As mentioned before, Belgium is a beer-drinkers' paradise! Statistics have it that Belgians drink an average of 60 gallons per capita every year. Their beer overshadows those brewed in Germany, Holland and Denmark. With over 350 breweries and more than 500 different kinds of beer, it stands to reason that Belgians have made the most of it...

Cooking with beer rather than broth or water is very common and a number of food recipes actually would not be the same without their complement of the delicious brew! Over the past few years, Belgian beer has been available in most supermarkets and liquor stores here, albeit at a very high cost! Recently though, a few breweries in our country have been started by either Belgians or people well versed in the manner of Belgian beer-brewing and theirs are a very close "relative" to the real thing (at the end of this food section I will give some links to these).

One of the more typical Belgian beer recipes is the one for Flemish Beer Stew (Carbonnade Flamande) which follows. Of course, cooking with beer is not restricted to entrees, there are quite a few soup recipes that include beer and the waffles we know as "Belgian Waffles" have beer to replace the water or milk our own recipes ask for.

In the following recipes you can replace the Belgian beer with any kind of dark beer if you are unable to obtain the "real stuff". Although you will lose some of the distinctive flavour, it will still be something to talk about!

Combine flour, salt and pepper, dredge the meat in the flour mixture. Brown meat in the butter in a dutch oven. Add beer, garlic, parsley, bay leaf, vinegar, sugar, thyme and nutmeg. Cover and cook for about 1½ hour or until the meat is almost tender. Remove bay leaves, stir in onion and continue cooking for another 30 minutes. Mix some flour (or cornstarch) with a ¼ cup water, gradually combine with cooking liquid and cook, stirring constantly until thickened.
Best served with boiled potatoes, crusty french bread and a good Belgian dark beer.

Simmer the beer with the lemon rind, cinnamon and ginger for about 10 minutes. Mix the cornstarch with cold water into a smooth paste. Add a few spoonfuls of hot beer and then add the mixture to the beer in the saucepan. Cook the soup gently for a further 10 minutes. Mix the egg yolks and milk together and, away from the heat, add to the soup. Heat through without boiling and serve with slices of buttered bread

Trim and wash sprouts. Place in medium size saucepan and pour enough beer over them to cover. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until tender (add more beer if necessary). Drain, add salt and butter, serve very hot.

Peel and slice carrots into long, thin slices. Melt butter in medium size frypan, add beer and carrots. Cook slowly until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in salt and sugar. Cook for another 2 minutes and serve hot.

Marinate and cook pork in beer and you will have the tenderest moist pork this side of heaven! Somehow beer tenderizes pork better than it does other meat and also keeps it very moist. Of course, cooking pork in beer also gives it a different, delicious flavour. In order to get the most out of the beer, you should first brown the meat in butter, then start the cooking process with the beer and spices. The following recipe is a good example of an "all-in-one" meal, easy to prepare.

Cut a few slits in the roast and fill with the sliced garlic cloves, rub about 3/4 tsp salt and a generous amount of black pepper all around the roast. In a large skillet, heat the butter and brown the roast on all sides. Put the roast in the "Brown-in-Bag" and add all the ingredients. Close the bag and, with a sharp knife, cut a couple of slits in the top. Put the bag in a shallow cookie sheet and cook in a 375º oven for approximately 1½ hours or until done. During the cooking, add beer if needed.
You can prepare thick pork chops in the same manner, the chops should be ¾ to 1 inch thick.