the delectable foodie issue

Transcription

volume 01 — issue 05
Neighbourhood Life + Global Style
lifestyle
Midnight Burning
fashion
Gastro Weaponry
Do not throw on the public domain.
belgium
Snack Life
— the delectable foodie issue —
design
Dirty Dishes
culture
Mood Food
MYSTERIOUS Invisible Built-in Switches
MYSTERIOUS
Invisible Built-in Switches
Interieur08
hall 5 /stand 524
www.mysterious.be
Interieur08
hall 5 /stand 524
www.mysterious.be
editor's letter
Why is it that I can already hear Hettie saying “I told you so”?!
The Word is
Nicholas Lewis
Indeed, never has Belgium – and our cherished capital city more specifically–
seemed so vacant and, well, dead-like. Countless interviews have been
cancelled, photo shoots delayed and features re-planned due to our country’s
total standstill during the month of August.
Advertising
Benoit Berben
Editor-at-Large
Hettie Judah
She had warned us, but we knew better didn’t we?! The power of learning by
personal experience huh? Never again…
Design
Delphine Dupont
+ pleaseletmedesign
Altough we did manage to concoct one mouthful of an issue, so get
your bibs out.
Our back-to-school issue sees us uncover Belgium’s less tourist-attractive
culinary side with an account of radical urban gastro-invasions, doing a day’s
worth of rounds with the country’s highway-bound fi sherman and get our
grease-fi x at some of our favourite snacks around.
Lithography
Olivier Dengis @ Mistral
Photography / Illustration
Geneviève Balasse
Jean-Baptiste Biche
Ulrike Biets
Pierre Debusschere
Arnaud De Harven
Kris De Smedt
Sarah Eechaut
Sven Laurent
Denis Meyers
Sarah Michielsen @ Outlandish
Opération Panda
Yassin Serghini
Sam Sisk
Gaëlle Sutour
We attend to our bad conscience with a look into Europe and Belgium’s
shameful waste record whilst very contrarily have ourselves one futurefantastic food fight for our fashion pages. Hum, we wondered about this
obvious confl ict of directions but, hey, everybody is human.
Our slightly more light-hearted and lifestyle-led pages see us having loungeshaped cakes made especially for us courtesy of Belgian Master pastry-makers
Wittamer and Fabrice Collignon, setting ourselves a misty-eyed night shop
challenge with larger-than-life food buff Hughes Belin whilst we team up with
photographer Arnaud De Harven for a trip around the world’s tastiest streets
– all this from 1000 Brussels.
And this isn’t to mention our spice-induced Showstoppers selection, our study
of the link between food and colour and our winked reference to the country’s
love affair with chocolate spreads.
Writers
Alex Deforce
Collette Hutchinson
Hettie Judah
Laura Vannerom
Karen Van Godtsenhoven
Geraldine Vanhout
Randa Wazen
Nicholas Lewis
We weren’t about to do it Ready, Steady, Cook-style now were we?!
Before we leave you to get grease stains all over the following pages, allow us to
remind you of the need to re-subscribe on our website if you want to continue
receiving the magazine at home as of January 2009. At a mere €18 for six
issues, you really don’t have any excuses not to, if you ask us.
In the meantime, enjoy your meal.
Thank You’s
Melisande McBurnie
Phuong Nguyen
Coralie Rutten
Séverine Vaissaud
Mum, AJ & UK
© Fred Bastin
The Word is published six times
a year by JamPublishing,
107 Rue Général Henry Straat
1040 Brussels, Belgium.
Reproduction, in whole or in
part, without prior permission
is strictly prohibited.
All information correct up to the
time of going to press.
The publishers cannot be held
liable for any changes in this
respect after this date.
Nicholas Lewis
On this cover
Bubble Black
THE FIFTH WORD — 7
contents page
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
8 — THE FIFTH WORD
Cover
The Delectable Foodie Issue
Ad
Mooi
Ad
Mooi
Ad
Niko
Ad
Niko
Ad
Absolut
Editor’s letter
No5
Contents Page N°1
You’re Looking at It
Ad
Saab
Contents Page N°2
The Page After This One
Ad
Bombay Sapphire
Contributors
It’s A Word’s World
Ad
Aspria
The Diary
Fridge Post-its
The Diary
Our Pick of Agenda Fillers – Belgium
The Diary
Our Pick of Agenda Fillers – Belgium
The Diary
Our Pick of Agenda Fillers – Belgium & UK
The Diary
Our Pick of Agenda Fillers - UK
The Diary
Our Pick of Agenda Fillers –Holland
The Diary Our Pick of Agenda Fillers – France & Gifts Galore
Ad
Interiors 08
The Foodie Papers
Title Page
The Foodie Papers
Guerilla Cuisine
The Foodie Papers
Fritter Fashion
The Foodie Papers
Getting Chippy
The Foodie Papers
Mama Said Eat It Fresh & BBF
As Seen by Gaelle
The Food Fantastic Adventure
Now
Before The Biennial
Now
Before The Biennial
The Word On
Snack Culture
The Word On
Snack Culture
The Institution
Mister Fisher Man
The Institution
Mister Fisher Man
Three of the Best
Kitchen Scales
Three of the Best
Kitchen Scales
I’ll Take Mine To Go
Showstoppers
Showstoppers
Showstoppers
Worldclass
Ad
Waste Full
Living It
Waste Full
Living It
Waste Full
Living It
Amnesty International
Ad
Night Shop Dining
The Challenge
Night Shop Dining
The Challenge
Dinner Table Belgium
The Photo Album
Dinner Table Belgium
The Photo Album
Food Wars
The Fashion Word
Food Wars
The Fashion Word
Food Wars
The Fashion Word
www.saab-ids.be
Double Turbo
Double Fun
Launch offer :
"Pilot Pack"
s3ATELLITENAVIGATIONSYSTEM (DVD) with colour touchscreen,
advanced voice recognition
s!UDIOSYSTEM7,3
s3AABPARKINGASSISTANCE
s0REPARATIONFORHANDSFREE
mobile phone.
€550 EX VAT*
.ORMALPRICEÑEX VAT
Test-drive the new Saab 9-3 TTiD at your local dealer.
The slow-moving lorry should be celebrated because the new Saab TTiD boasts
a two-stage turbo. Two sequential turbochargers generate huge amounts of
mid-range torque – torque you can actually feel as you accelerate. So now you
can approach overtaking with a sense of anticipation rather than trepidation.
Who would have thought that being sensible could be such fun?
If you’re an expat, diplomat or a member of the armed forces, special terms apply :
more information at your dealership or at www.saab-ids.be
Saab IDS Dealers :
A.B.A."RUSSELSsBALTIC MOTORS'ENT:WIJNAARDEsBEHERMAN ANTWERPEN!NTWERPENs
BEHERMAN BRUSSELS"RUSSELS3INT3TEVENS7OLUWEsBEHERMAN LIEGE,IáGEs BORGEIND3CHOTENs
BOURGOO+NOKKE(EISTsCALLENS-BOUCKAERT7AREGEM/UDENAARDEsCHOQUET-JANSSENS4OURNAIs
DE PRETRE2OESELAREsDI NITTO$ILSENsGILCON,EUVEN(AASRODEsHENCKAERTS$IEPENBEEKs
KEGELS/UD4URNHOUTsLIEVENS'EELsPEETERS7ATERLOOsTUTTO-MOTOR-ARCINELLEsWILLEMS-ONS
BEHERM A N E UROPE A N
*VALID UNTILL 31/10/08. ENVIRONNEMENTAL INFORMATION: WWW.SAAB.BE SAAB 9-3 1.9TTID: FUEL CONSUMPTION IN COMBINED DRIVING (L/KM) 5,6 - 6,9. CO2 EMISSION (G/KM) 149 - 184.
contents page
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
The Fashion Word
The Fashion Word
The Fashion Word
The Fashion Word
The Fashion Word
Pastryesque
Pastryesque
I Want to Eat You Up
Ad
Pencil Perfect
Pencil Perfect
Design
Design
Food and Design
Food and Design
Shelf Absorbed
Shelf Absorbed
The Study
The Study
Diner’s Check
Diner’s Check
Diner’s Check
Ad
Eye-Opener
Eye-Opener
Eye-Opener
Eye-Opener
Eye-Opener
Eye-Opener
The Word on the Street
Ad
Our Playlist
Ad
Stockists
Ad
Advertisers’
Advertisers’
The Last Word
The Last Word
What’s Next
Ad
Back Cover
Food Wars
Food Wars
Food Wars
Food Wars
Food Wars
Piece of Cake
Piece of Cake
At The Candy Shop
At The Candy Shop
At The Candy Shop
Burberry
The Chocolate Bunch
The Chocolate Bunch
Dish Out The Dirt
Dish Out The Dirt
The Non-Conformist
The Non-Conformist
Book Bites
Book Bites
United Colours of Food
United Colours of Food
Hawkers’ Food
Hawkers’ Food
Hawkers’ Food
Lufthansa
Sugar Fix
Sugar Fix
Sugar Fix
Sugar Fix
Sugar Fix
Sugar Fix
The Taste of Paint
The Taste of Paint
The Taste of Paint
The Taste of Paint
The Taste of Paint
The Taste of Paint
The Taste of Paint
Subscribe to The Word
Songs We Eat
Superdry
…And Others We Love
The RUG Company
Round Up
Round Up
The Demise of The Grocer
The Demise of The Grocer
The Essential Luxuries
NDC
Delvaux
contributors
Pholoso Selebogo
Stylist
© Olivier Donnet
It’s a
Word’s
World
Poor Pholo. We had asked the
unimaginable in terms of timing
and knew the pressure was well
and truly on her to deliver. She
went into overdrive and did
more than deliver, much more.
We even had such a laugh on
the day of the shoot itself that
it seemed as though we had
known her for years. Well, she’s
family now.
Ulrike Biets
Photographer
Although it took us close to
three weeks to actually meet
up – erroneous emails, cancellations, don’t ask – we fi nally
hooked up with Ulrike one
summer afternoon at Brussels’
Roi des Belges. We knew we
wanted her to shoot our Night
Shop Challenge and weren’t
disappointed with the result.
We can only hope it is the shape
of better things to come.
—
Pages n° 48, 49, 50, 51,
52, 53, 54, 55
—
Pages n° 44, 45
—
Pages n° 64, 65
© Sam Sisk
We had heard of Jean-Biche’s
talent for some time now, had
promised ourselves that we
would eventually contact him,
and fi nally did. With commissions by the likes of Another
Magazine and The New York
Times, Jean-Biche has carved
out quite some niche for himself. We asked him to illustrate
our Chocolate Spread feature
and he hit the spot just right.
Expect to see more of him in
following issues.
© Pierre Debusschere
Jean-Baptiste Biche
Illustrator
Karen Van Godtsenhoven
Writer
Brussels-based freelance writer
Karen was bursting with ideas
right from the fi rst email she
sent us. Resourceful and persevering, we’re glad we asked her
to look into old-age grocers for
our Last Word column. The
going most defi nitely was tough
– grocers are a dying breed
– but she came through. One
you’re also sure to see more off
in issues to come.
Pierre Debusschere
Photographer
Pierre is another one of those
photographers we’re taking
every chances to work with
whilst we still can as this here
kid is sure to be off for bigger
and better prospects anytime
soon. He had already contributed to our Secret Society issue’s
Eye-Opener series and we knew
it would only be a matter of time
before we asked him to shoot our
Fashion ones. A delight.
—
—
Page n° 96, 97
Pages n° 48, 49, 50, 51,
52, 53, 54, 55
Time to take care of yourself?
Time to meet our experts!
Stressful life? No time? Lack of motivation?... The reasons are numerous but the results are the same: you are not active
enough and your body is not in condition - back pain, weight gain, general fatigue...
At Aspria Club the experts can create
a tailor-made solution for you
At Aspria Club the experts
motivate you
Come and discuss your objectives with our team of experts and start achieving your goals. They are all high
qualified specialists and you can meet them all on
Our Experts will introduce you to a 3 step programme which
will give you the best start to your Aspria Membership. If
you accomplish the 3 step programme within 4 weeks of
joining the Club you will receive `30 on your Membership
Card - a gift that will allow you to benefit from the many
experts and activities available at Aspria Club.
www.aspria-experts.be
Aspria Club:
Expertise in Sports, Fitness, Group classes,
Personal Training & Nutrition, Post-natal reshaping,
Beauty treatments & Massages.
To take advantage of this exceptional offer, simply
contact us on 02/508 08 12.
Aspria Club - the sports and wellness experts
Rue de l’Industrie 26 - 1040 Brussels - www.aspriaclub.be - Tel. 02/508 08 12
the diary
the diary
The Next Few Weeks’
Agenda Fillers
Belgium,

© Rauschenberg
Turkish Delight
British artist Gavin Turk
examines the meaning of being
an artist, whilst at the same
time explores issues of authority and originality. Be it his
revisited Warhol serigraphy, his
bronze-cased everyday items or
his installations, Turk always
manages to make reference
to modern realities without
glorifying them. His exhibition
at Brussels’ Aeroplastic, the
closest one gets to a retrospective, brings together his work
focusing on waste as well as
presenting work, on the second
ﬂoor, of four up-and-coming
artists championed by Turk
himself. A welcome initiative
and an exhibition we’re looking
forward to.
© Peter Downsbrough
Courtesy Erna Hecey Gallery, Brussels
The Designers’ Trail @ Centrale Electrique, from 24th to 26th October 2008
The fashion pack comes out in force for this 3-day long jamboree showcasing Brussels’ tight-knitted fashion scene.
www.zeno-x.com
The in-betweeners
Saved by the Bell
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Marlene Dumas
À Until 11th October 2008
☞ Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

www.ernahecey.com
www.muhka.be
One of the grandees of contemporary painting, Marlene
Dumas’ heavy-hitting yet oddly
disturbing work often depicts the
under-represented classes in a
chillingly blunt and unassuming
manner. Often referred to as an
“intellectual expressionist”, this
Amsterdam-based South-African
has made raw and uncut paintings her forte. Dumas’ striking
and sometimes violent brush
strokes, unashamedly frank
portraits and hidden sociological
meanings make for a powerful
and disconcerting overall visual
aesthetic. Make sure to catch this
one before it closes.

Peter Downsbrough
☞ Erna Hecey Gallery, Brussels
De Orde Der Dingen
À From 12 th September 2008
until 4th January 2009
☞ Muhka, Antwerp

Visually Precise
It is sometimes difﬁcult to place
Peter Downsbrough’s work
in any particular category or
school as he so seemingly (and
easily) crosses the boundaries
between video art, photography
and typographic installations.
Often of intense geometrical
precision, his work contains a
somewhat soothing element,
continuously using lines,
planes, negative spaces and
delimitations as frameworks
within which to work with.
Also very much interested in
the use of space and the way in
which we engage it, his shows
are as much about the art work
itself as they are about the
actual invasion of the space.
© Courtesy of Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp

Pixel Perfect
The Order of Things begins
with photo-artist Roy Arden’s
web-based project The World
as Will and Representation,
a body of work comprising a
mind-boggling 30,000 (and
more) jpegs. Used as a departing point for the rest of the
exhibition, Arden’s work seeks
to explore the use – and wider
meaning – of archival imagery
in today’s visually-saturated
contemporary art world.
Though the exhibition further
looks into the use of archival
images through other works
of art such Thomas Ruff’s
iconic jpeg, it is the prospect of
witnessing Arden’s phenomenal
project ﬁ rst-hand which has us
growing impatient.

Gavin Turk – You Known I know
He Knows We Know
☞ Aeroplastic, Brussels
© Gavin Turk

www.aeroplastics.net
the diary
© 5-5 Deisgners

Design Clash
A mishmash of symposiums,
conferences, talks, events,
awards and exhibitions, Brussels’ Design September brings
together more than 100 designers
and architects during the month
of September for what always
promises to be an intellectuallystimulating, full four weeks.
Sponsored – among many others
– by that oh so design-conscious
blue drinks (that would be
Bombay Sapphire), festival
highlights include a speciallycommissioned show on food
design, a talk given by Jurgen
Bey, an exhibition (COI) showcasing contemporary practices in
graphic design with the object as
central theme as well as the notto-be-missed Brussels Design
Market on 14th September.
Hella Jongerius
À Until 12 th October 2008
☞ Design Museum, Ghent
© Ann-Mie Van Kerckhoven
Design September 2008
À From 7th until 30 th
September 2008
☞ Various venues around Brussels
www.design.museum.gent.be

The Drawing Board
Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven is a
multi-disciplinary artist whose
work spans countless mediums,
from painting and photography to
computer-generated imagery and
video. For her ﬁrst major survey
exhibition in Belgium, Brussels’
Wiels chooses to focus on the
medium which Van Kerckhoven
has favoured since the mid-seventies: drawing. Psychologicallycharged, slightly in-your-face
and full of wit, the drawings offer
a peek into the diary-like world
– and thinking process – of this
highly accomplished multimedia artist. Showcased in what
is quickly becoming Brussels’
answer to London’s Tate Modern,
the exhibition does a ﬁne job of
presenting Van Kerckhoven at
her best and most intimate.
© Julien Oppenheim
Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven
Nothing More Natural
À Until 2nd November 2008
☞ Wiels, Brussels
www.wiels.org
Brussels Affordable Art Fair @ European Training Institute
From 23rd October 2008 to 26th October 2008 – second edition of annual art fair
showcasing reasonably-priced art sold directly from the artists themselves.
www.designseptember.be

True School
A graduate of Eindhoven’s
famed Design Academy, Hella
Jongerius is one of the most
exciting and innovative designers of our time. Although she
began producing – and still
does – many editions for the
likes of Droog Design and
design powerhouse Vitra,
Jongerius today produces her
work through her own Rotterdam-based Jongeriuslab. With
pieces such as her vases for Ikea
and her renowned Rotterdam
Chair on show, Ghent’s Design
Museum’s exhibition promises
to be an invigorating one. We
covered her in our Getaway issue’s Wrappers’ Delight so this
is simply homecoming for us.
Royal Homecoming
There’s fashion and then there’s
Maison Martin Margiela.
Renowned as much for his
deconstructed approach to
fashion as for his understated
demeanor, the Belgian fashion
designer celebrates 20 years in
the business this year for which
he is given a fitting exhibition
at Antwerp’s Fashion Museum.
Cutting short of a full retrospective, the show highlights
those themes which Maison
Martin Margiela has made its
own in the conception of its
various different collections
over the last 20 years. Curated
and organized in close collaboration with the Maison itself – a
small selection of limited-edition items will go on sale during
the exhibition - this one is sure
to be an office favourite.
Maison Martin Margiela 20
The Exhibition
À Until 8 th February 2009
☞ Momu, Antwerp
www.momu.be
the diary
United Kingdom,
The Butterfly Effect
Mexican photographer Erika
Harrsch uses the human body
as a central element to her work,
utilizing it as the harnessing
factor for her many creations.
For her exhibition at Charleroi’s Photography Museum,
Harrsch presents Eros-Thanatos, a visual and audio canvas
representing the cycle of life
on earth. The photographic
installation comprises a carpet
of more than 60,000 paper
butterfl ies which exhibitiongoers must walk on to get to a
video projection of a huge flock
of butterfl ies actually flying off
into the Mexican wilderness.

Erika Harrsch – Eros-Thanatos
À From 20 th September 2008
until 18 th January 2009
☞ Photography Museum,
Charleroi
Million Dollar Pixels
German artist Gerhard Richter,
one of the most important
artists of the post-World War
II period, has developed a
series of 49 paintings especially for this exhibition at the
Serpentine. 4900 Colours is
made up of brightly coloured
monochrome squares randomly
arranged in a grid that can be
reconﬁgured in different variations to create patterns of kaleidoscopic colour. Richter’s early
background took him from
advertising apprentice to stageset painter before studying at
the Dresden Art Academy. His
paintings now sell in the auction
rooms for millions. (CH)
Gerhard Richter 4900 Colours:
Version II
À From 23 rd September
until 16th November 2008
☞ Serpentine Gallery, London
www.museephoto.be
www.serpentinegallery.org
Willem De Kooning
À From 25th September
until 8 th November 2008
☞ Xavier Hufkens, Brussels
© Willem De Kooning
Paper Weight
One of the most respected
painters of the 20th century,
Willem de Kooning’s work
embraces several mediums,
from ink and charcoal to oil and
pencil. Renowned for his distinctive paintings of the female
ﬁgure, the master’s brush stroke
breathes a certain sense of urgency, one which maximizes the
expressive power of paint. The
exhibition at Xavier Hufkens
focuses on the artist’s work on
paper, revealing Willem’s overzealous work ethic, one which
is able to leave a simple stroke
as it is. Less is more we say, less
is more.

Bottling Art
A ﬁ rst generation immigrant,
Goicolea feels somewhat detached from his homeland – a
place he’s never truly known but
one which he is whole-heartedly aware of. Through drawing,
photography, sculpture and
installation he explores his
family history and identity as
well as looking at wider themes
such as ritual and alienation.
Using old family photographs
taken in Cuba and reinterpreting them through drawing and
painting, Goicolea layers them
onto glass and Mylar which are
then inverted to create positive
images. Mexican-Canadian
artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s
exhibition follows. (CH)
Anthony Goicolea
☞ Haunch of Venison, London
www.xavierhufkens.com
© Anthony Goicolea
www.haunchofvenison.com
the diary
© Francis Bacon

Art World Behemoth
Despite having died sixteen
years ago, Francis Bacon
remains one of the world’s most
famous artists. His figurative
images, often grotesque and
austere, remain in the minds of
all those familiar with the great
artists of the twentieth century.
This exhibition brings together
the most important paintings
from throughout Bacon’s life.
The raw emotion of his work
seen through the contorted
images of people and animals
make his some of the most
powerful images in art. Including his famous portrait of Pope
Innocent X and his renowned
triptych Three Studies for a
Crucifixion - this exhibition is a
must. (CH)
Francis Bacon
À From 11th September 2008
☞ Tate Britain, London
Cold War Modern:
Design 1945-1970
À From 25th September 2008
☞ Victoria & Albert Museum,
London
www.tate.org/britain
© Hesser Schmitt

Andy Warhol:
Other Voices, Other Rooms
À From 7th October 2008
until 18 th January 2009
☞ Hayward Gallery, London
© Robin Derrick
www.haywardgallery.org.uk
www.vam.ac.uk
Pop King
One of the most iconic figures
of the second half of the 20th
century, Andy Warhol made
his mark on popular culture
in a wholly unique way. His
massive contribution to the Pop
Art movement and his mixing
in diverse social circles make
Warhol a seminal figure of his
time. This exhibition showcases works from the 1950’s
through to the 1980’s, presenting his fi lms, installations,
paintings and general creativity
in a way that sheds new light
on a fl amboyant yet somewhat
mysterious character. Essential
viewing for any self-respecting
Warholites out there. (CH)

London Design Festival from 13th to 23rd September 2008, London
Packed full of design-led events throughout the second week of September,
the London Design Festival is as extensive as it gets.

Glaciers of Ice
During the Cold War era,
East and West competed over
nuclear arms, the space race
and world domination. But
those days were also heavily marked by another type of
rivalry: modernity. So imagine
our joy when we found out
that the V&A will reunite for
the fi rst time various art forms
from both sides of the Iron
Curtain during that period.
Expect countless modernist
treasures from paintings by
Picasso and Richter, fashion by
Paco Rabanne, Kubrick fi lms,
the Eameses and Dieter Rams
designs, architecture by Le
Corbusier, Buckminster Fuller
and Archigram, to a Sputnik
and an Apollo Mission space
suit. (RW)
Floral Beauty
It was instant love from the
minute we fi rst set our sights on
Robin Derrick’s photographs of
floral arrangements. A former
Vogue Art and Creative Director, Derrick examines the role
of beauty in photography, using
his unique studio – and, more
particularly, lighting – techniques to create exquisite prints.
This one only runs until 8th
October though so make sure
to fi nd an excuse to hop across
the channel for a weekend in the
next few weeks.
Robin Derrick – Cut Flowers
À From 18 th September
until 8 th October 2008
☞ The Old Train Depot, London
the diary
Holland,
De Luis Graphic Society, founded in Utrecht in the
1960’s, was essentially created
as a counter force to the era’s
preference for the avant-garde.
Indeed, the group – which comprised of painter J.H Moesman
amongst many others – had as a
main purpose the promotion of
interest in what they regarded
as the undervalued modern
graphic arts. Preferring poetic
and sometimes frankly bizarre
themes, the collective carved a
distinctive niche for itself, going
as far as creating a distribution
network, running graphic workshops and organizing exhibitions throughout the country to
further their agenda.
Nik Christensen
Better Spectacles
☞ Galerie Gabriel Rolt,
Amsterdam
www.foam.nl
www.rembrandthuis.nl

Eastern Promises
The 15th edition of the Fries
Museum’s International Photo
Festival sees it focusing on Eastern Block photographers. It
seems to be often forgotten that,
with the fall of the Berlin Wall,
most of the visual aesthetics
developed during the repressive
years were buried away so as
to not have any uncomfortable
memories resurface. This is
made right with the Photo Festival, which focuses on the works
of over 35 photographers whose
pictures were banned during
the regime’s years. Essential
viewing for those keen to get a
glimpse of what surely is one
of the most historically fraught
periods of this century.
© William D. Kuik
Frieze Art Fair from 16th to 19th October 2008, London
The one responsible for making of art fairs celebrity-studded affairs, Frieze is most
definitely the grand daddy of them all.
Miyako Ishiuchi
Photographs 1976-2005
until 16th November 2008
☞ Foam Gallery, Amsterdam

© Miyako Ishiuchi
Beautifully Human
Japanese photographer Miyako
Ishiuchi’s work essentially
pays tribute to the beauty of
the human body and the traces
it might leave behind it. She
fi nds beauty where others
wouldn’t even think of looking
for it, such as empty houses and
their abandoned interiors. The
fi rst retrospective of its kind of
the artist’s work in Europe, the
exhibition showcases ninety
photographs spanning her
career’s last thirty years and
makes a fi ne job of representing
Ishiuchi’s different look on the
world surrounding her. Not to
be missed.

De Luis Graphic Society
(1960-1980)
À Until 16th November 2008
☞ Rembrandt House Museum,
Amsterdam
www.gabrielrolt.com

Visible Improvement
Put simply, Nik Christensen’s
work is brutal and intense.
Choosing to work with paper
and sumi ink, his work exudes
a soothing black-and-whiteness
about it, injecting a repetitious
element to add to the paintings’ overall sense of urgency.
Be it an upside down bucket,
an umbrella or a rowboat,
Christensen often uses simple,
everyday objects in a militarylike discipline, making for an
eerie yet often witty portrayal
of the absurd. We like them
tilting towards the surreal and
this one most certainly does.
15th Nooderlicht International
Photofestival
☞ Fries Museum , Leeuwarden
www.noorderlicht.com
© Füles

the diary
& France.

Big City of Dreams
If New York had a muse or
brand ambassador, Aaron
Bondaroff (better known as
A-Ron to his downtown peeps)
would most deﬁ nitely be it. Not
part of any particular scene nor
afﬁ liated to a particular genre,
Aaron is modern day New York
at its best: quick-witted, ideacrazy and culture-mad. Which
is why he was asked by Colette
to curate its New York City
Timeline showcase. Meant as a
visual history chart of the city,
A-Ron was asked to represent
at best what his childhood
city meant to him. Made up
of collages, original works and
products, Colette is about to do
it Big Apple style for the month
of October.
www.colette.fr
Fiac Art Fair from 23rd to 25th October 2008, Paris
Internationally-reputed contemporary art fair held every year in the heart of Paris.
A definite agenda blocker.

All Rounder
Jose Berardo is one of Portugal’s
most important and successful
entrepreneurs, trading everything from gold to wine. The immense fortune he has been able
to amass has also allowed him to
indulge in his beloved passion:
modern and contemporary art.
With more than 860 works of
art – with everything ranging
from Mondrians to Kleins and
Stellas – the collection is a jewel
which only just recently was
made available for the public to
feast their eyes on. The Musée
du Luxembourg’s exhibition
showcases 70 works revolving
around surrealism, abstractionism and pop art and provides a
concise yet extensive account of
one man’s curatorial vision.
From Miro to Warhol
The Berardo Collection in Paris
À From 16th October 2008
until 22nd February 2009
☞ Musée du Luxembourg, Paris
www.museeduluxembourg.fr
What We’re Giving Away
Two pairs of tickets to the following concerts
Primal Scream at L’ Ancienne Belgique on Tuesday 23rd September 2008
Elephant Man at L’Ancienne Belgique on Saturday 25th September 2008
Matthew Herbert at L’Ancienne Belgique on Wednesday 1st October 2008
The Herbaliser at Botanique on Wednesday 8th October 2008
What you need to do. Email your full name, postal address and date of birth to [email protected], specifying which concert you wish to go
to in the subject line. The fi rst readers to do so will each win a pair of tickets.
Conditions. Until tickets last. Applies to Belgium only. Normal conditions apply.
the foodie papers
— This month’s Papers
see us carry out a culinary
high-jacking of some sorts
in remote urban quarters,
get a lesson in deep fried
fashion with master style
chef Mr Lespagnard and
question a certain ad’s
not-so-thinly disguised
reference to our supposed
national taste heritage.
Writers Laura Vannerom, Randa Wazen
and Hettie Judah
Photography Pierre Debusschere
and Yassin Serghini
© Feldküche
Guerilla Cooking the foodie papers
Guerilla Cooking
Feldküche is a nomadic restaurant project
that revisits the city, setting up camp in
abandoned and unusual places. Behind this
project are two passionate culinary types:
Michael and Christophe. They both met
in the early 90’s while studying contemporary music in Amsterdam. Christophe then
moved to Berlin where he started an experimental kitchen whilst Michael came straight
to Brussels to join the Ictus Ensemble with
whom he plays the clarinet. Christophe
followed suit a bit later, when he started
working with a Brussels-based performance
collective. The two got together again and
started experimenting with food, and so it is
that their field kitchen (FK) was born.
The idea’s main goal is to create a platform
of social events bringing together art and food
for no more than 50 people. Every event has
a theme and the basic format is an experimental four-course meal at €12. The menu, the
invite, the design as well as the audio set-up
is made according to the very place chosen, a
totally unique and one-off experience.
I was lucky enough to attend the opening of
their field activities in Brussels. It took place
at l’Elephant, which used to be an old welding
warehouse, now converted to a cultural space.
They wanted to celebrate the shortest day of
the year, featuring the 194 day anniversary
of the anarchic republic of Belgium. The aim
was to rekindle traditional Belgian dishes,
resulting in meatballs in chocolate sauce and
vegetable fries marinated in Kriek, followed
by stoemp glacé. A surprisingly original and
tasty menu. And true to the duo’s fresh and
far-fetched approach, Schubert’s Winterreise
was played and projected.
At another one of their FKs, the menu
consisted of 12 ingredients on a list, each
item with 4 to 5 different preparations.
“Feldküchers” had to assemble their own
menu using each ingredient only once. A
mind-boggling brainteaser for the kitchen
as well as the participants.
Their most memorable FK however was
themed “Funeral”. It exceptionally had
120 guests and 5 courses for a remarkable
€12. They decided on cooking a pig in an
earth oven following a modernised Māori
hāngi method (i.e. cooking food using super heated rocks buried in the ground in a
pit oven). Getting this right was pretty challenging to say the least. Luckily for all the
guests Michael and Christophe are good at
developing their own master plan. Picture
everyone sitting at long wooden tables in the
garden of an old empty hotel in Ixelles when
suddenly, just before the main course is to
be served, the pair starts digging the tomb
(remember the theme, hence buried food)
where the pig was slowly cooking since the
morning and which they conveniently omitted to tell the diners. Needless to say mouths
were watering and eye-balls wide-open.
What the future holds for our two enthusiastic cooks is anyone’s guess. There have been
talks of a Feldküche on a bus driving through
the city and two FK’s are planned in Berlin
for this Christmas.
But for those of you keen to find out more
about the events or to get invited to their next
guerrilla-style fest, subscribe to their mailing
list to get invited. You’ll just need to make sure
to reply in time as numbers are limited, although they do claim to be very democratic so
first come first served. Literally that is. (LV)
[email protected]
© Pierre Debusschere
the foodie papers Fritter Fashion
Fritter Fashion
Food and fashion are not normally considered the most usual of bed fellows but JeanPaul Lespagnard sees things differently. Indeed, this Belgian fashion designer recently
took the Festival of Hyeres’ audience by
storm when his models - 6.5 feet tall Dolly
Parton lookalikes clad in bright German and
western-inspired outfits - strutted down the
catwalk sporting the most patriotic of accessories: bracelets, sunglasses, earrings and
–wait for it– Belgian fries-shaped high heels.
The collection winning him two of the
three awards, Jean-Paul’s brand of ‘Belgitude’ had the fashion pack yearning for
more. Yet for someone who’s never been
afraid of delivering radical work, the show
was somewhat nerve wrecking. “I slightly
freaked out when I was admitted to the contest, but even more so when I found out I
was the only Belgian! Talk about a cliché:
here comes the Belgian guy stomping in with
his Belgian fries!” But the audience loved
it and reacted just as he would have wanted
it to, with a big smile. “I don’t want people
to look sad or too concentrated during my
shows. Fashion should be fun. Or at least
refl ect the designer’s personality. I am a
happy person and enjoy humour”, and his
latest collection most certainly exuded this.
“Ich will nen Cowboy als Mann” focuses
on Jacqueline, a hysterical young girl who
runs a fritkot. Her dream: to go to Texas. Her
aim: to marry a cowboy. Jean-Paul drew his
inspiration from various places: “It all started
with a piece of fabric which reminded me of
the paper wrapping fries. You know, the way
it gets transparent as the grease smudges…
Then I saw this documentary about Gitte, a
Danish pop star who sung ‘I want a cowboy
husband’ and Jacqueline was born”.
Don’t be fooled by the bright colours and
her blonde locks though, for she is obsessional and slightly demented. His next collection
will evolve around American hero Sylvester
Stallone. “I would like to create a mix of Cliff
Hanger and Rocky Balboa”, he reveals. But
Jacqueline won’t be too far: “We still have a
long journey ahead of us! To be honest, she
serves as a good medium to materialize my
wildest thoughts”
As for the food, it will remain, but in a
more subdued way. “The line I designed for
1.2.3 evolves around climbing. I want it to
have the same feeling as an After Eight. The
jumpers, for example, might seem warm like
the chocolate, but because they’re so thin, are
just as fresh as mint”. No more fries then?
“The fries could come back. It’s all about
phases. Klein, for instance, had his blue phase.
Well I have my fries phase and my Stallone
phase!” He also confesses to being obsessed
with food ever since he could remember. “One
of my great fantasies is to style a photo shoot in
a restaurant with food everywhere and women
table-dancing the sirtaki!”
Jean-Paul reckons his life radically
changed since Hyères. He’s since been appointed artistic director of a multi brand
boutique in Paris and French electro sensation Yelle wore his creations in her latest
video Ce Jeu. Yet despite his growing success, Jean-Paul makes it clear that he is intent
on keeping things real. “What moves me the
most is popular culture at its core. I’m not interested in working for the fashion elite. They
already have all they need and honestly, what
difference would I bring?” (RW)
© Yassin Serghini
Getting Chippy the foodie papers
Getting Chippy
Coming into the holding pattern over Zaventem airport at the end of the summer
holidays, many of us wondered whether
Belgium would still be there, in one piece,
when we touched down. It was, by the skin
of its teeth. But in place of internal strife, we
were greeted by apparent evidence of an invasion from North America.
A large billboard just outside the airport hailed us in local style; “Welcome to
Belgium, Home of French Fries”. Lovely,
thanks. Good to be back home. But before
we could get excited about dunking our chips
into curry-banana sauce, we noticed that this
call to national pride was brought to us by the
frozen food giant McCain, and illustrated
with a packet of the company’s Home Frit’.
It was enough to make us drop our waffles.
What on earth were those pesky, lobster-eating Canadian types doing hijacking our national heritage? Was this but the thin end of
the wedge? What next? Beavers in the Bois
de la Cambre? Mounties on Boulevard Anspach? Celine Dion in the Royal Palace?
Alas, such nationalistic spluttering
showed us up to be the kind of scum who only
ever buy frites late at night from greasy snack
bars. Had we had more of a balanced home
life (one that actually involved cooking) we’d
probably have known that McCain has long
been flogging frites made in Belgium, by Belgians, artfully constructed from Belgian potatoes and designed to match Belgian tastes.
McCain have had factories here since
1986, and according to Nielsen studies, the
company currently has a 27% share of the
retail market for fries in this country. The
Home Frit’ is a chip created by the Belgian
research and development team in 2003 and
has been, according to Heidi Verheyen, the
company’s head of marketing “very, very successful.” The secret, it seems, is in the uneven slicing pattern, “it’s not an industrial cut,
it’s a home-made cut. This is our artisanal
frite,” explains Verheyen. “A lot of people in
Belgium still make fries at home themselves,
and this answers that need. It has the look
and also the taste of home made fries.”
As well as the billboard outside Zaventem, Veryheyen has been overseeing a push
on fries throughout the summer months,
with television advertisements and in-store
promotions. “People come back from holiday and they want to eat French fries. Our
Home Frit’ are just the kind of frites that you
want to eat when you get home.”
The McCain ads may seem pretty rough
and ready, but they display precisely the kind
of local market sensitivity that global brands
currently consider gold-standard practice.
At the same time that McCain was developing its Belgium-only home fries, PepsiCo. Inc
was launching Turkish corn chips under its
Doritos label. The A La Turka chips came in
flavours like white cheese and sesame that referenced familiar dishes, and the company made
sure that Turkish consumers knew the chips
were ‘not available in the rest of the world’.
The idea that companies could produce
and market products according to a single, globally applicable template is being
replaced by post-global marketing. Also
known as ‘glocal’ brand development, the
idea is to take a company’s core product and
adapt it just enough not only to fit in with
local tastes, but also to appeal to local sensibilities and even national pride. Instead
of feeling invaded by a foreign brand, consumers will consider their country to have
merited special attention. (HJ)
© Yassin Serghini
the foodie papers Mama Said Eat It Fresh
Mama Said Eat It Fresh
Exclusively and religiously specialized in
seasonal produce only, Fresh Mama offers
a contemporary alternative to bland supermarket vegetables and SUV-friendly farmers’
markets. This grocer-cum-restaurant, situated in Uccle’s Brugmann area, celebrates taste
in its entire splendor and gives a new twist to
what being a confirmed veggie means.
Its innovative concept is articulated around
three goals: shop, eat and learn. Which means
you can either sit down and enjoy a healthy
meal from the ever-evolving seasonal menu
or just grab something ready to eat out. You’ll
also learn all about seasons (yes, they do exist)
and the impact they can have on your palate
through cooking lessons and an interactive
screen which contains extensive nutritional
information on the available products.
And if cutting a pineapple isn’t your forte,
the cooks at the open kitchen will be delighted to split it open for you. Just don’t expect to
find strawberries in September or tomatoes
in the winter. But then again we’d rather eat
them fresh and tasty once in a while, rather
than see them looking sad all year long! (RW)
Rue Xavier de Bue Straat 65
1180 Brussels
www.freshmama.com
as seen by gaelle
The Food
Fantastic
Adventure
now
Before
The Biennial
— Like the corsage on a girl on her way to the prom, Brussels’
first Biennial represents the city’s creative coming-of-age. Now
we get to play big art with the other new Biennial boys; Moscow,
Shanghai, Istanbul and Abu Dhabi.
Writer Hettie Judah
Photographer Sarah Michielsen @ Outlandish
01.
Before The Biennial now
03.
02.
04.
05.
Curator Barbara Vanderlinden sees Brussels
as the heart of a European area that takes in
the Netherlands, west Germany and northern France. In a novel example of architectural development via lack-of-consensus,
artistic control of the Biennial exhibition
sites - a derelict postal sorting office near
Gare du Midi, and part of the Aneessens
Metro station – has been divided between
curators from across the region.
01.
02.
03 - 06.
The National Bank
Brussels’ Tri Postal
The Anneessens Metro Station
06.
© Sarah Eechaut
the word on
01.
— We’ve made no
secret of it, our nation’s
countless purveyors of
fried goodness and overmayonnaised sauces are as
close to our hearts as the
late Bernie Mac was. And
although we’ve probably
spent one too many
nights in their vicinities,
we’ve actually never been
behind the counter. Until
today that is…
© Sarah Eechaut
Snack
Culture
02.
© Yassin Serghini
Photography Sarah Eechaut
and Yassin Serghini
Writer Nicholas Lewis
03.
© Sarah Eechaut
© Sarah Eechaut
Snack Culture the word on
05.
© Yassin Serghini
04.
© Sarah Eechaut
06.
08.
01.
02.
© Yassin Serghini
03.
04.
05.
06.
07.
08.
Dude, Where's my "Cornet / Hoorn"
Daily Reading Material
You Know You Want One
The Essentials
Red Dots & Oil
Going Hand-in-Hand
American Beauty
Rony The Fritman
07.
the institution
Mister
Fisher
Man
— Both Shirley and
Steven, Brussels’ two
remaining mobile fish
trucks, have been crisscrossing the country
for more than 20 years
now, hawking fresh fish
to Brussels’s seasidestarved masses direct from
Ostend. The pair have
an immaculetly-planned
and well-served network
of routes, enjoying a
firm hold on Brussels’
neighbourhood fish trade.
We catch up with them
in between two rounds,
keen to find out all there
is to know about the fish
trade...
Writer Alex Deforce
Photography Geneviève Balasse
SHIRLEY, or How Alfons Zeebroek
Set Out Selling Fish
To be crowned an institution doesn’t necessarily mean one is the sole purpetrator of
long-forgotten customs and tradtions. Some
institutions we choose merely represent a
certain way of life – a much simpler way of
life - and a refusal to bow-down to 21st century pressures. Take Alfons for example,
who has been bringing fresh fi sh to the urban quarters of our capital city for the past
20 years and whose demanding daily grind
we recently got word off.
We had grown up seeing hordes of old ladies anxiously awaiting for the weekly arrival
of thier beloved fishmobile, and wondered
who exactly were the people behind the businesses – be it Shirley’s or Steven’s - , the truck
and the man. A couple of linguistically-challenging phonecalls later, we arrange to meet
the early-morning bird and get the lowdown
on this most fishy of businesses.
The business of selling fish is a particularly tiring one. Alfons usually starts his round
at seven in the morning. Living in the quiet
Flemish town of Eernegem (between Torhout
and Bruges), this means getting up at five and
arriving in Brussels an hour and a half later,
just in time to make the truck spotless and
display the fish in a sales-friendly manner.
Tuesday’s round starts around the neighbourhoods surrounding Ganshoren’s Avenue Marie de Hongrie / Maria Van Hongarijelaan and its Koekelberg cathedral. By
noon, Alfons will already be on Etterbeek’s
Place Jourdan Plaats. With about nine fi xed
selling points, this is a reasonably calm day
as far as traffic movement is concerned.
Thursday’s schedule, a much busier one,
is showing a solid run of over forty checkpoints, all situated in and around Jette.
Roughly calculated this comes down to 15
minutes per location.
Except for Tuesday mornings, when he
moves to the surrounding neighbourhoods
of Overijse and Hoeilaart, Alfons solely
operates in Brussels. Friday morning brings
another round in Etterbeek and with that, he
calls it a week, and returns to his hometown
to give his faithful Mercedes 608 a good
three hour scrub-and-clean.
As you’ll probably have guessed, this
business isn’t one you’ll see advertised
amongst the job vacancies in your local
newspaper. Having been brought up with
parents doing exactly the same daily routines, buying and selling fi sh on-the-road
seemed – and still does – like a perfectly
normal thing to do, and was a natural progression for him. His brother also followed
in the parental footsteps, today selling fi sh
in the Ardennes. A familly affair indeed.
When we leave Alfons, we cannot help
but notice the little mermaid painstaikingly
airbrushed on the side of his truck. ‘That’s
my daughter,’ he proudly states. He stops
short of saying he’d like her to follow in his
footsteps though: ‘It’s hard work and it’s
more of manly job if you ask me. It’s up to
her to choose what she’ll want to do as a job.’
STEVEN, or How Dirk Blondeel
Became an Institution
As we mentioned, Shirley is not the only
fi sh-hawking van parading the streets of our
capital, but it most surely is the city’s longest serving one, especially since Alfons took
over the renowned poisonnerie Steven some
three years back. Just like Shirley, Steven
“the truck” is named after the offspring of
its owner, in this case Dirk Blondeels’son.
Before selling his business to Alfons, Dirk originally hailing from Middelkerke, on the
Belgian coast - had also been selling fi sh in
Brussels for twenty years and is most probably the fi sher man most mothers and grandmothers most fondly remember.
The year is 1985 and without any experience in the fish business at all, this (very oddly) seemed like the most guaranteed of paths
to success. Predecessors had proven there
was a vast public for the product, one which
appeared to be an extremely loyal one as well.
It was quite a step into the dark at the time
though. Living in Nieuwpoort, this meant
twice-daily, hour-long drives down to Brussels. In other words, a weekday’s schedule
started at 3h30 in the morning, getting up,
preparing the truck, going to Brussels, starting his round at 7am, only to fi nish after
7pm, go back to Nieuwpoort, go to bed, and
start again the next day: “Not once did I miss
a round, never ever, in all those years,” he exclaims, “except for that one time when I was
hospitalised. Apart from that, I always was
there, no matter what”.
Every business has its critical aspects.
And in both Steven and Shirley’s case, this
undoutably is the truck in which they keep
their fi sh: “Over a period of twenty years I
drove fi ve different trucks” Dirk remembers:
”Each new one was a drastic improvement
compared to the previous one. Every new
truck saw a remarkable jump in turnover.
Seriously. Not that I was moving any faster
- new truck or not, you’re still dealing with
the same traffi c - but a new truck seemed to
attract a bigger public.”
When asked about the secret of his succes, Dirk isn’t one to mince his words: “I was
Mister Fisher Man the institution
Serving it up: Alfons Zeebroek at work
simply delivering quality goods.” Although
he wouldn’t be the fi rst salesman to state so,
he insists: “I had my principles. The most
important one being: never order fi sh by
phone. You have to see the fi sh, smell it and
feel it. How else can you know it’s fresh?
You’d be surprised though, the few amount
of fi sher salesmen that work like that. Most
just order by a simple phone call, without
any regard for the quality.”
Asked about this Summer’s mussel troubles - they were removed from stores after
tests showed they contained the toxic DSP
matter - Dirk is clear: “I never liked mussels.
Never sold much of them, you can’t see what
they look like on the inside, I don’t like that.”
Dirk also remembers the year 1999,
when the dioxine crisis shook Belgium’s entire food industry. The meat industry was
in tatters after an investigation found toxic
dioxine in various sorts of meat. The minister responded heavily: seven million chickens and sixty thousand pigs were brought to
the slaughterhouse. Almost two thousand
farms were ordered to stop their activities
for months. Belgian meat caused mass hysteria, making people literally run for fi sh as
Dirk recalls: “People were running behind
the van to catch me and buy some fresh fi sh.
A lot of people didn’t trust meat anymore,
so from one day to another they completely
switched to eating fi sh. During that period
I sold three times as much fi sh as in normal
times. It only is temporarily though, as after
a while the buzz calms down and people return to their customary habits.”
fresh fi sh, if there are fi sh quotas that doesn’t
mean there won’t be any more fi sh at the
auction in Ostend. As for foreign fi sh like
pangasius, which comes from Vietnam, that
particular type of fi sh is so cheap, the price
to ship it is simply to high to get it to Ostend.
So what happens is you’ll only fi nd it frozen,
in the supermarkets. In the end, fi sh is at
its best when eaten fresh, people will always
prefer that.” Now ain’t that the truth ruth.
On The Same Wave Length
In times of fi shing quota and new exotic
fi sh species entering the market, one might
get the impression the fi sh business is a particulary unstable one. Japanese are eating
global supplies of tunafi sh away while new
far-fetched names like “pangasius” are being
introduced on the market. All this seems to
leave the pair unfased though: “I only sell
Alfonse and Steven’s schedule
is available on demand by emailing
[email protected]
three of the best
Kitchen Scales
— We’re not exactly pros when it comes to kitchen matters, but
one thing we do know is that it is all about getting your quantities
right, or so we’ve been told. And although we do enjoy our
regular culinary antics which most often than not end with a trip
down to the local snack, we thought it was high time to master
the art of culinary mathematics. Hence our search for the best
in weighing utensils – although we must admit we got slightly
carried away with the aesthetic side of things. Say hello to our
little friends The Imposing Master, The Elegant Mistress, The
Functional Servant and The Smooth Operator.
1. Scale and Clock
by Bengt Ek
Name We Gave It
The Imposing Master
Description
Two-in-one kitchen scale
and analog clock
2. Uma Electronic
Kitchen Scale
by Casa Bugatti
Name We Gave It
Designed by
The Elegant Mistress
Bengt Ek
3. Funky Scales
Buik Red
by Typhoon
Description
Weight
Suspended weighing recipient
4,500gr
Name We Gave It
The Functional Servant
Designed by
10gr
Lorenzo Ruggeri
and Innocenzo Rifi no
What We’d Weigh On It
Weight
Herbs
3,000gr
Accuracy
4. SG66 Scale
by Alessi
Name We Gave It
Description
The Smooth Operator
Precision-balanced, featuring
a fi ne zero adjustment
Description
Designed by
Stainless steel-cased and
electronic kitchen scale
Lynda Carpenter
Accuracy
1gr
Designed by
Weight
Stefano Giovannoni
1,500gr
Chocolate
Weight
Accuracy
1,600gr
10gr
Accuracy
1gr
Coffee
Flower
Photography & Styling: Opération Panda - www.operationpanda.be
Kitchen Scale three of the best
showstoppers
I’ll Take
Mine to Go
— Believe us when we tell you we had one feast of a day when
shooting this issue’s Showstoppers. We started with the priciest
apple of them all, went on to munch on a couple of sneezeinducing peanuts and watered the whole thing down with the
most aw-inspiring of teas and purest of chocolates. And we even
had the sounds to go with it all.
Photography Opération Panda
01.
When Delphine told us to check these guys
out, we were at first skeptical at the thought
of a supposedly food-led music compilation. You see, we didn’t want to end up
with another one of those Buddha Bar-type
“lounge” compilations more suitable to elevators than the world’s funkiest eateries. We
contacted the guys at Heya Hifi nonetheless,
asking them to send us a copy of their Music
and Food compilation. Deep house antics
and minimal electro delights it is, elevator
music it definitely isn’t. The compilation even
comes with a mini-recipe book of dishes
concocted by the label’s artists themselves.
Heya Hifi's Music & Food Compilation.
www.heyahifi .com
I’ll Take Mine to Go showstoppers
02.
You know the kind of bars where they
strategically place bowls of peanuts you
desperately try to move away from in an
attempt not to end up with a massive tab?
Well, they finally have found a guaranteed
deal-clincher: Wasabi peanuts. Spicy
as hell and as addictive as ever, you’ll be
damned the minute you pop the first one in
your mouth.
Lien Ying Wasabi Peanuts
Available from Rob
www.robfi nefood.be
03.
This one started off as an inside joke, but
quickly saw us trawling the streets of Brussels for what would most certainly be the
priciest apple in town. And, in our humble
opinions, at €6.98/kg this Royal Gala Extra
apple is it. We never were good at maths
but worked this one out to be about €0.25 a
crunch. Ouch!
Royal Galla Extra Apple
Available from Rob
showstoppers I’ll Take Mine to Go
04.
We’re already full-blown converts to anything
remotely tea-scented so you can imagine
this one caught our eyes the minute the first
leaves started blossoming. Drop one in a
vase-like cup, pour boiling water and patiently wait for it to open up. We guarantee
kids won’t mind staying at table after desert
now just to catch these underwater wonders
spring to life.
Jasmine Tea Balls
Available from Nong Cha
4 Rue Antoine Dansaert Straat
1000 Brussels
05.
We’re not usually the kind to go all mushy for
chocolate, but this here beast of a bar had
us from the word coco. Its naturally occurring nuts and spices characteristics make
for reddish yet intense inside textures which
we could spend hours gazing at. Make sure
to pick a slab up next time you’re in London
as these little goodies aren’t available in
Belgium or online just yet.
Venezuelan Black’s Carenero Superior
www.venezuelanblack.com
Make a healthy choice today!
We Create Healthy Friends
Join World Class now and get an extra One Month Membership to
give to a friend or colleague. And better yet, if your friend decides to
join – you’ll get an extra month as well!*
Call: + 32 2 551 59 90 for more information
World Class Health Academy Brussels
Rue du Parnasse 19
1050 Brussels
Ph: + 32 2 551 59 90
[email protected]
www.worldclass.be
* Offer valid until 31st of October 2008 and cannot be combined with other offers or discounts. Conditions apply.
living it
Waste Full
— Months ago, when we first started
planning the food issue, waste was one
of the first subjects to hit the page plan.
We’d been following the campaigns of
bloggers like Jonathan Bloom of Wasted
Food and My Zero Waste. At that point
it felt like a subject that no one really
talked about outside the environmentally
aware fringe.
Writer Hettie Judah
Photography Sven Laurent
01.
Waste Full living it
On July 7 that all changed. British Prime
Minister Gordon Brown chose the G8 summit in Japan as a platform to highlight the results of his government’s Waste & Resources
Action Program (WRAP). Studying the
contents of dustbins from over 2,000 British families, they had discovered that one
third of food purchased was thrown away,
much of it edible, untouched and still in its
packaging. As the British government issued some old fashioned advice about how
households could save themselves money
(and do the environment a favour), waste
became front-page news.
Much of this waste was caused by the
kind of disconnected relationship with food
that writers such as Felicity Lawrence in
Britain and Michael Pollan in the US have
identified within their societies. People’s
eating patterns were unpredictable, families
didn’t plan meals properly and those doing the shopping found it hard to judge how
much they actually ate. Lawrence suggests
that Britain lost its indigenous food culture
as far back as the industrial revolution,
when families moved off the land and into
poor living conditions. Pollan describes
North America’s problem as that of a country that has no one single food culture, but
many clashing ones. It is a country that does
not know what or how to eat.
Watching the anxieties and food waste
concerns of the messed-up English speakers
across the water is fi ne continental spectator sport. In a country where people still sit
down for family meals, and most employees
take proper lunch breaks rather than eating
at their computer, it’s easy to give a smug
little smile as we tuck into our plate of nonprocessed cheese.
02.
" ‘ Bruxellois ’ throw away
on average 15kg
of perfectly edible food
every year – spread across
the region that amounts
to 15.000 tonnes "
In fact last November, the Brussels Environment agency published its own report,
and it didn’t offer much to be smug about.
‘Bruxellois’ throw away on average15kg of
perfectly edible food every year – spread
across the region that amounts to 15.000
tonnes. 42% of what we put into our white
rubbish bags is organic waste; 12% of white
bag waste is edible food. The figures were
relatively constant across the social profi les,
no matter what kinds of fi nancial straits the
householders might have been in. The “chic”
households were responsible for 29kg of
waste; the “pas-chic” threw out 31kg. Those
questioned for the study were concerned and
aware about the issues of food packaging, but
had worried little about the food itself.
This is perhaps because we assume that
our discarded food, once safely tucked up in
a nice and warm landfi ll site, will gradually
turn into kilos of delicious compost. There’s
a thriving trade in books about compost
these days, but few (in fact none) recommend
burying organic waste in plastic then cutting
it off from air and light. Food waste in landfi ll sites generates methane in large quantities – rather than nourishing the earth, it’s
contributing to global warming.
In March, Brussels’ Energy and Environment Minister, Evelyne Huytebroeck, published a 65-point plan for domestic waste
reduction, with tips about how to freeze
tomatoes, why you should wrap mushrooms
in newspaper and stern instructions never
to go shopping when hungry lest you stray
from your list.
It seems surreal that the cleanliness of the
family fridge, or the bowls of cornflakes abandoned during the morning rush have sudden-
living it Waste Full
03.
ly become a political issue. It also feels a little
wrong that politicians should have an opinion about how to stop lettuce leaves wilting
or what to do with leftovers. The implication
is that we have been behaving like children,
and that there is political justification in addressing us in strict parental tones.
No doubt we have all been very naughty,
but beyond all headline-grabbing admonitions, it’s hard not to feel that the general population is taking the heat for issues with wider
implications. While we are being instructed
on how to microwave leftover rice, who is
talking to the restaurants, canteens and bulk
transport caterers about what they do with
their un-eaten food? Is anyone putting pressure on the supermarkets to reduce package
sizes and stop offering the buy-one-get-onefree promotions that not only encourage
shoppers to buy more food than they need,
but saps the profits of their suppliers?
After homes and schools, the remaining 39,650 tonnes of food waste in Brussels
breaks down thus: 1% from the Heysel exhibitions and recreation sites, 3% from markets,
3% from small shops, 7% from supermarkets, 25% from wholesalers and distribution
agents, 29% from hotels, restaurants and
cafés and 32% from office canteens.
The office canteens of Brussels, which,
unlike most restaurants and cafés, have
largely predictable clientele numbers, produce 12,600 tonnes of food waste, not far
below the total amount produced by Brussels households. While households are
sternly being advised to eat their leftovers,
food hygiene issues prevent the environment agency being able to make such suggestions to large-scale caterers.
What needs to change is not just the way
we deal with leftovers, but the way large organisations cater. Those big office canteens
in Brussels are the ones connected to the European institutions and all the international
companies that have taken the city as their
European base. These are the places where
many of us have lunch every day.
We need to get used to the idea of having
less choice. That shocking wastefulness comes
from allowing for every person to choose the
same thing on the same day. This could be
largely eliminated with closer studies of consumer tendencies. Companies also need to
study how the way things are presented affects
what gets left behind. The way they purchase
raw materials can also be better moderated to
cut down on excess food production. None of
this will happen without external pressure.
Instead of feeling guilty, it may be more
constructive to get irritated, and to demand
the same kind of thoughtfulness from the
food industry that many consumers are already applying at home. At base, though, we
need to start thinking about the real cost of
food – not only the label price, but what we
pay for its transport and disposal, and the
corners that are cut by the food industry that
allows us to imagine food to be virtually free.
If some of these real costs were visible at purchase, individuals and larger organisations
might pay more attention when their money
starts getting scraped away into the bin.
Previous Pages + This Page
01.-03.
Organised Waste
40.000 set free in 47 years
the challenge
Night
Shop
Dining
— When brainstorming the
foodie issue, we thought about the
countless amounts of people who
regularly go to the night shop for
more than just toilet paper, rizla’s
and beer. Indeed, we started
thinking of all those people for
who night shops actually were
a source of food, and thought
it’d be a nice idea to show you
what treasures where hidden in
the depth of night shop freezers,
and what could be done with
them. So we asked co-founder of
Karikol, Hughes Belin, to take up
the challenge and whip us up a
night shop-sourced dinner. The
resulting dinner was nothing short
of amazing…
Photography Ulrike Biets
Host Emmanuelle Truffin
The Challenge
To cook up a meal for four using
nothing but night shop produce,
with no more than €40.
The Night Shop
On the corner of
Rue de L’Etang / Vijverstraat
and Rue GrayStraat,
in Brussels’ Etterbeek.
The Grocery List
• New Echo d’Orient’s
“Arachides en Coque”
• A tin of Bonduelle’s Chickpeas
• A pack of Everyday’s
pre-packed half-baguettes
• A pack of six fresh eggs
• A 1kg pack of Savory’s
Pattiserie
• 800gr of Quaker’s Oat Meal
• Mondelice’s Yog-Fit
Yogurt (500gr)
• Iglo’s 300gr frozen pack
of mushroom mix
• 2x Bananas
• 1x Lemon
• 1x Cucumber
Hughes’ Cook Up
01. The Hummus
Blend one can of chickpeas (01.1)
(removing the water), two
spoons of olive oil, one crushed
garlic clove, one spoon of lemon
juice, salt and pepper. Stick in
the fridge for an hour in air-tight
Tupperware.
02. The Tzatziki
Slice cucumber then put in a
bowl with two teaspoons of
kitchen salt. Leave to soak for
Night Shop Dining the challenge
Hughes Belin
Food critic Hughes Belin is currently
reviewing every single restaurant, eaterie
and snack in Brussels' Eurozone quarters
for his forthcoming book. He can also be
read on his blog http://les-nouvelles-dugout-du-monde.over-blog.com/
01.1
02.
03.1
04.1
04.2
half an hour. Rinse then squash
cucumber to extract remaining
water. Mix in 500gr of yogurt
with one clove of crushed garlic,
pepper, salt, two spoon of olive
oil, one spoon of lemon juice,
one spoon of dried oregano (or
dill) and one teaspoon of wine
vinegar. Stick in the fridge for
an hour in air-tight Tupperware.
03. The Quiche
Mix 150gr of fl our with 50gr
of oats and knead with three
03.
spoons of olive oil, one teaspoon
of salt and fi ve tablespoons of
water. Once you get a homogeneous ball leave it for half
an hour before rolling out and
placing in pie dish. Lightly fry
your choice of fi lling (broccoli,
spinach, mushrooms or whatever
takes your fancy) and spread
evenly on to the pastry (03.1) .
In a bowl, mix two eggs, a can of
cream and ten cl of milk. Then
pour and spread evenly into dish.
Spread 100-150gr of grated
cheese then stick in a pre-heated 180°C oven for 30 minutes.
04. The Banana Sorbet
with Ganache
Slice half a banana per person
and put the slices onto a plate,
covering it, as well as the slices,
with cling fi lm (04.1) . Leave for up
to an hour in the freezer. Ten
minutes before serving, bring
a little block of cream to boil
in a saucepan, add 100gr of
chocolate in pieces and stir well
until you obtain a thick and dark
cream. Mix the frozen banana
slices in a blender to a thick
paste and serve in cups.
Yet even more scrumptious
when topped with a spoon of
chocolate ganache in each (04.2) .
the photo album
Dinner
Table
Belgium
— In the following on
our series celebrating
archival wonders, we’ve
dug out some prints sure
to remind you all about
what Belgians do best:
eating, drinking and…
falling over. From family
get togethers to picnic
escapades to the country
side and beers among
the boys, they manage to
recapture what dining the
Belgian way meant.
Dinner Table Belgium the photo album
Picture chosen with the help of a 33cl.
the fashion word
We’re back in the studio this month with a space age-like food fight
sure to give George Lucas a run for his money. Whoever said we can’t
play with food?
Photography Pierre Debusschere
Fashion Pholoso Selebogo
Necklace Daniel Von Weinberger, Shirt Dries Van Noten, Trousers Bruno Pieters
Zipulater Giles, Trouser Dries Van Noten
Jacket Dries Van Noten, Gilet Bruno Pieters, Trousers Boudicca, Shoes Prada, Necklace Daniel Von Weinberger
Rainman Jumper Giles, Skirt & Shoes Dries Van Noten
Rainman Jacket Giles
Jacket La Petite Salope
Left. Bodice Giles, Shoes Pierre Hardy / Right. Gown Didier Ludot, Skirt Proenza Schouler, Shoes Balenciaga
Food Wars the fashion word
Photographer
Pierre Debusschere
www.pierredebusschere.com
Assistant
Frederic Ameel
Stylist
Pholoso Selebogo
Hair & Make Up
Florence Samain
for Chanel & Kerastase
Models
Charlotte @ Dominique Models
& Charlie
With thanks to
Melisande McBurnie
& 254 Forest Crew
pastryesque Piece of Cake
Piece
of Cake
— You could argue they’d be a great many reasons we’d want to
do such a shoot but let us reassure you that this was always going
to be about the cakes themselves. And sofa-shaped ones at that.
We sat on Mr Collignon’s divine Chesterfield whilst we had the
pleasure of lounging on a specially-made creation courtesy of
venerable Maitre Patissier Wittamer.
Photography Ben Dover
Styling Glen De Block
Fabrice Collignon's
Chesterfield
Made of chocolate biscuits, Manjari
chocolate mousse, raspberry jelly and fresh
raspberries. Available from
www.fabricecollignon.be
Piece of Cake pastryesque
Wittamer's
Lemon Cake
Covered with soft icing and natural
marzipan. Available from
www.wittamer.com
Pink Shorts American Apparel, Champagne Tights Falke, Shoes Hugo Boss
Black & Gold Undies American Apparel, Black Transparent Tights Falke, Shoes New Look
i want to eat you up
At
The Candy
Shop
— If you’re a woman, chances are you’ve felt like a
kid in a candy store when walking into your favourite
beauty shop. Well, wait until you feast your eyes on the
following beautyliciousies...
Writer Stéphanie Duval
Photography Opération Panda
If Blueberries Are You’re
Thing, Try…
Dr. Brandt’s Water Booster.
Just add a few drops of this wonder juice to
your daily water bottle, and enjoy the feeling
of getting beautiful from the inside out.
www.drbrandtskincare.com
At the Candy Shop i want to eat you up
If You Can’t Resist a Bounty
When Offered One, Try…
Bumble and Bumble’s
Crème de Coco Masque.
Thanks to coconut and avocado oils,
botanical extracts of olives, mango, shea and
murumuru butters, this is the single most
luxurious thirst quencher for your hair.
www.bumbleandbumble.com
If You Think an Apple a
Day Truly Does Keep The
Doctor Away, Try…
Rituals’ Eve’s Kiss Lip Balm .
A credible alternative to having to carry
a piece of fruit with you wherever you go,
this lip balm will combat the most tiring of
sugar bouts.
www.rituals.com
i want to eat you up At the Candy Shop
If You’re Looking For The
Ultimate Unexpected
Dessert, Try…
Jimmy Jane’s Afterglow Massage Candle,
because once the wax melts, it turns into a
scrumptious massage oil made out of 100%
natural ingredients. Kinky…
www.jimmyjane.com
If Chocolate is Your
Favourite Sin, Try…
Estée Lauder’s Limited Edition Swirl
Gloss, because the yummy scent and rich
texture will make your lips smell and look
like candy.
www.esteelauder.com
pencil perfect
The
Chocolate
Bunch
— Belgium’s love affair with all kinds of chocolate
spreads – from supermarkets’ own brand to the organic
or luxury types – is a well-known fact. So we thought
we’d give you an insight into the personality profiles of
these serial spreaders… and couldn’t help giving in to
some oh-so delightful clichés along the way.
Illustration Jean-Baptiste Biche
The Blue Collar
The Retired Hippie
His day usually starts at 8.45 am.
He most often can be seen
riding around on his Honda
Camino sporting the latest
Kappa sweat pants and Bikkembergs trainers, although he will
take public transport (or better
yet, his souped-up Seat Ibiza)
when it rains. He holidays in
Blankenberg’s Camping Cosmos except when he’s just had
his end-of-year bonus then lives
it up in Torremolinos. He goes
out at Lokeren’s Cherry Moon.
Our man buys supermarkets’
own brand chocolate spread.
Her day usually starts around
6.30am (when she has to do her
Yoga). She goes from A to B by
foot or on her Mobiky bicycle.
She’ll go clothes shopping at
Oxfam and Les Petits Riens,
although she might indulge
in some Katharine Hamnett
T-shirts and Campers nowand-again. She escapes to Goa,
Tibet or Burkina-Faso when the
going gets tough and she needs
to ‘reconnect’. She doesn’t do
clubs, but instead prefers to
go to ‘gigs’. Our retired hippie
buys organic chocolate spread,
the type to be found in those
ever-so-present communal table
bakeries.
The Chocolate Bunch pencil perfect
The Designer Rebel
His day usually starts at
10.00 am (with a strong cup of
coffee and a cigarette).
He gets around on his childhood bicycle wearing his 10
year old American Apparel
hoodie, ripped Filippa K trousers and Veja sneakers (add to
that a five day old stubble of
course). He’ll be found trekking
across Norway or road tripping
it through France during summer. He goes out at Brussels’
Beursschouwburg or Recyclart.
Our man buys that quintessential of chocolate spreads:
Nutella.
The Agency Director
Disclaimer: Any ressemblance
to us, you, a friend, colleague
or familly member is in no way
coincidental.
Her day usually starts around
6.00am, with an hour-long
jog or her Pilates session. She
drives a Range Rover and fashions the latest Louis Vuitton,
Hermes and Delvaux collections. Holidays for her mean
a Blackberry and a Caipirinha
by the pool in Bora Bora or
the Maldives. After having
dined at Le Chalais de la Foret
or Belga Queen, she is most
likely to go out at Brussels’ Jeux
d’Hivers (or La Terrace de
l’Hippodrome in the summer).
Our director only eats the
luxury types of spread, preferably from Pierre Marcolini or
Wittamer.
design
Dish Out
the Dirt
—When we discovered Ralf Schmerberg’s book Dirty Dishes, we
knew we had stumbled upon a Pandora’s Box of inspiration for our
food-themed issue. Having recently taken somewhat of a liking
to some Belgian designers’ tableware and cookery accessories, we
thought what best than to photograph these ‘in situ’. Dirty dishes
never looked so beautiful and serene if you ask us…
Photography Sarah Eechaut
Jean-François D’Or
A product designer with his own
Loudordesign agency, D’Or is functional
design at its best. With works edited by
Droogdesign and Ligne Roset, his is a lessis-more approach to design.
From Left to Right: “Marie” (Water Carafe and two Tumblers for Covo), “Bird” (Vase for Serax) and “Iron” (Dish Pad for Loudordesign
Limited Edition).
Dish out the Dirt design
Roos Van de Velde
Spontaneous and expressive, Van de Velde
works with everything from porcelain,
paper, flowers and wood, although ceramics
is really what gets her going.
From Left to Right: Bonsai Scissors, Porcelain Plate (Van de Velde), Poplar Cortex (Van
de Velde), Japanese Bread Knife, “Slinger Apero Bowls” (Van de Velde), Teacups in Felt
Scale (Van de Velde), Japanese Cherry Tree Plate, Raku Breakfast Plate (Van de Velde)
and Yew, Flax and Metal “Usual-Unusual” Cutlery.
Sophie Lachaert
An artist as well as a product designer,
purist Lachaert threads a thin line between
plastic art and design, revisiting everyday
objects with her quirky interpretations and
light-hearted strokes of genius.
From Left to Right: “Marcell” Sugar Cage (Lachaert Dhanis), Sugar Me (Lachaert Dhanis), Piet Stockmans White Cups,
Plate (Lachaert Dhanis), Spoon (Thalia Georgoulis), Picnic Bowl with Lid (Thalia Georgoulis), Muuto Flow Jug (Lachaert Dhanis).
food & design
— Food is an
oversaturated subject.
Such space, cash and
energy are dedicated to
writing, broadcasting,
photographing, theorising
and investigating food
that it feels as though
there is nothing left to
say. Yet Martí Guixé
is not interested in
food in any of the ways
that fit into the current
culture of the subject.
He is not nostalgic, he
is not anxious, he is not
interested in questions of
novelty or authenticity.
Writer Hettie Judah
On a professional level he doesn’t give a fig
whether consumers are victims of a faceless
global conspiracy to eat unhealthy junk with
high profit margins. He doesn’t even know
much about cooking. Martí Guixé is simply interested in what happens to food as a
product when you subject it to the considerations of design: ergonomics, usability,
aesthetics and function.
Guixé’s interest in food design came
eleven years ago partly as an extension of
his interest in mass consumption, and partly
because his interest in design was shifting
away from tangible objects towards ideas
and functions. “I believe that we are in a
world where all moves, morphs and changes
continuously,” he explains. “Possessing material things makes you solid, and therefore
not fl exible to move and change.”
© Imagekontainer, i-cakes, Prototypes 2001 Foodwork. La Sala Vinçon, Barcelona 2001
The Non
Conformist
01.
He approached food design from all
angles; there was food that was free to eat
because its price was covered by corporate
sponsorship, food that could be eaten on
the go, edible wallpaper, party fog that got
you drunk, a restaurant with no kitchen that
only served food from local takeaways, a
café that only served candy and even post-it
crisps for emergency consumption. At best
his ideas were taken as daffy or cute – at
worst they were simply dismissed. “Gastronomy critics said it was neither tasteful
nor gastronomic,” Guixé recalls “And the
design world said it was not serious. At that
time - and still now -design is too dependent
on shape and material. To consider a tomato fi lled with bread a design was sacrilege for
the academic design world of the time.”
When Guixé talks about food being fun,
he is not trying to sell you an amusing product, but making a sociological point. Cooking has become a form of entertainment,
a recreational activity, and yet we still go
about it in an environment little modified
since the time when cooking for a large family was closer to a full-time occupation.
Guixé felt that there was a divide within
the world of food without much thought going on in the middle. The way we had come
to attribute value to food was everything to
do with the way it was produced (or imagined to be produced), and little to do with
the thought that went into it.
“A chef makes things with his hands,
and the value is completely in the craft. So
there is no value in ideas, but in making it
by hand. This is why they copy themselves,
and they cannot think conceptually,” he explains. “On the other hand we have the food
industry which is afraid of not being accepted. It is doing everything artifi cially, but
making it look handmade and homemade,
in other word: kitsch.”
" Our food habits are
still in the middle of
the last century "
Marti Guixé
For Guixé, kitsch sums up our unreal relationship with food – all the thought within
the food industry is being put into making
things look as if they haven’t changed. “In
2000 the food panorama compared to design
like this: on the one hand craft, making chairs
by hand, following traditional methods but
without knowing anything about ergonomics,
or usability, or the contemporary, just doing it
without thinking. On the other hand we have
the food industry that makes plastic chairs
that look like basket weaving. Our food habits are still in the middle of the last century.”
© Imagekontainer, Post-it Chip, Concept 1999
So far most of his food projects have
taken place in the context of galleries, or as
art-style happenings. In the last five years
Guixé says that things have woken up a little
on the industry front. In 2004, through his
long-running association with Camper, he
created FoodBALL in his native Barcelona;
a food facility with raked seating areas designed to feel as though you were outdoors
in a sports arena. They served spherical
stuffed rice balls – modern looking handmade foods that could be eaten easily and
informally and matched contemporary concerns about speed, health and convenience.
If Guixé’s ideas still sound impractically
futuristic to the consuming public, the industry is fi naly starting to think along the same
lines. This year at the Alimentaria food fair
in Barcelona he saw food artist Nir Adar
present Pizzacono - cone-shaped pizza to
be eaten on the go. “In 1997 I presented the
snack you can eat in front of the computer,
or in extreme conditions of contemporary
life. In 2008 some company presents a piece
of pizza you can eat walking like a ice-cream
as a incredible new thing.”
He should not grumble, since it is evident that his interest lies more in conceiving
the ideas than spending years in a laboratory creating industrially viable products.
And as with the FoodBALL, his interest
expands to the whole concept of how and
where a thing is eaten, not simply in what
format. This autumn he is being given a full
platform to expand his ideas by the Museo
d’Arte di Nuoro museum in Sardinia where
he is creating a café from scratch, right down
to the menu.
© Imagekontainer, Plato combinado. Concept 2001 Foodwork,
La Sala Vinçon, Barcelona 2001
The Non Conformist food & design
02.
03.
Previous Page
i-cakes: When Decoration
Becomes Information
© Marti Guixé, Camper FoodBall Berlin, 2006
01.
This Page
02.
Post-it Chip: Potatoe Chip Which
Can Be Sticked Anywhere
And Removed Whenever Wanted
03.
Plato combinado: System Which
Combines Food Ingredients
Along Generic Theories
04.
Camper FoodBall Berlin, 2006
04.
shelf absorbed
Book
Bites
— Trust us, you are
not about to get a list
of the best cookbooks
around. That wouldn’t
be very “us” now would
it? Instead, we’ve handpicked a couple of
delights sure to make
you look at food in a
fresh and unobstructed
manner. Just the way
we’ve come to think of it
for this issue…
Photography Yassin Serghini
Eat London! All About Food (2007)
By Peter Prescott and Terence Conran
Conran Octopus
Two things make London a world class city.
Number one: more than enough ways to
spend your money in its countless boutiques
and department stores. Number two: the
wide – and excellent – variety of foods it has
on offer. From noodle joints tucked away in
the back streets of the West End to East London’s pie and mash shops and the pricier crop
of establishment eateries, this city truly has it
all when it comes to gastro-delights. Far from
being a restaurant guide, Eat London is above
all a book about a city, its food and the people
making, selling and taking care of it. A visual
and literary treasure-throve.
In Defense of Food (2008)
By Michael Pollan
Allen Lane
“Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly
plants.”
The central tenets of Pollan’s
manifesto for eating well are simple enough,
but this companion piece to The Omnivores Dilemma is consistently surprising
and provocative. Plunging into nutritional,
anthropological and sociological research
from across the last century, the devastating effects of the western diet on human
health make unpalatable reading. Attempting to rescue food from ‘nutritionism’ – the
quasi-scientific tendency to discuss food in
terms of nutritional building blocks – Pollan argues for a return to eating for pleasure
and the meal table as a site for sociable glory.
(HJ)
From Left to Right:
From left to right: I’m a Real Photographer
by Keith Arnatt (Boot), Eat! All About Food (Conran
Octopus), In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (Allen
Lane), Arttaste (Toohcsmi), The Pendant in the Kitchen
by Julian Barnes (Guardian Books), The Nasty Bits
by Anthony Bourdain (Bloomsbury), Salt – A World
History by Mark Kurlansky (Penguin Books), Face
Food The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes by
Christopher D. Salyers (Mark Batty Publisher) and Ou
est le Garlic by Len Deighton (Penguin Books) pictured
in Delecta.
<
—
Book Bites shelf absorbed
Jan Hoet’s preface to Arttaste – an initiative
of Ghent’s Hoet Bekaert Gallery – perfectly
lays the ground for fully comprehending the
book’s meaning: “…food forms a bridge between mind and matter, between consumption and culture…ketchup and blood, bones
and donuts or mussel-shells are just some of
the food that have written contemporary art
history”. We couldn’t agree less, and with
specially-commissioned work (and recipes)
by the likes of Guillaume Bijl, Wim Delvoye and Dirk Braeckman, this guaranteed
coffee-table keeper might very well be dictating – or at the very least entertaining - our
next foray into the kitchen.
Face Food (2007)
By Christopher D. Salyers
Mark Batty Publisher
It is sometimes too easily assumed that everything Japanese-originated is intrinsically
cool and cute. This book about the creativity of the country’s love of bento boxes definitely is though. Although the usual Nippon
culprits Hello Kitty and Sailor Moon are
present, it is the beloved Piglet made out of
crab meat, the office favourite yellow-riced
Pikachu or better yet the world’s most popular children show Sesame Street decked out
in seaweed salad, quail egg and yam potato
which really had us wishing we lived in Tokyo’s Harajuku district.
©Yassin Serghini
Arttaste (2005)
Toohcsmi
the study
United
Colours of
Foods
— When we asked friends to come to a party with a
plate of coloured food, we received yellow sushi, green
vegetable rolls, pink melon, intense jelly sweets, fiery red
chilli crackers and blue potato chips, but no one turned
up with that most edible colour - brown.
Writer Hettie Judah
Photography Yassin Serghini
Brown is the colour of the shoe polish painted onto meat and the tops of pies for food
photographs, often supplemented by a blast
with the blowtorch and a spritz of mineral
oil for that just out of the oven look. Brown
is the colour of bread, casseroles, pulses and
muesli. It’s the fi rst colour that comes to mind
when you hear the word whole: wholemeal,
wholefood, wholegrain, wholesome. Brown
food can apparently keep us healthy and
alive, but despite our fashionable interest
in healthy eating, it’s still not sexy. Nobody
wanted to bring brown to the party; it’s too
goody-two-shoes.
Intensely coloured foods suggest intense
flavours – studies published in the Journal of
Food Science record test subjects identifying
fruit drinks with more concentrated colours as
tasting stronger. Test subjects given ‘normal’
coloured and uncoloured samples of margarine, raspberry gelatine, soy bacon, orange
drink and cheese identified the ‘normal’ coloured samples as having better and more intense aroma, and better and more intense flavour than identical but uncoloured samples.
In such processed foods, of course, ‘normal’ colour is the result of lab work rather
than nature. The natural colour of margarine
is grey. When margarine was first introduced
in the US in the late 19th Century, individual
states passed laws banning colour in margarines under pressure from the dairy industry,
which hoped that the unnatural shade would
deter consumers.
Processors colour food because the consumers prefer it that way; adding artificial
colours persuades us to eat things that we
might otherwise view as unpalatable. We
are evidently drawn to brightly coloured
things, but over a century of colorants in industrially processed food have skewed our
perception of the edible.
" …over a century of
colorants in industrially
processed food have
skewed our perception
of the edible "
Blue is naturally the least appetizing colour
for food. Diet tips involve wearing blue-tinted
spectacles while eating, installing a blue light
in your refrigerator and even adding blue colouring to your food. But we have learned to
find blue acceptable – few now baulk at blue
toothpaste, blue mint sweets, or a raspberry
flavoured blue ice-pop. Finding blue edible
has even become a mark of sophistication; we
pay a premium for blue corn chips or potato
crisps despite a negligible difference in flavour. A grand meal in Beijing featured large
ovoid mounds coloured half white, half violet
blue. They turned out to be pureed yam with
preserved plum. Tasting like mashed potato
dipped in jam, the dish could only have been
conceived for its dramatic colour.
In his novel Leviathan, Paul Auster presented a character called Maria who he based
on the artist Sophie Calle. As well as giving
Maria Calle’s back catalogue of artworks,
he invented a few of his own, including the
Chromatic Diet in which the artist eats food
of a single different colour each day. Calle’s
riposte was to live as Maria and carry out the
art projects Auster had written for her. She
photographed her Chromatic Diet against
identically coloured plates and cloths; pink
one day, yellow another, white a third. The
results look revolting. Calle described the
experience as ‘unpalatable’.
The foods Calle chose were largely natural and unprocessed – steak tartare, tomatoes
and pomegranates for red, fish, potatoes and
fromage blanc for white – arrogant logic suggests that they should look more appealing
to us than unwholesome, artificially-tinted
processed foods. Yet their uniformity of colour is off-putting.
Our attraction to colour in food seems modified by an attraction to contrast and variety.
Artificial colourants are often added to
achieve consistency of colour in a product
– dye is sprayed onto the skin of oranges
to cover up patches of green, for example.
Whatever pseudo-scientific nonsense is presented to justify the theory, in the even more
pseudo-scientific lab conditions of The
Word’s colour food party we too, whether
by conditioning or instinct, were drawn
to contrast and variety. Even if none of us
wanted to appear prudent enough to admit
our appetite for the colour brown.
United Colours of Foods the study
Porcelain Cup and Plate by Porcelain ID, Red Plastic Table Mats, Part of the 'Orchid' set by Charlotte Lancelot, 'Chopizz' Chopsticks by Pascal Koch and Tablecloth all from Septante Sept. Coloured Ceramic Porcelain Plates all from Lucien Cravate.
diner's check
Hawkers’
Food
— What, we wondered, do
people eat on the streets of
some of the world’s major
cities – and how? Short
of heading off to them
ourselves, we thought
what best than to bring
them back to life right here
in sunny Brussels. And
with a little inspiration
from master film director
Lars von Trier, we
actually recreated the
world, Word-style of
course.
Photography Arnaud De Harven
Production Geraldine Vanhout
Assistant Photographer Jagiello Stanislaw
Hawkers’ Food diner’s check
diner’s check Hawkers’ Food
01.
01.
02.
On the Streets of Kinshasa
On the corner of Oshwé and Kanda-Kanda, in
Kinshasa’s bustling Matongé district, Bébé’s
barbecue can be found bursting with clients
– and laughter. Sit down, have some Cabri
together with some Chickwangue and a fresh
bottle of Congolese beer – Tembo, Primus or
Skoll. For those preferring to eschew alcohol
under the hot African sun however, Vitalo is
the drink of choice. The place where business is done, where friends meet, and where
neighbourhood gossip is set straight.
Cabri - Marinated goat meat grilled on a homemade barbecue, seasoned with dry pili-pili.
Cabri is eaten straight from the barbecue.
Chickwangue - Fermented tapioca bread.
Roots of tapioca are peeled and fermented
for several days. They are then kneaded to
form a paste, which is wrapped in banana
leaves and then steamed cooked or boiled
for several hours. Chickwangue is sold and
served in banana leaves.
02.
On the Streets of Mumbai
In and around Mumbai’s Crawford Market,
countless hawkers and wallahs can be found
lingering around, waiting for their next customer. These mobile stalls have it all: Roti
Channais served together with a light dhal
curry and a sliced onion salad and the quintessential Pani Pooris. Drinks of choice,
depending on the time of day: Lassi or beer
(Kingfisher or Cobra). Colourful and immaculately kept, these stalls often provide a brief
respite from the chaotic Mumbai city life.
Pani Puri is fresh wheat puffed bread,
stuffed with cooked green lentils, chopped
potato, onion and coriander. The purees
are dunked in light, cumin-infused tamarind water. Popped into the mouth as soon
as they are made, this is a fresh, crunchy and
nutritious snack.
03.
Roti Channais are wafer thin pastries, tra-
ditionally rolled by being fl icked in the air.
Similar to streudel pastry, individual pastry
is fi rst pulled to stretch as far as possible,
before folding either into a circle or square
and griddled-baked. Roti channais (or
Kerala rotis as they are sometimes called)
are served with a light lentil curry and a raw
onion salad.
03.
the day’s mood. Drinks-wise, expect strong
Turkish coffee or Galatasaray’s energy drink
– the neighbourhood’s unofficial drink from
its (very official) football club.
Simit – Circular bread, with a whole in the
middle, covered in sesame seeds. Simit’s characteristics vary by region, but they generally
tend to be preferred slightly on the chewy side.
On the Streets of Istanbul
Outside Galatasaray Lisesi, on Istiklal Caddesi in Istanbul’s Beyoglu district, is where
Mehmet and Kamal can be found hawking
their Simit. "Taze simit!” meaning fresh
Simit, is what you’ll hear them shout out all
day. When they are not playing chess that is.
They’ll either be pushing their custom-made
trolley down the road, or will be carrying a
stack of Simit on their heads, depending on
With thanks to
Caterer Olivier Monkisheme
Marie-France & Arnaud Vodikulwakidi
Mr Asslan & Arran
Cynthia & Jessie Lewis (and UK)
Tour & Taxi
Set design based on a design
by Ephameron
Europe’s leading airline to almost anywhere.
With seamless connections to over 400 destinations.
For those who really want to reach out to the world.
All for this one moment.
Lufthansa offers you a constantly and rapidly expanding
worldwide network. From now on, you can fly in comfort, six
times a week, to our new destination of Pune in India onboard
one of our Lufthansa Business Jets; each with 48 Business
Class seats. For more information, go to www.lufthansa.com
eye-opener
— Be it his pristine light or his finger-licking good use of food
props, we’re not quite sure whether we wanted to frame Fred’s
prints or munch on them for dessert they seemed so yummy.
Photography Fred Bastin
Sugar Fix eye-opener
eye-opener Sugar Fix
eye-opener Sugar Fix
With thanks to:
Karina @ Touch (Make Up)
Clara @ New
Milka
the word on the street
— We meet artist Florimond Dufoor at the crossroads between
his paintings and the gastronomy of chef Damien Vanderhoeven
of Le Coriandre. The pair have been bouncing off each other to
produce visual and culinary delights sure to find their way in a
gallery near you very soon. Not before we lay our hands on them.
Painting Florimond Dufoor
The Taste of Paint the word on the street
the word on the street The Taste of Paint
www.florimonddufoor.be
www.lecoriandre.be
Yes, We’ve
Sold Out!
(And now that we’ve got your attention, hear this)
Starting with The Word’s January-February 2009 Issue
Receiving six issues of The Word at home will cost you €18
Why ?
Because for starters,
the postman isn’t free.
But, But Why ?
Because, if you subscribe before
31st December 2008, you’ll also get
The Word USB-only issue with our
January-February 2009 Issue.
What You
Need to do
Transfer €18 to bank account
363-0257432-34
to continue receiving
The Word at home in 2009.
The Word still is a free magazine (for our
many distribution points go online at www.
thewordmagazine.be).
The €18 merely represents the cost of
getting it delivered at home.
our playlists
Lettering: Denis Meyers
Songs
We Eat
stockists
Stockists…
and Others
We Love
La Petite Salope
www.lapetitsalope.com
Rituals
www.rituals.com
Emporio Armani
www.emporioarmani.com
Jimmy Jane
www.jimmyjane.com
Prada
www.prada.com
Estee Lauder
www.esteelauder.com
Didier Ludot
www.didierludot.com
Jean-Baptiste Biche
www.jeanbaptistebiche.com
Feldkuche
[email protected]
Balenciaga
www.balenciaga.com
Marti Guixé
www.guixe.com
www.food-designing.com
Universal McCain
www.mccain.fr
Pierre Hardy
www.pierrehardy.com
Fresh Mama
www.freshmama.be
Hermes
www.hermes.com
Brussels Biennial
www.brusselsbiennial.org
Allessandro Dell’ Acqua
www.alessandrodelaqua.com
Bengt Ek
www.bengtekdesign.se
Proenza Schouler
www.proenzaschouler.com
Casa Bugatti
www.casabugatti.it
Sien
www.sien-antwerp.com
Typhoon
www.typhoonhousewares.com
Croccodrillo
www.coccodrillo.be
Alessi
www.alessi.com
STIJL
Rue Dansaertstraat 74
1000 Brussels
Heyahifi
www.heyahifi .com
Wittamer
www.wittamer.com
Wasabi Peanuts
& Royal Gala Extra Apple
Fabrice Collignon
www.fabricecollignon.be
Venezuelan Black's
www.venezuelanblack.com
American Apparel
www.americanapparel.net
Daniel Von Weinberger
www.kabiri.co.uk
Falke
www.falke.de
Dries Van Noten
www.driesvannoten.be
New Look
www.newlook.co.uk
Bruno Pieters
www.brunopieters.com
Hugo Boss
www.hugoboss.com
Boudicca
www.platform13.com
Dr. Brandt
www.drbrandtskincare.com
Giles Deacon
www.mocomunnications.com
Bumble & Bumble
www.bumbleandbumble.com
Conran Octopus
www.octopusbooks.co.uk
Allen Lane
www.penguin.co.uk
Toohcsmi
www.iets.be
Mark Batty Publisher
www.markbattypublisher.com
Septante Sept
www.septantesept.be
Lucien Cravate
Rue des Chartreux/Karthuizersstraat 24
1000 Brussels
Ephameron
www.ephameron.com
Florimond Dufoor
www.florimonddufoor.be
Denis Meyers
www.denismeyers.com
38 Rue de Namur, 1000 Bruxelles
T: 02 513 43 73 F: 02 513 52 90
[email protected]
NEW CATALOGUE
AVAILABLE FROM
THE RUG COMPANY
www.therugcompany.be
advertisers' round up
pages 2 - 3
page 4 - 5
MYSTERIOUS Invisible Built-in Switches
MYSTERIOUS
Invisible Built-in Switches
Interieur08
hall 5 /stand 524
www.mysterious.be
Moooi
Niko
www.moooi.com
www.mysterious.be
page 6
page 9
www.mysterious.be
Interieur08
hall 5 /stand 524
page 11
www.saab-ids.be
Double Turbo
Double Fun
Launch offer :
"Pilot Pack"
s3ATELLITENAVIGATIONSYSTEM (DVD) with colour touchscreen,
advanced voice recognition
s!UDIOSYSTEM7,3
s3AABPARKINGASSISTANCE
s0REPARATIONFORHANDSFREE
mobile phone.
€550 EX VAT*
.ORMALPRICEÑEX VAT
Test-drive the new Saab 9-3 TTiD at your local dealer.
The slow-moving lorry should be celebrated because the new Saab TTiD boasts
a two-stage turbo. Two sequential turbochargers generate huge amounts of
mid-range torque – torque you can actually feel as you accelerate. So now you
can approach overtaking with a sense of anticipation rather than trepidation.
Who would have thought that being sensible could be such fun?
If you’re an expat, diplomat or a member of the armed forces, special terms apply :
more information at your dealership or at www.saab-ids.be
Saab IDS Dealers :
A.B.A."RUSSELSsBALTIC MOTORS'ENT:WIJNAARDEsBEHERMAN ANTWERPEN!NTWERPENs
BEHERMAN BRUSSELS"RUSSELS3INT3TEVENS7OLUWEsBEHERMAN LIEGE,IáGEs BORGEIND3CHOTENs
BOURGOO+NOKKE(EISTsCALLENS-BOUCKAERT7AREGEM/UDENAARDEsCHOQUET-JANSSENS4OURNAIs
DE PRETRE2OESELAREsDI NITTO$ILSENsGILCON,EUVEN(AASRODEsHENCKAERTS$IEPENBEEKs
KEGELS/UD4URNHOUTsLIEVENS'EELsPEETERS7ATERLOOsTUTTO-MOTOR-ARCINELLEsWILLEMS-ONS
BEHERM A N E UROPE A N
*VALID UNTILL 31/10/08. ENVIRONNEMENTAL INFORMATION: WWW.SAAB.BE SAAB 9-3 1.9TTID: FUEL CONSUMPTION IN COMBINED DRIVING (L/KM) 5,6 - 6,9. CO2 EMISSION (G/KM) 149 - 184.
Absolut
Saab
Bombay Sapphire
www.absolut.com
www.saab-ids.be
www.bombaysapphire.be
page 13
page 21
page 26
Aspria
Interieur08
Brussels Bussines Flats
www.aspriaclub.be
www.interieur.be
www.bbf.be
Time to take care of yourself?
Time to meet our experts!
Stressful life? No time? Lack of motivation?... The reasons are numerous but the results are the same: you are not active
enough and your body is not in condition - back pain, weight gain, general fatigue...
At Aspria Club the experts can create
a tailor-made solution for you
At Aspria Club the experts
motivate you
Come and discuss your objectives with our team of experts and start achieving your goals. They are all high
qualified specialists and you can meet them all on
Our Experts will introduce you to a 3 step programme which
will give you the best start to your Aspria Membership. If
you accomplish the 3 step programme within 4 weeks of
joining the Club you will receive `30 on your Membership
Card - a gift that will allow you to benefit from the many
experts and activities available at Aspria Club.
www.aspria-experts.be
Aspria Club:
Expertise in Sports, Fitness, Group classes,
Personal Training & Nutrition, Post-natal reshaping,
Beauty treatments & Massages.
To take advantage of this exceptional offer, simply
contact us on 02/508 08 12.
Aspria Club - the sports and wellness experts
Rue de l’Industrie 26 - 1040 Brussels - www.aspriaclub.be - Tel. 02/508 08 12
advertisers' round up
page 39
page 43
page 61
Make a healthy choice today!
We Create Healthy Friends
40.000 set free in 47 years
Join World Class now and get an extra One Month Membership to
give to a friend or colleague. And better yet, if your friend decides to
join – you’ll get an extra month as well!*
Call: + 32 2 551 59 90 for more information
World Class Health Academy Brussels
Rue du Parnasse 19
1050 Brussels
Ph: + 32 2 551 59 90
[email protected]
www.worldclass.be
* Offer valid until 31st of October 2008 and cannot be combined with other offers or discounts. Conditions apply.
AMNESTY210x295.indd 1
29/08/08 13:10:08
Worldclass
Amnesty international
www.worldclass.be
www.amnesty.org
Burberry
www.burberrythebeat.com
page 75
page 89
page 91
Yes, We’ve
Sold Out!
(And now that we’ve got your attention, hear this)
Starting with The Word’s January-February 2009 Issue
Receiving six issues of The Word at home will cost you €18
Why?
Because for starters,
the postman isn’t free.
But, But Why?
Europe’s leading airline to almost anywhere.
With seamless connections to over 400 destinations.
For those who really want to reach out to the world.
What You
Need to do.
Transfer €18 to bank account
363-0257432-34
to continue receiving
The Word at home in 2009.
Because, if you subscribe before
31st December 2008, you’ll also get
The Word USB-only issue with our
January-February 2009 Issue.
As we mentioned, The Word still is a free
magazine (for our many distribution points
go online at www.thewordmagazine.be).
The €18 merely represents the cost of
getting it delivered at home.
All for this one moment.
Lufthansa offers you a constantly and rapidly expanding
worldwide network. From now on, you can fly in comfort, six
times a week, to our new destination of Pune in India onboard
one of our Lufthansa Business Jets; each with 48 Business
Class seats. For more information, go to www.lufthansa.com
The Word
Superdry
www.lufthansa.be
www.thewordmagazine.be
www.superdry.be
page 93
page 99
page 100
delvaux.com
Lufthansa
38 Rue de Namur, 1000 Bruxelles
T: 02 513 43 73 F: 02 513 52 90
[email protected]
NEW CATALOGUE
AVAILABLE FROM
THE RUG COMPANY
Newspaper Bag, Men’s “1829” Collection, Designed by Bruno Pieters – Cabas, Vegetable tanned calf – 250 examples
The Rug Company
N.D.C
Delvaux
www.ndcmadebyhand.com
www.delvaux.be
the last word
The Demise
of the
Grocer
— Aliceke (‘Little Alice’)
was my hometown’s local
grocer. She used to give
me little rolls of ham with
koala-shaped faces over
the counter when I went
grocery shopping with
my mom. She was my
favourite shopkeeper.
Writer Karen Van Godtsenhoven
Nowadays, shopkeepers such as Alice are
hard to come by and, although I maintain very
good relations with my local White Night
branch and buy whatever I want whenever I
want at my local city supermarket, I still often
wonder where Brussels’ authentic and muchloved grocers have disappeared to.
This being our foodie issue, the timing
was perfect to dig deep and fi nd some of
these old school grocers and their vanishing corner stores. And after countless hours
spent in some of the cities’ most rundown
areas, being met with closed shop fronts,
rusty weighing scales and retired grocers,
we were slowly coming to terms with the fact
that these former staples of community living
simply weren’t to be found anymore. Until
we stumbled upon Georges De Smul, a grocer
for over thirty years from Brussels’ WoluweSaint-Lambert / Sint-Lambrechts-Woluwe
who had just recently converted his grocery
store to a Carrefour branch. Needless to say
this grocer of thirty years had a lot to reveal
about the grocery industry, as well as telling
us why the much-reviled supermarket chains
weren’t as bad as they were made out to be…
Our man Georges has a lot to say about
the why and the how of the demise of the
grocer: it’s a generation issue, a class issue,
a gender issue and a globalisation issue. He
tells us that Brussels has had two generations
of grocers: the post-war countryside immigrants who often were unsuccessful because
they weren’t reactive enough to the changes
in the big, industrialized, post-war world.
And the second, more confident generation
of May 68ers (like Georges himself), who
came from farms and factories wanting to
be independent, worked hard and above all
gave their children a better future. And that
is where the seizure happened: by slugging it
out twelve hours a day every day of the week
(stocking up on fresh produce at the morning
market, selling it, renovating and cleaning
the store, bookkeeping, etc) the grocers were
able to send their children to university. This
in turn made sure their offspring got a better
life and better prospects for themselves, thus
turning them away from the grocer way of
life. So much for the generational aspect.
The class issue is not just about not being
able to make a lot of money out of fruits and
milk, it’s also about the grocer’s status amongst
and within his community. Indeed, Georges
says that, although they’re harder to come
by than before, there still exist real butchers
and bakers for example, and they have more
standing than a grocer because their trade is
perceived to be more of a specialised craft
than that of the grocer: the baker and butcher
in their white aprons get more respect than
the grocer in his blue apron. It’s bit like the
white versus blue collar class struggle.
Which brings us to the gender issue:
women used to be fi rm fi xtures in the family
businesses that were groceries, often forgoing usual pay, insurance and pension funds.
This meant a cheap labour force which allowed more fi nancial breathing space to the
grocer. ‘But it also made the women very
dependent upon their husband and the
shop they worked in,’ adds Georges. This,
luckily, has changed over the last decade,
although it also means more wage taxes,
pension and social security has to be paid,
which tends to have a lasting effect on the
monthly balance sheet.
Another effect of female emancipation
- women now fi rmly part of professional
working life - has changed customers’ behaviour yet further: shops have to be open
longer hours and should preferably sell more
ready-made foods and small sized packs, instead of, for example, leeks and potatoes by
the bulk. ‘Innovation is key,’ says Georges,
‘and so is staying up-to-date with changes
in consumption behaviour.’ He renovated
his store twice in thirty years and it actually needs to be done every ten years. ‘EUnorms, insurance and hygiene rules have
become so strict that it’s a real challenge to
play it clean and safe. Supermarkets make
people used to new technologies, and local
stores need to implement these too in order
to stay competitive. Renovating every ten
years means you have to work hard in order
to be able to renovate. Global markets, oil
prices and distributors keep changing, and
a grocer can easily be a victim of that when
he raises the prices too much.’
" EU-norms, insurance
and hygiene rules have
become so strict that it’s
a real challenge to play it
clean and safe "
Georges De Smul
That’s why Georges is more than happy
for his store becoming a Carrefour branch.
‘I was at fi rst offended, as I had worked so
hard to stay independent just to fi nd, or so I
thought, the new generation leaving my store
to the supermarkets’ mercy, who destroyed
it in the fi rst instance. Now I think about
it differently: the world has become a much
more complicated place, and although these
branches are ‘locked in’ with one vendor, they
also get a lot of good things out of it. Statistical and research-based formulas make sure
that they have less overstock. Their deliveries are stable, and their prices are pre-formulated. The working hours are significantly
less and allow staff more time for the important things in life, like running marathons for
charity.’ Indeed, our man has run over 140
of them, mainly for his daughter’s charity for
homeless children in South Africa.
Leaving Georges with his memories, I
grab a freshly-squeezed orange juice at my
nearby proxy Delhaize and think, well,
you can’t have it all: a friendly lady giving
you koala-faced ham rolls or an impersonal
but perfectly-stocked and well-run store.
Although we’d obviously prefer to see the
return of Aliceke, we’re happy to settle for
efficiency at this stage…
These Pages
01.
02.
03.
Ex-Grocer Georges De Smul
A Sad Sight
What It Should be Like
© Sam Sisk
© Kris De Smedt
The Demise of the Grocer the last word
02.
© Kris De Smedt
01.
03.
what's next
What, essentially, is luxury?
The best seats at the Opera (bar the Royal Box).
Your 24-hour lawyer.
The spot-removing dry cleaner.
Knowing about sample sales (before the actual sale).
Sleeping in fresh bed sheets every day.
The best offi ce view in the country.
Getting art commissioned.
Croissants and the FT on a sunny Sunday morning.
For some its scarceness.
For others it is availability.
The Essential Luxuries Issue
A kind of 1,000-luxury-things-to-do-before-you-go-bankrupt list
Out 31st October 2008.
Afford it if you can.
delvaux.com
Newspaper Bag, Men’s “1829” Collection, Designed by Bruno Pieters – Cabas, Vegetable tanned calf – 250 examples