Gourmet gifts ‘Made in Belgium’

Our pick of the best Christmas presents to eat and drink with a Belgian flavour

One present that is guaranteed to hit the spot is something yummy to eat or drink. Choose a luxury or original product to raise it to gift status. And if it’s made in Belgium you can be sure to satisfy. Christmas markets across the country are one source of home-made goodies where you usually get the chance to sample before buying.

Drink

On the liquid front the country now proposes numerous alcoholic alternatives to beer, although with the number of varieties Belgium offers there’s no difficulty downing a different brew every day of the year. While supermarkets offer an excellent range of well-priced Christmas beer specials, frequently accompanied by complimentary speciality glass, consider purchasing a less well-known product from a local or micro-brewery. In winter, darker brews hit the right note and you can’t go wrong with one of Belgium’s potent six Trappist beers: Orval, Rochefort, Chimay, Westmalle, Westvleteren and Achel

Turning  to wine, our favourite regional bubbly Cuvée Ruffus has just been awarded for its Franco Dragone Vintage. The oak-matured vintage blend of chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot meunier, harvested in 2009, was placed in the 2012 top ten sparkling wines in the world in an international competition in Dijon, France. Only 4,000 numbered bottles are available, each decorated with a Swarovski crystal (€38).

For other Belgian wines, grown both in Flanders and Wallonia, check out Mig’s World Wines near Place Stéphanie. It proposes an excellent selection of home-grown brews (including Roisin fruit wines from the Mons area) among its 700 wines from over 35 countries, 200 spirits and some 40 beers. Miguel and his trusty team are on hand for advice and recommendations.

When it comes to hard liquor or aperitifs, you are guaranteed to surprise with The Belgian Owl Whisky (pictured), the award-winning handcrafted single malt from the Owl Distillery near Liège. Also down in Wallonia is the Biercée Distillery in the Hainaut province. Specialising in eau-de vie and liqueurs, its flagship product is Eau de Villée, but the distillery also makes pekèt and a range of limited editions in beautifully decorated bottles, such as Fleur d’Hibiscus. For the Christmas period it sets up stands in the Woluwe shopping centre and Westland in Anderlecht.

Heading north, a regional Flemish speciality and gin-based aperitif is Jenever. De Klok in Serskamp, East Flanders is a family distilling business that has some particularly tasty offerings, inlcluding the traditional and home-made egg nog drink Advokaat. Available in chocolate, vanilla and lemon flavours, it is particularly  revered for its high 22% alcohol content. Speculoos and cherry alcohols are tempting for the festive period and the company also sells jams, chutneys, advokaat-filled chocolates and other gift hamper foodie goodies, all available from local delis.

Chocolate

After beer, the other eponymous offering is chocolate. Again, supermarkets are a good starting place, especially if the gift is destined for sending abroad. For originality and less packaging, pick an artisan range which you can find in local patisseries and delis. In addition to the popular names we like Frederik Blondeel, Laurent Gerbaud, Zäabar Factory Shop and if you planning on a little bulk buying why not visit a factory store. One of the biggest is Neuhaus Outlet, in Vlezenbeek, where you can buy pralines by the kilo in plain boxes or sachets and buy decorated tins (useful for air travel) separately for packaging yourself. Plus free sampling! We are also impressed by Neuhaus’ Christmas range of three chocolate logs (pictured) which come in three flavours: Peruvian chocolate, raspberry and coffee & hazelnut. Each handmade offering is presented in a wooden gift box and while not a snip at €28, is so rich and intense that a little goes a long way. Other factory outlets are Corné Port-Royal in Wavre (check out their new beer pralines), and Godiva in Jette.

Hampers

If you going down the hamper route, Rob The Gourmets' Market in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre has a Totally Belgian selection at €70 (beers, jam, honey, mustard, speculoos and chocolate). Offering a more distinctive Belgian gift is made easy by the number of companies proposing regional products.

Lekker Limburgs in Hasselt has artisan jenevers, wine, mustards, honeys and preserves. A feast of goodies from Flemish Brabant is centralised in Halle's Regional Products Centre. It has more than 200 different products, including beer (Geuze and Kriek), fruit wines, pear-shaped pralines  (Lenniks Poireke), honey, Confiserie Pascaline sweets, hams, waffles, chocolates and Pajottenland specialities. If you take a trip to their store, fill your basket with a personalised selection of items and they will be gift wrapped in a box or basket.

Back in Brussels, another one-stop shop is Spirit of Wallonia (S.O.W) which showcases the best products of the region: Duval chocolate, Destrée biscuits, Bister mustard, Delvaux and Aubel fruit syrups, fairtrade coffee, Dubuisson, de Bocq and Dupont breweries, numerous wine domains and much more.

Alternatively, source one or two top-of-the-range products at Le Marché des Chefs in Rue Lens, Ixelles. The fine food business which caters to private as well as professional buyers, is also an excellent place for finding quality ingredients for your Christmas dinner. It has an awe-inspiring range of authentic and tasty fruit and veg, cheese, poultry, meat and seafood, many of which come from France. And don’t forget the business was established on the back of its reputation for fresh foie gras. marchedeschefs<at>skynet.be 02.647.40.50.

Finally, trusty gift box Bongo have just launched We're From Belgium which offers 44 activities, including many foodie experiences.