'09 Belgian GP_Courtesy of Williams F1

Formula One (F1, Formula 1, Grand Prix) auto racing took some time off over the last couple of weeks — now it is back! This will be the thirteenth in the series of articles to help provide a taste of the world of Formula One for those new to it and for those that have been fans all their lives.  It is about the racing venue’s region, in this case Spa, Belgium and is an overview of travel info, a bit of history, culture, and its wine and food to wet your appetite to travel to the regions of the world covered. Perhaps you will take a liking to Formula One racing, pick up some knowledge of the area’s wine and food, and hopefully learn something new. All articles are in the same order so that those of you that have an interest in some of the topics, but not all, can refer to the sections that interest you most: (1) recap and stats of prior race, (2) opinion and news on upcoming race, (3) overview of history, culture, economy, and travel information of racing venue’s region, (4) the wine of the region where the race is held, (5) the food of the region the race is held. There will also be links to other websites of interest and video playlists.

As you all know by now, my husband and I are not only wine and food enthusiasts, we have the same love for Formula One. As I was seeking a way to integrate F1 into my writing about wine and food, these articles provided a vehicle (no pun intended) to do this.  As this series of articles are an overview and opinion of several topics around the Formula One racing circuit, I will come back with more extensive articles on wine and food regions of the world over time. What is included in here on F1, travel, wine, food, culture, among other topics of the region where the race is held is more than enough to get you started! With this article, can you say chocolate? Thought you could (see Food below).

Recap and Thoughts of Last Race: Hungarian Grand Prix, Budapest, Hungary (link to prior Hungarian Grand Prix article)

1st  Place – Mark Webber (Australia) for Red Bull Renault. 

2^nd Place – Fernando Alonso (Spain) for Ferrari. 

 3^rd Place – Sebastian Vettel (Germany) for Red Bull Renault.

At the start it was Sebastian Vettel that took the lead, followed by Alonso and Webber in third. It was not until the 17^th lap that both Vettel and Alonso pitted and this put Webber in first. Webber at this point did not make a pit stop and the other two hoped that when he did the order would change again. It was during this time that the safety car also came out because of debris on the track, it went back in on the 18^th lap but by that time Webber was leading and did not give that up for the rest of the race.

Mark Webber now leads all other drivers in wins for this season with four. This win also put him first place in points for the coveted FIA World Driver’s Championship. He is really a remarkable driver. People have tried to make his teammate Sebastian Vettel the next Michael Schumacher. However, in my opinion, Vettel is still young and it shows with the kind of mistakes that come from youthful impatience. While Webber shows maturity and patience and this is what has pushed him forward, that and being very competitive.  Webber when he is in the lead rarely gives up that position and it was true with this race as well.

With Webber’s win and Vettel’s third place, they now made their team Red Bull Renault the lead for the FIA World Constructor’s Championship as well, dethroning McLaren Mercedes.

Speaking of McLaren it was not a very good race for either driver, Lewis Hamilton or Jenson Button, both from Great Britain. Button started the race in the 11^th position after a terrible qualifying session the day before. He was lapped toward the end of the race and finished in 8^th. Hamilton was racing ok, until the 24^th lap when the car had mechanical failure and he was out of the race.

There were several incidents in this race. Vettel was slapped with a penalty for not keeping within 10 car lengths of the safety car when it was out between the 17^th and 18^th laps. Many thought he was holding back other cars from positioning themselves to catch up to Mark Webber when the safety car pulled in. His penalty was a drive through this is when a driver must drive through pit lane at the required lower speed. He did that, but was still able to maintain his position coming out of pit lane as he was so much faster going in than the cars behind him.

Another oddity happened in pit lane when Robert Kubica (Poland) and Adrian Sutil (Germany) came in while the safety car was out. Kubica’s pit crew gave him the green light to leave the pits, but it was not safe to do so and caused Adrian Sutil to run into Kubica’s car taking Sutil out of the race. This could have happened in all the confusion that happened only moments before when the Mercedes GP pit crew released Nico Rosberg (Germany) when his back tire was not secured causing the tire to bolt from the car into the pit crew of the William’s team. Rosberg was out of the race because of this.

NOTE: A pit crewman of the Williams team, Nigel Hope, tried to block the tire with his body from hurting others in pit lane and was knocked unconscious for a bit. He went to the track medical facility and was back in the pits doing his job later that race! Hope said later he “was a bit sore” — well I guess so! This hero seems to be doing well now and many people owe him a lot of cold ones to say the least!   

In another incident at the end of the race, Michael Schumacher (Germany) was in 11^th and Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) in 10^th. The first 10 drivers finishing the race receive championship points for themselves and their teams so competition was fierce for this spot. In what looked like Schumacher trying to pass his old teammate Barrichello, now racing for Williams (both were with Ferrari years ago and no love loss between the two), appeared to move into Barrichello’s space almost pushing him into the wall. This could have been very dangerous and certainly was not good sportsmanship, but Barrichello prevailed coming in 10^th over Schumacher. After the race, Schumacher was penalized 10 grid positions for the Belgium Grand Prix and this will be a huge disadvantage for both driver and constructor Mercedes GP. 

Michael Schumacher

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER regarding the Hungarian GP:

“Today’s race was probably was one of the toughest that I have had so far. It was pretty edgy to drive the car on the limit so I had to fight my way through the race, and at the end, it was like walking on ice. Regarding the overtaking manoeuvre with Rubens, I indicated pretty early that I would move towards the inside and not simply give up the line, and there was just enough space for him to pass me without touching each other. It was a hard fight, and this is what we are here for, but I accept that the FIA stewards saw it as too hard. I look forward to the break now and to coming back out of it stronger in Spa.”

Rubens Barrichello

RUBENS BARRICHELLO regarding the Hungarian GP:

“We had a car that in terms of performance was capable of finishing P5 or thereabouts, but taking the chance to start on primes always left us liable to a Safety Car. It came too early to box for the option tyre, so I had to stay out until we found a window that would allow me to attack for points. I had to work pretty hard for the point in a fight that wasn’t fair or clean, but I will let others be the judge of that. All I am clear about is that I am a racer and in such situations, I never back off.”

For latest championship standings please follow this link Championship Standings, for the latest points to date for all drivers and constructors. Presently, Red Bull Renault (Austria) leads the pack with 312 points for the World Constructor’s Championship and Mark Webber (Australia) of the Red Bull Renault team now leads the World Driver’s Championship with 161 points. 

Belgian Grand Prix: Spa, Belgium

The Race

Will be held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps which is a track of hills and curves, through the forests of the Ardennes (where the Battle of the Bulge was launched), scenic landscape, and narrow public streets/roads. Built in 1920, the first Grand Prix race was held there five years later in 1925. It is also known for the 24 Hours of Francorchamps endurance auto race since 1924. For the Belgian Formula One race it has 44 laps over 19 challenging turns. Michael Schumacher still holds the record for most wins on this track with six first place finishes. It is the longest track on the circuit which makes it rather demanding for not only the drivers, but the spectators too. There is plenty of grandstand seating, but you will find a lot of spectators sitting in the hills, the woods, and other areas drinking and eating having a wonderful time. The weather is anyone’s guess as it can be nice or horrible.

This track will definitely benefit the more experienced drivers used to a lot of turns, hills, and distractions.  However, having said that, there are several straights where drivers can pick up speeds, if they have the faster cars, with some passable points.

As a first place finish in the race will reward the winner 25 championship points, all that separates Fernando Alonso sitting 5^th from Mark Webber in 1^st are 20 points. Lewis Hamilton is in 2^nd position, Sebastian Vettel in 3^rd, and Jenson Button in 4^th. All these drivers are among the best this season and all will be vying for points. It is all in qualifying though as the starting grid positions will help a great deal on this course barring any mechanical failures, driver errors, or accidents.

This should be a fun race to watch and the drivers love this track. We should expect to see an exciting and a highly competitive race.

NOTES:

1. As I have mentioned in prior articles, Pirelli has won the right to become the Formula One tire company next year. With this comes the need for test driving and with that a test driver was chosen. Mercedes GP released their reserve and test driver Nick Heidfeld (Germany) so that he could become the Pirelli test driver. Heidfeld has a lot of racing experience in the Ford 1600 and 1800 series winning the German championships, going on to Formula 3 winning in Monaco and taking the German championship, Formula 3000, test driving for McLaren Mercedes racing team, and was a Formula One driver from 2000 to 2009 before becoming the reserve and test driver for Mercedes GP. There were rumors circulating before the 2010 season that Heidfeld would become one of the two drivers for the 2010 F1 season for Mercedes GP, but the team chose Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher instead.

Nick Heidfeld: “First of all I would like to thank Ross Brawn, Norbert Haug and Nick Fry for allowing me the opportunity to become Pirelli’s official test driver. The team has always said that they would not stand in my way if such a chance arose and they have kindly allowed me to take up this exciting new role. I would like to thank everyone at MERCEDES GP PETRONAS for the great cooperation that we have had this year. I have greatly enjoyed supporting the team in my position as Reserve Driver and have felt welcome right from the outset. It was impressive to have the opportunity to work with the current World Champions and I wish the team all the best for the remainder of the season and beyond.”

2. Speaking of Rubens Barrichello, with the Belgian Grand Prix race this will be his 300^th Grand Prix start. All I can say to this is, congratulations! This is very impressive indeed.

TUNE-IN:

Friday, August 27, 2010 – Practice. Practice runs are mainly to fine tune the cars and drivers by testing the track, crew, and the cars. If in the United States, this will be on live on Speed Channel at 8:00 am ET/5:00 am PT. 

Saturday, August 28, 2010 – Qualifying. This will determine the starting grid for the race and will determine pole position (inside 1st row) in the final round. The starting grid this year will have twelve rows of two cars each. There are three qualifying rounds. The first round eliminates seven drivers/teams from moving forward to the next round. The second qualifying round will do the same, taking out the bottom seven drivers/teams, leaving the fastest ten. The third and final qualifying round will take the final ten drivers/teams and will determine the first five row of the starting grid. It is a little more complicated than just fastest lap speed and there are situations where it is possible that a driver with a faster lap could end up in the back seven rows. In the United States, this will be live on Speed Channel at 8:00 am ET/5:00 am PT.

STARTING GRID (after Qualifying):

1st Row – Mark Webber in pole position (for Red Bull Renault) and Lewis Hamilton (for McLaren) 

2nd Row – Robert Kubica (for Renault) and Sebastian Vettel (for Red Bull Renault)

3rd Row – Jenson Button (for McLaren) and Felipe Massa (for Ferrari)

4th Row – Rubens Barrichello (for Williams) and Adrian Sutil (for Force India)

5th Row – Nico Hulkenburg (for Williams) and Fernando Alonso (for Ferrari)

This will be quite a race as the two drivers in the front row are in the battle for the championship of which Webber now leads.

Rain is expected and this always makes for interesting racing in Spa! 

Sunday, August 29, 2010 – RACE DAY. In the United States will be aired live on Speed Channel networks at 7:30 pm ET/4:30 am PT.

Updated 8/29/2010 1:00 p.m. – Race Results:

1^st Place – Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain) for McLaren Mercedes. He took the lead from the start and led throughout the race.  

2^nd  Place – Mark Webber (Australia) for Red Bull Renault. Started from poll position and had a terrible start that could have been due to mechanical difficulties and was in 5^th place, but fought his way back to a 2^nd place finish.  

3^rd Place – Robert Kubica (Poland) for Renault. He had a great start and a great finish holding off a lot of drivers.

This was a very exciting race with great driving and there were some accidents that caused surprising results. 

Full recap and opinion will be provided with next article. In the meantime, full race results are on the Race Stats and Opinion for F1 2010 Season page below and the championship points have been updated as well on the page below.

You should go to the special page I set up called Formula 1: Intro, Wine, and Food for more detailed information on F1, race schedule, Race Stats and Opinion for F1 2010 Season (updated 8/29/10),  2010 Formula 1 World Championship Standings (updated 8/29/10), links to all teams, drivers, racing circuits, and organizations that have websites to further your knowledge and enjoyment of the sport. You will also find a real-time television schedule of air time for the races on Speed Channel. This page will supplement the individual articles that I write and will also serve as an archive when the racing season ends and for the series of articles.

NEXT UP: Italian Grand Prix on September 12, 2010 (race day) at 7:30 am ET. My article will be published on or before September 11, 2010. 

You should check the times of these telecasts to verify times with local listings and can be subject to change.

The remaining race schedule for the season is:

Grand Prix of Italy (Monza): September 10-12, 2010

Singapore Grand Prix (Singapore): September 24-26, 2010

Japanese Grand Prix (Suzaka): October 8-10, 2010

Korean Grand Prix (Yeongam): October 22-24, 2010

Grand Prix of Brazil (Sao Paulo): November 5-7, 2010
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (Yas Marina Circuit): November 12-14, 2010

With the last race of the season, the World Driver’s and Constructor’s Championships will be awarded (or should I say crowned). 

Below please find a playlist of a few videos found on YouTube: the Course Simulator with Red Bull Renault Driver Mark Webber and a video on prior races of the Belgian Grand Prix.

A Brief Background on History, Culture, Customs

Belgium

Its civilization began with the Celtic tribes called the Belgae of what was called Gaul at the time. In 57 BC when the Romans, under Julius Caesar, captured and occupied what is now known as Belgium they called their new province Gallia Belgica giving foundation to its later name. It was run by the Franks, a German tribe, after the Romans were in decline in the 4^th century and by mid 400 AD they became an independent dynasty called the Mervingian under Clovis 1. It became heavily divided after Clovis’ death. From there it had the Counts of Flanders which were in the northwest, and belonged in part to the kingdom of France at the time. The lower part of what would become Belgium to the southeast was a part of the Duchy of Lower Lorraine. Needless to say there were hundreds of years of wars and power changes to get into in this overview. So I will take this to present day Belgium.

Officially called the Kingdom of Belgium gained its independence from the Netherlands in 1830 and formed its constitution in 1831 with a revision in 1993 forming a federal state. It is a federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy with the current Monarch being King Albert II since 1993. King Albert’s son Prince Phillip is heir apparent. The first Monarch to be chosen by the Belgians after their independence in 1831 was Leopold of Saxe-Colburg. After him it was Leopold I, then his son Leopold II where Belgium flourished. Then Leopold II in 1909 succeeded the crown to his nephew, Albert I and when he died in early 1930, his son Leopold III took over but surrendered to the German forces during 1945 when they occupied Belgium in 1940. When Belgium was liberated by the allied troops, the Belgians could not forgive their monarch that surrendered and his brother Charles assumed the role as monarch. In 1951, Leopold III returned to Belgium and abdicated the crown to his son Baudoin and became monarch until he died in 1993. His brother Albert II took over and has been head of state ever since, as of this writing.  

The monarch is the official head of state and a Prime Minister is the official head of government. Belgium is in Western Europe and borders France, Luxemburg, Germany, the Netherlands, and also part of Belgium borders the North Sea. It seats both NATO and the European Union (EU) in Belgium’s capital of Brussels (AKA: Brussel in Dutch or Bruxelles in French). By housing the headquarters of the EU, Brussels has often been called the capital of Europe. Belgium has an estimated population of over 10.4 million people as of 2010 with a median age of 42 years old. The ethnic groups consist of the Dutch Fleming to the north in the Flanders region and account for roughly 58% of the population while the French Walloons to the south in the Wallonia region account for 31%. There have been tension between these two groups and in recent years both regions have been granted autonomy and separate recognition, but that is still with conflict under one government.  There are three official languages of Belgium with Dutch at around 60%, French at around 40% and German with less than 1% (of the German speaking they mainly reside in the Wallonia region and mainly in the province of Liege). Over 75% of the population follows the Roman Catholic religion. Its GDP in purchasing parity is an estimated $383.4 billion in 2009 and its currency is of course the Euro.

As already mentioned Flanders (with five provinces) and Wallonia (with five provinces) are two of the three regions of Belgium, the third being the Brussels-Capital region (no provinces). There are also 589 municipalities within these regions. There are three cultural communities within Belgium: The French Speaking Community, the Dutch-Speaking Community (Flemish), and the German Speaking Community. The Brussels-Capital region is a bi-lingual speaking area. The city of Brussels is in the Dutch-speaking Flanders region.

Belgium has had upheaval caused by the clashing cultures, politics, economy, and other issues between the Dutch Flemish (in the Flanders region to the north) and the French-speaking Walloons (in the Wallonia region to the south). The Walloons tend to be of the liberal Socialist party, while the Dutch speaking Flanders tend to be moderate to conservative. In fact the current Prime Minister of Belgium, as of this writing, is of the Flemish Christian Democrats. A new more conservative party has also arisen called the New-Flemish Alliance which is a nationalist party. According to certain polls this new alliance party could overtake the current Christian Democrats hold over the government. Of the sixteen nations around the Euro, Belgium has the third highest debt to GDP behind Greece and Italy. It is also suffering like many countries from this global economic crisis we are still currently in.

Belgium has something for all. It is said that it is the home of the comic strip and has a museum to prove it called The Belgian Center For Comic Strips At Brussels.  It is a beautiful country and has all of the culture, entertainment, shopping, sports, music, nightlife, plenty of historical sites, and other attractions like most major countries, especially in the sophisticated and cosmopolitan Brussels. Brussels and most of the cities of Belgium have some of the finest restaurants anywhere and the type of cuisine will of course change from region and community, more on the cuisine under “Food” below.

For the purpose of this article, the Belgium Grand Prix is held within the Wallonia region which is within the French-Speaking Community and small German-Speaking Community, so I will move my attention to this area from here.

Wallonia Region

Fete de Doudou in Mons, Belgium

It is a landlocked region located in southern Belgium and is the gateway to southern Europe. It is part of the French-speaking community and the small German-speaking community that reside mainly in the province and city of Liege.

Wallonia is known for its artists, music, theatre, dance, literature, and diversity. It has a Eurospace Center, the Paradisio bird reserve, water parks, boating along the rivers, parks, museums, and much more. It has many restaurants throughout the region that are top notch.

There are several municipalities within the Wallonia region and provinces, among them are: Charleroi, Liege, Namur (the capital of the region and province), Mons, La Louviere among others. The Meuse River flows through the region as well as other rivers and streams.

A little bit about the Ardennes. Located in southern Belgium, Wallonia in particular, is often referred to as Belgium’s “green lung” for its utopian ecological environment. It is filled with forests, nature reserves, rivers, water attractions, parks, gardens, caves, among other things. It is where Belgians go for rest and relaxation and for nature oriented sports. There are even several serene golf courses within its confines (well I guess they do not yell “fore” often there!). You will find castles, historical landmarks, cathedrals (including in Tournai the Cathedral Notre-Dame UNESCO World Heritage), monasteries, and much more. The Battle of the Bulge was centered there, Waterloo where Napoleon lost his famous battle in 1815. It has some music chops as well, being the home Adolph Sax, the inventor of the saxophone.

Wallonia has five provinces: 

Hainaut. Is located in the western sections of Wallonia, this province has some hilly areas. Some of the municipalities of this province include: Charleroi, Mons, Tournai, Chimay, Binche.

Luxembourg (AKA: Belgium Luxembourg). Is in the southeast of the region and was once part of the Grand Duchy of the country of Luxembourg it borders to the east. The province of Luxembourg is the largest province of Wallonia. It is divided into two sub-regions, for lack of a better term, the Ardennes to the north with its forests and Gaume to the south. Bastogne is located within this province and within the Ardennes where the Battle of the Bulge was centered. It also has the famous Bouillon Castle, in the village by the same name, where the Crusades were launched that ended with the fall of Jerusalem. Some of the municipalities of the province are: Durbuy, La Gaume, Saint-Hubert, La Roche, Bouillon.

Namur. Is the provincial and regional capital located in the center of the region. It has several rivers and valleys and a vibrant lifestyle. The municipalities of this province are: Namur, Couvin, Dinant, Han-sur Lesse, Rochefort.

Walloon Brabant. Is in the southern sections of the province and has beautiful landscapes. Some of the municipalities of this province are: Brabant Hesbaye, Louvain-la-Neuve, Nivelles, Villers-la-Ville, Waterloo, Wavre.

The fifth province of Wallonia is Liege. As the Belgium Grand Prix auto race takes place in this province, I will provide background about this province and the municipality the race separately below.

Liege Province

Located in the northeast of Wallonia this province includes and surrounds the city of Liege and most of the German speaking community resides there. The province itself has an estimated 2010 population of well over 1.1 million. It definitely has its peaks and valleys, forests, and beautiful landscapes. It has four districts: Huy, Liege, Verviers, and Waremme. A few of the 84 municipalities of this province are: Spa, Liege, Malmedy, Stavelot, Huy.

The city of Leige. Has an estimated population of around 200,000 for 2010. It escaped much of the turmoil that the rest of Belgium endured from the wars in the 1500s-1600s because of the help of its Prince-Bishops that developed a finely tuned machine in their church-administration that governed the area. With its economy intact it became an industrial power and a force to be reckoned with especially from its gun factories, coal mining industry, and glassworks. It has many palaces, churches, museums and markets. It is a bustling city and area with its fine dining and nightlife, mainly centered in the Carre district and also on an interesting island called Outre Meuse. Many say the entire downtown area is a hotbed of activity with its clubs, cafes, bars, and restaurants, nightlife is a way of life in Leige and is a very happening place to be. The city itself is well known for its puppet theaters and is home of the famous Tchantches. It is also an important tourist destination with all of its festivals too that are well attended by natives alike. One in particular is the Christmas Village with all of its lights, the Marionettes, skating rink, a lot of Santas, and various other events around this. It is Belgium’s biggest Christmas village.

Spa (and to some extent Francorchamps)

The race is held at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit and covers parts of both towns in the Leige province. When I think of rest and relaxation Spa comes to mind. Filled with beautiful landscapes and fountains, you will not be a loss to take in the water, facials, and massages as they are everywhere. It is known for its mineral springs where its healing powers were well known to the Romans when they were there. However, in the 16^th century word got out about this small town of miracles and those that could afford to go there would come from all over the world for cures to their ailments and to be pampered. In fact, when you go to a spa anywhere in the world, or in you own home town, you can thank Spa for it as this where spas got their name and all of course strive to copy it. Spa even has a casino that was built for its wealthy visitors, and it is said that it was the first casino built anywhere. The hotels are among the most luxurious and the dining will make any food connoisseur very happy that they can just steam away the calories the next day and then start all over again. There are also various paths to walk and hike for a bit of exercise through beautiful landscapes and springs.

If you would like to take a look at some places to stay and dine, I have provided a link to a Restaurant and Hotel guide that is put out by their tourist office. It includes all price ranges and will provide you with even more information on this unique and beautiful oasis if you wish to travel there.

Some Restaurants and Hotels of Spa and Surrounding Area (this could take some time to download depending on speed of your computer and is a PDF file.

The Wine

There is a small wine industry in Belgium, but let me just say that the Belgian’s love their beer. Beer is the number one alcoholic beverage in Belgium and has many types from different provinces of the country. I could do an entire article on the beer as there is a lot of information on it and a lot of Belgians that have many tales to tell about their beer. However, I will more than likely do some articles in time on beer, and although I write about wine and food I do occasionally write about other things. After all many consider beer a food group and for that matter I guess you can say wine is too, it is made from fruit!

So what do I have in information on the wines of Belgium? There are not many wineries in Belgium and in the Wallonia region where the race is held there are a few provinces that do produce wines. However, as this is the French-speaking side as well as the small German-speaking side, most of the residents when not enjoying beer prefer imports from France and Germany. The wine retailers and wholesalers do quite well with imports, but do not seem to promote their own country’s wines that well.

Wine has been around in Belgium since around the 8^th century in what is now in the Wallonia region and in particular the Liege province. Wine today is produced in both the Flanders and Wallonia regions and Belgium does have their own Appellation of Origin Controlees called the Appellations d’origine controlees (AOC) for their quality wines. Most of the wine production is in the Flanders region where there are currently four recognized appellations under the AOC. There is also a special AOC for sparkling wines from Flanders. There are also two Vin de pays (country wine) wine regions recognized by the AOC. One is in Flanders, the other in Wallonia. There is only one recognized AOC appellation for quality wines in Wallonia called Cotes de Sambre et Meuse in Leige province. There are other wine producing regions within both Flanders and Wallonia that do not have designations from the AOC and can be equally good wines but just are not members of the AOC in their areas.

White wine is a favorite in Belgium accounting for over 90% of production with the oaky Chardonnay being the favorite so far over the unoaked Chablis type Chardonnay. Some of the approved white grapes grown in Belgium by the AOC are: Chardonnay, Muscat, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Riesling, Merzling, Bronner, Auxerrois, Chasselas, Chenin, Seibel, Seiger, Traminer (Gewurztraminer), Mueller-Thurgau (Rivaner), Johanniter, Madeleine Angevine, and Ortega.

Some of the approved red grapes by the OAC are: Merlot, Gamay/Gammay, Regen, Pinot Noir, Pinot Noir Precoce.

Could not find a website for the Wallonia region or its wineries and what was out there was not very good for “outsiders” that are not native Belgians. This is something the wine regions need to address in time to compete on the world stage. However, for most part the wines of Belgium tend to be for winery visitors and selling their wines locally vs. mass production or for exports. Hopefully, I will report more in time when they perfect their marketing. One problem could be, that all wine regions belonging to the EU are regulated by this bureaucracy (oh sorry, should say organization) and this makes things a bit interesting for wineries to compete, in my opinion. The wine industry, although its history is rather rich, is still new to the market economy, so there is always hope.

The Food

They are known for their agricultural products of sugar beets, fresh vegetables, fruits, grain, beef, veal, pork, and milk.

Chocolate, Chocolate, and More Chocolate. Although it began with the cocoa trees of the Mayas thousands of years ago and in Africa, Belgian chocolates have become world class and are among the best in the world, part of the luxury chocolate market. There is Swiss and French chocolate, but there is just something special about the Belgium chocolates. There is nothing like biting into these rich morsels of heaven to make your day a great one or end your evening with pleasant dreams. There are over 170,000 tons of chocolate per year produced in Belgium and over 2,000 chocolate shops in the country. Among Belgium’s famous Chocolatiers: Godiva, Neuhaus, Cote d’Or, Darcis, La Maison du Chocolat, Wittamer, Planete, Gallier, Marcolini, Leonides, Artisanal, Debailleul, Le Chocolatier Manon, among others.  Belgium even has chocolate tours, workshops/demonstrations, museums dedicated to chocolate including the Museum of Cocoa and Chocolate in Brussels, and there are Chocolate Festivals held in Durbuy and Bruges, among others. With all these chocolates, I am not sure why Belgium was not named the “City of Love”.

What makes Belgium chocolates so special and different? Well, besides using 100% cocoa butter, you have to think of the praline. Although its name originated with the French, in 1912 Jean Neuhaus (of the Neuhaus brand of chocolates in Belgium) developed the now famous chocolate shell that encases various chocolate and non chocolate creams, nuts, liquor syrup, marzipan, fruit, and other fillings giving birth to the Belgium Praline (Chocolate). The shell can be various sizes and shapes with some looking like pieces of art and can be light, dark, or white chocolate (white chocolate however does not contain any cocoa powder). Chocolate Truffles are also Belgian pralines and the original, which is still the best, is dark chocolate filled with butter cream and then dusted heavily with cocoa powder. In 1915 Neuhaus also came up with the Praline Ballotin, a rectangular box to hold these bites of delight in.    

Although the praline is what Belgian chocolates are known for, they also produce solid chocolates and cocoa. You will find chocolates served with coffee quite frequently in Belgium as well as some very tasty hot cocoa.

Please note that here in the United States pralines are another sweet treat, but are not usually made with cocoa powder or made into a chocolate. Instead they are almonds (or other nuts in some recipes), sugar, and/or caramel predominately. In fact to confuse things, mainly for Americans because of this, is Belgium Pralines can have a praline filling of hazelnuts or almonds with sugar and chocolate among other recipes by various chocolatiers. I have also had American praline candy that had almond and caramel filling encased in a chocolate shell, but these are far removed from the Belgian Praline.

Although the majority of chocolatiers are in the Flanders region, there are a few in Wallonia among them: Charlemagne (Herstal), Defroidmont Artisan (Erezee), Les Jardins du Chocolat (Tournai).

Waffles (Gauffres).  These are not any kind of waffles they are in a class all their own and are more like a pastry than a load of dough like we often get here in the Untied States. There are two types of Belgian Waffles, the Brussels and the Leige. Belgium also appears to have special waffle pans that are not often seen outside of that country.

Brussels Waffle.  Is rectangular in shape with deep pockets grilled in special waffle pans that make the pockets in the batter or dough used. They are crisp, light brown, thick, and many say light to the taste while others can be a little denser to the taste depending on the batter used. The classic topping is just powdered sugar, but you will find various toppings used as well, although mainly in the tourist areas and can be fruit, whipped cream, ice cream, chocolate, among other things.

Leige Waffle. Is a yellowish waffle that is denser in texture and sweeter in flavor than the Brussels. It also uses sugar in an interesting way in that it uses chunks applied to the outside of the waffle before it is put into the waffle maker and forms a crusty and caramelized coating. It also has a few varieties of plain, cinnamon, vanilla, and have even seen a chocolate one!

One thing though, is that you rarely see syrup and/or butter served as a topping like in the United States. You will find it if you ask for it in most Western owned hotel dining and cafes.

Fries with That? For me, anytime any place. As most of you know by now, I love great food from gourmet to pizza joints as long as it is good. However, for those that know me well you also know that I am a French fry fanatic. I can actually judge a restaurant that serves them by how good their fries are. So this brings me great pleasure to talk about the Fry. Sure you have heard this before, but the French fry was not invented in France, they were invented in Belgium.

There are various stories about how this happened, so I will take on the one I hear frequently. It began back in WWI when soldiers, mainly from America stationed in Belgium in the French region, were served some very tasty fried potatoes cut in long finger sized slices. These soldiers quickly got word out about these fantastic fried potatoes and nicknamed them French fries only because they had them in the mainly French speaking region. Belgium apparently played along for awhile, thinking it was all in good fun, but then realized what a marketing nightmare this had become as they lost naming their own creation. If this is true, and the American soldiers were mostly to blame for this, then I know why many still call us Ugly Americans! The French of course said very little as they became the benefactor of all of this. Americans and most of the Allied troops came home and wanted these wonderful French fries, so do I need say more? They became quite popular in the United States, Canada, Britain, Australia, and other places around the world and poor Belgium would forever be haunted by this name placement fiasco for quite sometime.

Fried potatoes were part of Belgium life, I have been told, since the mid 1600s in fishing villages (of course they did not have deep fryers in those days so they were mainly pan fried over open flame or other means). Since then they were served for most part on the Flemish (Dutch) side of Belgium, as a side dish and with fish for most part. The French region of Belgium started to use them in cafes and other quick bite establishments to patrons.

Over recent years Belgium has made it very clear in no uncertain terms that the fry began with them, it just took them awhile. They also now call their stringy fried potatoes Belgian Fries in over 4000 frietkots or fritures (vendors that sell these at quick bite stops, mainly at outdoor kiosks) in the country as well as top restaurants. The Belgians do have a process that make them uniquely theirs. First it always includes double frying. The first time to cook them, the second time is to brown them and make them crispy. After the first time they can be stored in cold or frozen state for hours or days, but most will prefer them freshly fried. Second, the dip of choice is mayonnaise. The mayo can be plain or can be seasoned or flavored too. Third, they tend to be served in cone type paper cups. Fourth, they are predominately made with the Bintje potato, which has Dutch origins. Now the cut and oil is where it can get confusing as I have seen them in various cuts and still called Belgian Fries. Some cuts are really thin like an average cut fast food fry here in the states and another is a bit thicker. Both styles are always at least finger length. The oil used is all over the place as this is what gives them unique taste from place to place just like here in the states. Duck fat has been used in a lot of Belgian fries I have tasted and was always what I would class as part of the original. However, health conscious Belgium uses various oils now and frietkots and restaurants will not be that forthcoming with their recipes!

A few favorite dishes of Wallonia region and Belgium are: of course Brussels sprouts, crayfish, eel, mussels, meatballs with Belgian fries in a sweet apple and/or pear jam, crepes, cooked pears (cutes peures), rice pudding, blood sausages, Remoudou cheese among other Belgium cheese, Asparagus a la Flamande (asparagus in a creamy sauce with eggs), Carbonnades (basically a beer stew), fish and fries (frits), Koninginnehapjes (chicken in a puff pastry), many tomato dishes, salad liegeoise which is potatoes,/green beans/ bacon, fricassee (omelet with a meat usually sausage, bacon or ham), pate Gaumais a meat pie filled with pork/wine/parsley/thyme/vinegar, veal kidneys (rognons de veau, Petits Gris de Namur snails, wild game,  Ham will also be used throughout Wallonia as it comes from the Ardennes. You will also find a great deal of endive used and is among the best tasting you will find, in fact it is imported to the United States. The Flanders region was not mentioned much in this section as it is not in the area covered in this article.

For now, I see a box of chocolates with my name on it!

Below please find a video playlist of a couple of travel videos on Belgium pulled together from YouTube:

Cheers then Enjoy!

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