've never had it. Curious to try though.

Even with this fact?

The larvae have powerful mouthhooks which can lacerate stomach linings or intestinal walls as the maggots attempt to bore through internal organs.

[Darb]

My innards can digest solid neutronium ... I laugh at mere hookworms.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

The Mayo Clinic:
A laboratory may use microscopic identification techniques to check for eggs or tapeworm segments in your feces. Because the eggs and segments are passed irregularly, the lab may need to collect two to three samples over a period of time to detect the parasite. Eggs are sometimes present at the anus, so your doctor may use the "Scotch tape test," in which a piece of transparent tape is pressed to the anus to collect eggs for microscopic identification.

So after each "Brazilian Wax" session, perhaps you should have the used wax sheets examined?

[voralfred]

Could someone please move this thread in a different subforum than "The Tap Room"? I think I won't be able to eat anything at all if this goes on. Or, conversely, rename this subforum as

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The Tap Worm

[Darb]

Voralfred, you are entirely correct in needling us about having veered a bit far OT into material of borderline good (or rather, bad) taste, and that the last two posts were a bit over the line. We should straighten our ties, and re-extend our pinkies a bit.

EPS: with your permission, can I excise everything from my neutronium post onwards ?

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

EPS: with your permission, can I excise everything from my neutronium post onwards ?

Hmm, 'd rather not.
But maybe you could add to the topic title:

Not for the squeamish or faint of heart.
Read at your own risk.
The management declines all liability.

P.S. Wouldn't that be an irresistable lure?

[Darb]

I can hardly abdicate responsibility over the fora, much less my favorite subfora of choice. In any case, let's all mutually agree to henceforth limit r-rated content and r-rated anatomical references to TVR.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

... let's all mutually agree to henceforth limit r-rated content and r-rated anatomical references to TVR.

OK.
I mutely agree.

[voralfred]

Hey, guys!
I was just kidding!
I should have appended j/k at the bottom of my post!
Do keep on with the fun!

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Filet Américain Préparé

If Filet Américain Préparé were a sport, then I would probably rank in the world's top 10 list. But no, it's simply my favorite meat preparation. Eating it almost every day is not exceptional for me, say 310 out of 365 days. Many Flemish Belgians consider FAP an indispensable serving amongst a choice of cold cuts.
These are shots of my medium sized local supermarket and part of its meat section. It displays a lot more prepackaged minced lean beef than any other kind of meat. Even ready-made FAP is well represented.

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FAP is mostly home-made and eaten as (in order of frequency)

• - FAP spread on bread or in a roll (also served in sandwich bars),
  - Toast Cannibal, where the FAP is spread on a toast and garnished with whatever you or the cook fancies (also served in brasseries),
  - Steak Tartaar, where a hemisphere of FAP is served with salad and Belgian (*) fries or potato salad, or a French baguette (also served in some restaurants).

( * The nationality of fries still is a bone of contention between Belgium and the rest of Europe.)

Belgium has very stringent (EU-)regulations about meat animals. This keeps the risk of a parasitic worm infestation very low. I consider it quite safe to consume raw meat coming from officially appointed slaughterhouses and professional butchers (also see here).

Filet Américain Préparé = raw minced lean beef mixed with spices.
(I've found a set of traditional measuring scoops. Henceforth I'll use those to measure the amounts I use)

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FAP Essential Ingredients (use proportional amounts):
300 grams (0.66 lbs) of minced lean beef

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1/2 freshly ground nutmeg (this is a little secret I learned from my dad, who was a trained butcher/charcutier)

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2 egg yolks
1 tbsp vegetable oil (only if you plan to keep the FAP for 1 - 2 days)

Optional ingredients, pick any or all, or add still other spices to your taste:
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 tbsp freshly ground pepper, white or black
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp paprika powder
1/2 tsp Tabasco
1 tbsp finely chopped chives
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1/2 tbsp finely chopped basil
1 tbsp mayonnaise (which brightens the colour if desired)
1 tsp Sambal Oelek
1 tsp green pepper corns

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Without the meat, mix all ingredients well. As a final step add the meat and mix thoroughly, VERY thoroughly if you added oil.

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Then, unless you're serving it immediately, put it in a recipient with an airtight lid and keep cool. Do not mix in onion nor capers, but put that on top at serving time or serve separately.

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Separate optional garnishings:
finely chopped onion
small capers
chopped gherkin

If you plan to spread eating it over 2 - 3 days then you need extra precautions to keep the meat from turning an unappetising gray color. First, the vegetable oil is meant to lightly coat every meat morsel to minimise direct air contact. Second, keep it in the fridge AT ALL TIMES. Take only the amount you need/want and immediately put the rest back in the fridge. This is meant to keep exposure to warm air to an absolute minimum.

The leftover FAP below has kept in the fridge for three full days.

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My Steak Tartaar

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My Toast Cannibal

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A variation I encountered in a brasserie in Trier, Germany:
A toast with FAP, some finely chopped onion, some small capers, grated Parmigiano, all sprinkled with a little olive oil and lemon juice. Delicious.

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[Darb]

Excellent article, EPS.

I adore tartare. Havent used nutmet with tartare before. I look forward to giving your version a whirl sometime next week ... either with beef, or lamb, depending on the quality available at the time. I am very much a shop on the fly and buy whatever is good/seasonable or on sale kinda guy.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Chinatown in Antwerpen

Though Antwerpen's Chinatown is still modest, it's a strong and growing community, smack in the centre of the city. It's hope for a Chinatown Gate had been postponed, but early this year Antwerpen's city council has finally approved the project. The new gate will, for the most part, be built in China and assembled on the planned location in the summer of 2010.

Along with Boston, Buenos Aires, Chicago, Liverpool, Manchester (UK), Newcastle (UK), New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Sydney, Victoria (BC) and many other cities around the world, there soon will be one more Chinatown Gate, this one guarded by Chinese lions at both ends of the street.

Update 26 June 2010:
The Chinese Pagode Gate is here (almost).

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[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

.

The Tall Ships Races Antwerpen

Late afternoon and evening of 9 July 2010, the Tall Ships will be expected to arrive in the Port of Antwerp.

I have a ticket to board a (relatively) small but luxurious tourist's vessel which, the weather permitting, will sail from Antwerpen to the Schelde estuary to meet and great the arriving ships head on. Between 8 PM and midnight we will have the wonderful opportunity to spot and admire the arriving ships, not from the river bank, but from the river itself.

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As behooves good Flemish people, we will be generously supplied with food and drink, of course also the weather permitting to keep it down.

But my purpose is a photo-shoot of the ships in full sail. Fortunately I'm not susceptible to motion sickness, my main concern will be having adequate light.

I'll post my pictures here or link to a Powerpoint file.

Please be more patient than I am right now.

To pass the time, you can download a panoramic photo of the Port of Antwerp from http://www.box.net/shared/static/vua6di4nsh.jpg ; 5MB; 38294x2159 pixels.

[Darb]

That's quite a list of ships.

I still have some photos somewhere from when my Wife and I snuck onto the Libertad in 1998, during a tall ships event here in NY. That was fun.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

That's quite a list of ships.

I still have some photos somewhere from when my Wife and I snuck onto the Libertad in 1998, during a tall ships event here in NY. That was fun.

Did you sail with her or was she moored (the ship, I mean)?

[Darb]

Moored.

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

Windjammers

The Port of Antwerp is the starting point for this year's Tall Ships Race.

Friday 9 July 2010, departure 08:00 PM, in time for the sunset, I went along aboard a sightseeing vessel to watch the windjammers and smaller sailing ships on the Schelde river .

The nice weather and the soft light of the setting sun gave a spectacular view, not only of the tall ships, most already moored by Antwerpen's oldest quay, but also the buildings along the waterfront and the more northwesternly petrochemical port.

See more pictures in this Powerpoint show. (7 MB)

You can also view detailed panorama's of the city (sorry, I live on the outskirts, too far away to see where I live) and the port:
Antwerpen City Panorama (2.2 MB)
(The Cathedral of Our Lady is not visible because the shots were taken from the top of its tower)

Port of Antwerpen Panorama (5 MB)

[E Pericoloso Sporgersi]

GAME: Word of the Day, Wed Jan 13, 2010
... If the shoe fits, wear it put it back and get one size smaller so it looks better.

In the sports shop last week, the saleswoman had a good eye for size assesments. The first pairs of new shoes and scandals she offered up to try for size did fit, but the next fitting was off. I needed smaller shorts. Not shorter but smaller equatorially.

Now should I be glad for the latter or feel a bit sandalised because the saleswoman overestimated my waist?

[Darb]

scandals ... sandalised ...