REGIONAL PORK DISHES in the "West Corner" of Flanders

Looking for a "good regional meal" on the West Coast of Flanders, we followed a golden hint: go to the small, nice and quiet village of Alveringem. At the square, near the well-known St. Audomarus church, you'll find a small restaurant called "'t Potje Paté' " which can be best translated as "small pot of pork pastry". Yet, what they call small here, is quite big: around 1/2 kg.

They also have a "small pot of beer" here, which you can see depicted to the left. That is a regional white beer, fresh, a bit sour and hoppy.

The menu card has also a regional character, using local terms like "schelle van 't zwien", which means a slice of bacon.

Most people coming to the "café" opt for the pastry dish, which you can see depicted on the picture below to the left:

farmer's pastry (made in the traditional way we ourselves knew 60 years ago), baked potatoes, salad, rendered lard (the old "farmer's white butter") and three comfits of cranberry, onion and mayonnaise.

They usually serve brown "monk's beer" Prior with this dish, as you can see on the picture. We opted for the patron's red wine, wince we had beer as an aperitif. Afterwards, we concluded that we had better taken the brown beer.

Looking at the picture, one certainly comes with the question: can you eat it all? For most pastry lovers, the answer is no. But that's no problem: the client gets the white pot with whatever is left, wrapped in a plastic bag, and can take it home.

That's what we did too, and we enjoyed the pastry at home, with brownn toast, a rucola salad and a fine rosé wine - which added its fruity acid to smoothen the grease of the wonderful paté.

They have a website, where they explain the history and the philosophy of the Missiaen family:

"Jan Missiaen belongs to the fifth generation of a butcher's family. 25 years ago, we write 1980, the meat-products atelier "De Veurn'Ambachtse" was founded in Alveringem. From the first day onwards, it was the intention to work in an artisanal way. So, instead of using industrial production methods, only artisanal procedures are used."

Our visit simply proved the truth of this statement.

VINOWALT http://www.vinowalt.be/PotjePat%C3%A9.htm

't POTJE PATE

In 2001 Jan’s son Joris and daughter Carmen joined the business and expanded De Veurn’Ambachtse by opening what they called the Praat-, eet- en kunstcafé ‘t Potje Pâté.  The first part of the name means the ‘chat-, eat- and art-café’ – we have to confess that we have looked at the pictures, chatted a certain amount, but given most of our attention to the central function of the café, which is, after all, meant to be a showcase for their gastronomic delights.

The menu includes small appetiser portions of pâté, cheese or both, and soup of the day with bread; it moves on to traditional open sandwiches, with various toppings, served with side salads; Belgian favourites such as shrimp or cheese croquettes; local specialities such as boards of meat, pâté, or cheeses – this includes the favourite (if you’ve got help and both have room for it!) a whole dish of pâté for two, accompanied by all the trimmings and a large bottle of Abbey beer (or wine, if you must!); all kinds of steaks; children's portions (which can be ordered by adults who aren’t so hungry – no ageism here!); and the Dagschotel – dish of the day – listed on the blackboards and always good value as long as you’re rather hungry.  And if you want to skip the savouries there’s a wicked range of desserts!

In the shop next door you can choose from over 40 different types of pâté – many made with beer - terrine and even foie gras.  They are now using vacuum sealed containers which will keep some months without refrigeration, so it’s not a problem to take a selection home.  The shop also offers sturdy shopping bags and souvenir beer pots, as well as condiments like the delicious onion pickle they offer in the café.

It's hardly surprising that all our trips to Flanders include at least one visit to 't Potje Pâté!

http://www.simpson.uk.com/beers/Belgium/index.htm