5x Brabant on Your Plate
Brabanders, a bunch of farmers? An outdated cliché. Although the farmers, fishermen and growers who live there are certainly worth a visit. FavorFlav recommends five top delicacies and addresses for the ultimate foodie road trip through the Brabant countryside. We say: go for it.
Bergen op Zoom anchovies
For the best fresh anchovies, go to Bergen op Zoom. There – or rather, in the Oosterschelde – 84-year-old Cor van Dort has been fishing for anchovies since he was fifteen. The Bergen delicacy is available at his home from the end of April until approximately the end of June. When the catch is good, Cor preserves his fish in salt. Either way, take a jar home for a top-notch salade niçoise. Artilleriestraat 63, Bergen op Zoom
…and Bergen op Zoom oyster mushrooms
We’ll stay in Bergen op Zoom a little longer and descend into a damp city cellar. There, Jolanda Vermaas grows the meatiest oyster mushrooms in the province. She got the idea after a visit to Rotterzwam – you know, the one in the old Tropicana – and, like her Rotterdam colleagues, uses coffee grounds. Kilos of them go through the cellar every week, because Jolanda’s freshly harvested mushrooms sell like hot cakes. More precisely, at delicatessen shop Tapavino. That’s where the Bergen op Zoom oyster mushrooms are sold to private customers. Bosstraat 7, Bergen op Zoom
Farmhouse cheese and butter from Udenhout
The dairy cows belonging to Joris and Mascha Mathijssen from Udenhout spend the entire year in the barn. This is how the couple guarantees consistent quality in colour, aroma and flavour. As the only cheesemakers outside Leiden, they are allowed to make traditional Boeren-Leidse cheese: a powerful 30+ cheese with a hint of cumin. Not exactly Brabantian, but a superb cheese nonetheless. Mathijssen’s products are available, among other places, at Boergondisch in Den Bosch. And while you’re there: the raw-milk farmhouse butter is also an absolute must-buy. Vughterstraat 59, Den Bosch
For the juiciest beef burgers, head to Esch. That is, if you get there in time.
Asparagus from Cromvoirt
From thin to thick, unpeeled to peeled and white to violet: for asparagus in every shape and size, go to Verhoeven in Cromvoirt. Every year, you can get your fill there during asparagus month in May. St. Lambertusstraat 77, Cromvoirt
Beef burgers from Esch
For the juiciest beef burgers, head to Esch. That is, if you get there in time. The stock at Wagyu farm ’t Halsebroek usually sells out in no time. So check the Facebook page before setting off to see what’s available. Lucky? Then go straight for a whole box. The contents vary and include a selection of entrecôte, steak, silverside or rib cuts, stewing beef, sausages and minced beef. And those beef burgers, of course. They absolutely have to go in your basket. Halsebroek 2, Esch
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