After our massivo day in Brugge, we hightailed it down to meet Chrisophe and Maayan, Chris' parents and his cousin An and her family at the infamous Market Hall for The Taste of Ghent - lots of local restaurants displaying their wares for the mere price of a few tokens.
(nobody looks happy in this picture, but believe me - we're ecstatic to be there!)
The Market Hall is a great idea, an open, covered area for all sorts of different events. However, it is stark architectural contrast to the rest of the buildings that surround it.
Accordingly to Chris' Mum, Lyn, there was quite the debate in Ghent about the planning and then subsequent building of what most people in Ghent think is a monstrosity. But, it doesn't stop people from using it....
Lyn said, "I hate it, I just look away."
We wanted to take a little bit of Ghent home with us, so we stocked up on Cuberdons and chocolate (as if they're going to make it home!) and even grabbed a little pot of Ghent's incredibly famous (even more betterer than Dijon) mustard.
Chris took us this lovely, olde worlde mustard shop and we tried the Ghent-famous Tierenteyn-Verlent Mustard.
The lady dipped a couple of little wooden spoons into a huge mustard pot, not unlike Winnie the Pooh would have done to honey, if he were more refined, and handed us a sample of the famous mustard. I only put a bit on my tongue, as I was warned it was a bit spicy, and my tastebuds instantly sat up and shouted "what the hell are you doing?"
This distinctive mustard is only found in Ghent and the Tierenteyn-Verlent mustard shop has been producing it for more than two hundred years without change. The small shop is almost always crowed with a mix of locals and tourists, all admiring the apothecary bottles lining the old fashioned store. The mustard is made on site in the basement and is the only place in the world where you can buy it.
The sting was sharp, but it only lasted a brief moment, leaving you wanting to lick the spoon again!
No comments:
Post a Comment