Dear fellow Localguides,
This is one of the most famous dishes that make up our gastronomic heritage, even more belgian than belgian fries. I can imagine some of you frowning when reading the title… My youngest daughter used not to like this dish because it comes out of a pig’s mouth. I answered “I can boil you an egg”…
Most cooks do not add the calf kidney but I do; it gives an extra taste and perfume to the dish. Here is how you prepare this truly delicious food!
Ingredients
- about 1kg of porc cheek
- 1 calf kidney. I buy them directly off a slaughter in the Brussels slaughter house ()
- pepper and salt
- bay leaf
- thyme (fresh or dried)
- a piece of black belgian chocolate
And a bottle of genuine belgian dark beer. In the example I used Chimay bleu 75cl but you can also use other brands. I wouldn’t recommend lager beer.
Preparation
Kidney
First step is to meticulously clean and cut the kidney. We all know the function of the kidney so you understand that all internal canals need to be removed.
You need a sharp and good knife to pull this off!
This is the result when the kidney is processed correctly. In Italian restaurants, they are served as a separate dish and cost around 18€ !
Cheeks
Same story. In order to process this delicious and tasty piece of meat, you need to remove the fat but not all of it. It also adds taste to the dish!
The result of this work should look more or less like this.
Cooking
Because this dish needs a long time to prepare (90 minutes), it is best prepared in a cast iron pot if you have one. Any pot will do but the cast iron will equally spread the heat.
- Peal two onions, cut them fine and braise them a few minutes in butter.
- Add all the meat, flavour with pepper, salt, thyme and a few bay leafs
- A few pieces of chocolate
The Secret Ingredients
I am serious about this guys. Add one slice of bread with mustard. Poor the beer (don’t drink it)
This gruel looks like puke and needs to simmer on a small fire for one and a half hour. It smells fantastic and tastes even better!
Enjoy!!