Spring is in the air, which means BBQ. We knew the weather was going to be great today, so we headed out to purchase a grill at the local Brico (Think Home depot but in a smaller, more euro version). We opted for a standard Weber kettle grill. This one is slightly larger than the one we had in the US. That was more by chance than by design. I actually wanted a smaller grill. Being expat, empty nesters and the modest scale of European grillables, I have a feeling that this one is a wee bit of overkill, but we shall see.
When we first were planning to move to Belgium, we had read an article that led us to believe that we would have to pay a tax every time we ran a grill to offset the CO2 emissions. It went so far as to claim that the grill police would fly over in helicopters with infrared cameras to catch miscreant BBQ enthusiasts. As you might suspect, that is green urban legend, Belgians grill.
To christen the Grill, we are doing ribs and potato salad. I love slow cooking ribs. They are the perfect food for a weber. A dry-rub, a little bit of charcoal and some patience and you can have juicy, succulent ribs. My Rib Rub is pretty simple:
4 Parts Chili Powder (I like Penzeys)
1 Part Garlic Powder
1Part Ground Cumin
1.5 Parts Onion Powder
.5 Parts Oregano
I don’t add salt to my rub. I like to rub the ribs and let them sit for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. When you add salt, you draw the moisture out, which is missing the point. I also don’t add any brown sugar. That just burns and leaves a bad taste. I will lightly salt the ribs before I put them on the grill with Kosher salt. The key to ribs is to put them on the grill and leave them alone. The more you fiddle with them, the worse they will be.
She who must be obeyed has a limited culinary repertoire, but potato salad is in it. She makes a really good one. I could do with a little less celery, but otherwise it is really tasty. Her sauce is essentially Mayo + Dijon mustard and some chili powder. Simple, but really tasty.
Ours is a split household on the BBQ Sauce front. She who must be obeyed likes a traditional ketchup based sauce like the Jack Daniels BBQ Sauce. I on the other hand prefer either no sauce or something with a Vinegar backbone. BBQ sauce in Belgium however is a mystery. She who must be obeyed found a spicy Jack Daniels BBQ sauce in what appears to be a steak sauce bottle. Clearly they do not apply sauce like Americans.
Packaging is something that we have really noticed in Belgium. Everything is packaged smaller here. Paper towels are smaller, jars of condiments are smaller. Things like razors have fewer in a pack. Toothpaste, Deodorant, shampoo are all packaged in line with TSA guidelines whether you are traveling or not. Sam’s club Mongo packaging would simply not compute here. Obviously space is at a premium. Our European “full-size” refrigerator is only slightly larger than the dorm fridge we bought the Sun Devil her freshman year. This fits with the European lifestyle of daily shopping, but it is an adjustment. If we do Thanksgiving here this year, I have no idea what we will do.
For the beer review of the evening, we have a Lupulus from Les 3 Fourquets. According to their website, Lupulus got its name from the latin for hops humulus lupulus, or little wolf. This is a turbid, hoppy beer with quite a lot of herbal and fruity notes to it. Most noticeable is it’s almost creamy mouthfeel. A tasty, crisp offering. I give it Three and a Half Drunk Monks!
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