What other Belgian recipes don't we know about?
We're all aware that Belgium is home to some seriously scrumptious recipes, like beer, cheese, beer, cakes, beer, bread, whiskey, beer, liqueurs, beer, biscuits, charcuterie, beer, pate, chocolate, beer and wine. Belgium's Cuve Seigneur Ruffus - a sparkling Blanc de Blancs from 100% chardonnay grapes - won the silver medal in last year's Concours Mondial (that's an international wine competition) ... while their Chardonnay Meerdael won the Concours gold medal a couple of years before that.
But there is one Belgian wine recipe - from four generations back - that's only just starting to make waves. And at present, those waves are on the other side of the Atlantic, 250 miles northeast of Montral where former charcutier Pascal Miche arrived from Belgium seven years ago. That's because there, for the past three years, Pascal has been creating his aperitif wine with a healthy 18% alcohol content.
Pascal sells his 16, 375ml bottles in two provinces in Canada at present, but he's looking to the future and plans to export them to the USA, to his homeland in Belgium and even to France. And this is where his overseas problems might well start: the French are very particular about what you can and what you can't call "wine" - it has to be made from the juice of grapes, otherwise you're not allowed to call it wine. At all. Locally, too, Pascal had a bit of an uphill battle on his hands convincing Canadian authorities - who are bit more relaxed about what you can call wine - that he did actually have a right to call his product... wine. Canadian authorities, you see, won't let you call wine, wine... unless it's made from fruit of any kind.
In technical terms, Pascal's main ingredient is indeed a fruit - that's because it contains its own seeds (and that's the difference between fruit and vegetables) but thanks to a landmark US Supreme Court ruling in 1893, for over a hundred years we've had to look for the main constituent of Pascal's wine in the vegetable section of our local supermarkets.
But don't worry - neither variety of Pascal's tomato wine tastes at all like tomatoes. One of them is dry, and the other has been compared favourably to a Pineau des Charentes. So ... what other interesting recipes does Belgium have up its sleeve, then?
But there is one Belgian wine recipe - from four generations back - that's only just starting to make waves. And at present, those waves are on the other side of the Atlantic, 250 miles northeast of Montral where former charcutier Pascal Miche arrived from Belgium seven years ago. That's because there, for the past three years, Pascal has been creating his aperitif wine with a healthy 18% alcohol content.
Pascal sells his 16, 375ml bottles in two provinces in Canada at present, but he's looking to the future and plans to export them to the USA, to his homeland in Belgium and even to France. And this is where his overseas problems might well start: the French are very particular about what you can and what you can't call "wine" - it has to be made from the juice of grapes, otherwise you're not allowed to call it wine. At all. Locally, too, Pascal had a bit of an uphill battle on his hands convincing Canadian authorities - who are bit more relaxed about what you can call wine - that he did actually have a right to call his product... wine. Canadian authorities, you see, won't let you call wine, wine... unless it's made from fruit of any kind.
In technical terms, Pascal's main ingredient is indeed a fruit - that's because it contains its own seeds (and that's the difference between fruit and vegetables) but thanks to a landmark US Supreme Court ruling in 1893, for over a hundred years we've had to look for the main constituent of Pascal's wine in the vegetable section of our local supermarkets.
But don't worry - neither variety of Pascal's tomato wine tastes at all like tomatoes. One of them is dry, and the other has been compared favourably to a Pineau des Charentes. So ... what other interesting recipes does Belgium have up its sleeve, then?
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