HÀ NỘI — A luncheon featuring the favourite delicacies of Belgium was prepared by Belgian chef Christoph Pouls for nearly 100 special guests at the Pullman Hanoi Hotel yesterday.  

The gastronomy event, entitled A Taste of Belgium, showcased the best of Belgian cuisine such as the dish waterzooi of stewed North Sea fish, tender braised beef tongue with Lutosa truffle croquettes, Escaveche of sea bass and steak Béarnaise. Other classic dishes include vol au vent, a light puff pastry case filled with a savoury mixture, and the invigorating dish chicon au gratin: Belgian endives braised in butter, wrapped in ham slices and covered with a rich mornay sauce.

A variety of sweet treats including Belgian waffles, Dame Blanche – vanilla ice cream with whipped cream and warm molten chocolate—and Belgian pear with Speculaas crumble were also crafted for the event by the international award-winning chef. And of course, a gastronomy event dedicated to Belgian food would be incomplete without Belgian chocolate.

The event was held by the Belgian Embassy in Hà Nội to promote Belgian agricultural products on the occasion of Agricultural Minister Denis Ducarme’s visit to Việt Nam.

At the event, Minister Ducarme also joined chef Pouls to serve food for guests.

Today, chef Pouls will meet with students of KOTO – a culinary vocational school for disadvantaged youth, where he will also present them with some Belgian recipes using local ingredients.

Also today, Minister Ducarme will visit to the Việt Nam National University of Agriculture (VNUA) – a main partner of Belgium in agricultural field in Việt Nam.

“The co-operation with the VNUA is one of our efforts aiming to enhance the quality of Vietnamese agricultural products, so more of those products can be exported to Belgium in particular, and to Europe in general,” he said.

According to him, Belgian chocolatiers use cacao from Việt Nam for their sweet products that are loved all over the world. — VNS