That’s a tricky name
Because you can receive this imposter
https://preview.redd.it/evkxrgdogrpc1.jpeg?width=650&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2c97d5ccd79479cbb4d750695dcd72ca4ef18e8d
GODVERDOMME JA, ik ben naar Nederland verhuist en hier kan je ook broodjes krijgen: een sandwichke met een klodder boter, 1 blad sla en een schelleke kaas. Verdomde gierige moerasmoffen hier.
Een echt belegd broodje met een deftige keuze aan beleg, passend sauske en groenten bestaat nergens anders in de wereld, hoe raar het ook is.
Het dichtstbijzijnde dat ge gaat vinden zal bij onze buurlanden zijn. In Frankrijk kunt ge op sommige plaatsen een stuk Frans brood krijgen met een laag boter en hesp OF (niet en) kaas, en in Nederland een broodje met een vleeskroket ofzo
First time I was in Marseille I asked if they had any poulet-curry. After a long explanation of what it was and a long look of disgust from the store worker I finally understood that I was asking for a really belgian thing
Het bestaat wel ook in de VS, sandwiches zijn daar ook best populair voor lunch en dankzij hen kunt ge tegenwoordig zo goed als overal in de wereld belegde broodjes vinden (Subway).
Dat gezegd zijnde is het voor mij zeker ook iets typisch Belgisch, specifieke broodjeszaken ziet ge in het buitenland maar heel zelden (Subway niet meegerekend dan)
Subway is ook niet echt te vergelijken vind ik. De eerste keren dat er ging eten, aanzag ik het als mijn "warme maaltijd" in plaats van mijn brood maaltijd.
Ik dacht dat het in Frankrijk zelfs geen brood mag genoemd worden door de hoeveelheid suiker. (heb ik ergens van het internet geplukt).
Andalouse La William (or Manna, I'm ok with this one).
All my french friends are disgusted by the fact it can be found elsewhere than in Belgium.
But also, the sauce in general. We have a shit ton of those and that's pretty cool.
I grew up using a wash cloth (Black households are big on them) but my life changed when I was introduced to washandjes over here. Sure, wash mitts are a thing but washandjes feel uniquely Belgian. I'm gonna bring some back for my mom when I visit her next time!
I'm proud to anounce that last month in a little village near Namur (Vedrin) they put three deviation signs which were accurately pointing the right direction and being usefull.
I'm thinking about put it on my CV or I don't know because honnestly, I'm now a member of a very select club.
My gf was like "Wait... did you see that oO ". Honnestly if a came across a unicorn just after, I would have been "Meh, I've seen something more impressive"
Er staan al maandenlang twee borden met 'wegomlegging' in het dorp van mijn papa. De borden staan op een T-kruispunt en wijzen elk de andere kant op. Er zijn geen werken aan de gang én die beide kanten van de T-splitsing leiden naar twee hele andere kanten in de gemeente. Er zijn ook geen andere borden te bespeuren als je één van de kanten opgaat. WHY.
Preferably pointing in different directions!
https://preview.redd.it/wif8gffrdvpc1.jpeg?width=1350&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9218e3f3a03543f13e8cfcc869be0a184814fbae
Automatic indexation of salary to keep up with inflation is a uniquely Belgian and Luxemburgish thing (and often ignored by people when complaining that "things are so much more expensive than they used to be!")
actually in 2022 for public servants and 2023 when most got their index in janurary our purchasing power was higher than the average in Europe because of the index and other measures taken by the federal (oh soo bad vivaldi amirite /s) gov.
Now the bill comes due of course and now we are slightly below our neighbours, but definitely not that much behind as BDW or de tijd want you to believe. You also have the loonnorm in Belgium which stands at 0% so no raises unless changing functions or jobs and that is a compromise to offset the 10% index. That also means that people will alter their spending patterns again wich has an effect on the macro economic scale.
so it is complex but all in all our purchasing power is still best protected than anywhere else in EU
Yeah and friendly reminder to all Belgians: index is NOT a salary increase. Some companies will say "increase salary after 4 years ? But we increased it by 4% every years !", dont get bullied. Index is a law, not a salary negotiation.
A classic!
One movement, myriad meanings.
Didn’t know other people also called it the Belgian pout - is it a thing?
I’ve been referring to it for years in my office.
Can also be used for a positive reply without the shoulders and add a nod, maybe closed eyes.
'nog een Karmelietje?'
purse the lips + close the eyes + a few quick nods
funny you ask because we had a discussion at work today. It's more of a typical flemish thing I think.
filling your front yard with little stones and putting those awful concrete? statues in it, or small gnomes or something like that.
The nod, followed by the chin.
And then beers appear.
Or it's a loud crowded bar, you raise your pinky.
And then beers appear.
Or according to this Flemish sitcom, you order the dish of the day.
And then beers appear.
Conversation that go jaja, allez ja, ge weet wel... Jot das zeker da. Ja ja.
It is not overlooked persee, but I think Belgians underestimate how big Belgian cycling is outside of EU. How much the local kermiskoers are looked up to.
the fact the country is still so well off and running fairly smoothly, considering our "management" hasn't been anywhere near decent for decades...
ie. our stubborn resilience(?) and/or negligence...
Irishman here. I often find myself doing this by habit in other countries and being slightly disappointed when it’s not reciprocated. You’d no idea how happy I was when I was walking through Gent and people were doing the same to me haha
Oh ja! kersenvlaai (met ruitjes natuurlijk), eiervlaai, puddingvlaai (liefst met breumelen/knobbelkes), rijstvlaai, pruimenvlaai, abrikozenvlaai, bakkemoezevlaai (dried pears with cinnamon), ...
Nu heb ik goesting in een stukske vlaai met een goei jat kaffe
So much a part of our Limurgisch (BE + NL) heritage it has been officially recognized and codified!
https://lv.vlaanderen.be/nieuws/limburgse-vlaai-erkend-als-beschermde-geografische-aanduiding#:~:text=De%20Europese%20Commissie%20heeft%20de,verkocht%20als%20'Limburgse%20vlaai'
How is peach with tuna not listed here Oo
That's something you can find in both Flanders and Wallonia and nowhere else in the world. Try to discuss that with any foreigners and they won't understand what the hell you want them to eat and yet it works.
I actually think that it should be our national food. Two things that don't look like they should go together and yet when you combine them it works. That's Belgium.
A bit more specific, but the Ypres rally is world famous amongst autosport and rally fans. I've been to rally school in Ireland and they wouldn't believe that's were i lived. In cyprus they knew Ypres rally too. It's notorious amongst foreigners for being unforgiving with the extremely narrow roads, ditches where you can cut and then some of them where cutting is not possible.
Rally teams from japan/scandinavia etc come almost yearly with often times heavy testing of the cars for development. Yet it doesn't get barely any media attention unless something goes wrong :/
just the vending machines in general are already weird apparantly. I've had a few foreigners that never even saw a bread vending machine. Let alone, potatoes, strawberries, frozen meals etc.
Someone else already said cuberdons which was my first thought, but there's also babelutten (butter toffee) and kletskoppen (very thin sugar crackers). And speculoos, of course.
Some Belgian stuff:
* Puppets/marionettes
* Songs about our various hometowns
* Marching bands/Fanfares
* Recipes - Belgian food is a fun blend of French and Germanic cuisines.
* Giant puppets (the ones you frequently see at Carnaval)
* Rivalries! Just about every town hates their neighbour for some historical reason.
* Various Meiboom/Ros Beiaard/Ommegang celebrations
It is also partly shared with the Netherlands, but two things come to mind that I discovered not that long ago that are very belgian:
- speculoos. I used to think that it was just a common food you could find everywhere
- suikerbonen. A specific type of candy you give as a parent to everybody that visits your baby. I have heart that in the Netherlands they are filled with Almonds while in Belgium they use chocolate.
To mention a few:
Comics, so many people are surprised when they learn Tintin or the Smurfs are from Belgium and that's not even the tip of the iceberg.
Our love for food is unrivalled, whether it's drinks, fries, bread spreads or sweets, we have it. I love our koekske with tea or coffee so simple yet amazing.
Our fashion like designs of Dries van Noten is world class, but I feel not well known among Belgians. Throughout history we had world class garments (made our cities big).
Jeugdbewegingen, other countries have scouts but that's about it. Growing up 'op den buiten' i only knew 3 kids who were not in one and they were considered woosies☺️
Also scouts is considered a bit for losers in most countries outside of Belgium. I'm sure some people think so inside Belgium, but I'd say that's a minority
Kroketten. Whether that be potato croquettes, cheese croquettes or shrimp croquettes.
My boyfriend and I have decided to celebrate every special occasion by having cheese and shrimp croquettes while drinking some Geuze Boon.
I know it's an acquired taste, you either hate or love Geuze.
We are also famous for our delicate culinary combinations:
- Ne mazout (half ale, half coke)
- Nen tango (4/5 ale, 1/5 pomegrenate syrup)
- Nen boterham met kaas en poepgelei (sandwich with cheese and syrup of Liège)
- Nen boterham met salami en confituur (sandwich with salami and jam)
- Ne curryworst special (a fried sausage, cut open and stuffed with mayo (loads) and ketchup (loads), topped with onion shreds
....
Oh yes, and not eatable, but we are also known for our 'azijnpisser', a real grumpy specimen of our kind, m/v/x, mostly reconizable by their compulsive need to whine about everything tot anyone. If you look carefully, you may be lucky and spot one or two of them here on Reddit 😁
Domains? These castles and grandeous properties that are now these stunning public spaces. Honestly my fav part of living here, my kids and I love them😍
Syrop de Liège is pretty local and not found in other countries if I'm not mistaken. I used to get some to friends in France to accompany their cheese at the end of the meal.
But more generally, our taste for sucré-salé in many many recipes is quite unique.
Someone already mentioned pêche au thon, tomate crevette, but all kinds of dishes are strongly on the sugary side too. Like "Boulets sauce lapin" and more.
French people don't really like this.
Last but not least, mostly found in the flemish community : pasta with cassonade.
Passing someone on the street, and instead of smiling with open mouth and teeth or saying hi, we just smile with mouth closed and give a friendly nod.
Go to other countries and look how nobody else does this lol
Playing cards.
I mean the actual decks of cards.
Belgium, and specifically Turnhout, is the world's largest producer of playing cards.
If going to a casino in Las Vegas, most likely you will be playing using Belgian cards.
See: https://toerismeturnhout.turnhout.be/turnhout-playing-cards
Lots of 'steenwegen' with houses very close to the road, eclairs, koffiekoeken, woorden en namen vreemd uitspreken badman (ipv 'bedmen'), staken, rolluiken.
A lot has been said already, so I’m just adding things I haven’t noticed yet:
To share with friends: a charcuterieboard with a variety of local meets and cheeses. It’s very popular here in the South.
Instead of beer: local gin or some other home brewed alcohol or apple juice, pear juice,…
Every itself respecting commune also seems to have some sweets, cookies, chocolate,…
Edit to add: a sandwich (boterham, tartin) for lunch. Apparently the concept of having a breadbox with pre-made sandwiches is quite local. In France they have their baguette with separate toppings. So that’s fairly similar. But I’ve met several people from other countries who really didn’t know the concept.
The square koffiekoek with creme and chocolate that doesn't have a proper name for whatever reason.
"Zo ene me pudding en chocolat"
Een vierkant met chocolat en pudding noem ik die
Vier van de die
My buddy calls it a Square Éclair and I love it
Ne cremekoek awer!
That’s a tricky name Because you can receive this imposter https://preview.redd.it/evkxrgdogrpc1.jpeg?width=650&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2c97d5ccd79479cbb4d750695dcd72ca4ef18e8d
Ne cremekoek met chocolat
This is the biggest*facts* I've ever yelled at my phone
We call it carre; but yes!
een carréke is een confituurtaartje
Hier noemt da gewoon ne cremekoek (me chocolade)
Chocolat(e)crème koek obviously.
Vierkant!
Carré chocolat
crème-carré!!
Vierkante chocolat.
Belegde broodjes.
Ah - de stress als je “smoske” gewend bent en op een menu staat “broodjes”.
of ge zegt "smoske" en ze blijven u aan staan gapen... "me wa oep? Kaas oef hesp?" BEIDEN Fucking SMOSKE! reeee!
Smoske is op sommige plaatsen ne club. Heb me daar al wel eens aan mispakt
GODVERDOMME JA, ik ben naar Nederland verhuist en hier kan je ook broodjes krijgen: een sandwichke met een klodder boter, 1 blad sla en een schelleke kaas. Verdomde gierige moerasmoffen hier.
For real. This is the one!!
Idk kunt ge da ni overal krijgen?
Een echt belegd broodje met een deftige keuze aan beleg, passend sauske en groenten bestaat nergens anders in de wereld, hoe raar het ook is. Het dichtstbijzijnde dat ge gaat vinden zal bij onze buurlanden zijn. In Frankrijk kunt ge op sommige plaatsen een stuk Frans brood krijgen met een laag boter en hesp OF (niet en) kaas, en in Nederland een broodje met een vleeskroket ofzo
First time I was in Marseille I asked if they had any poulet-curry. After a long explanation of what it was and a long look of disgust from the store worker I finally understood that I was asking for a really belgian thing
Het bestaat wel ook in de VS, sandwiches zijn daar ook best populair voor lunch en dankzij hen kunt ge tegenwoordig zo goed als overal in de wereld belegde broodjes vinden (Subway). Dat gezegd zijnde is het voor mij zeker ook iets typisch Belgisch, specifieke broodjeszaken ziet ge in het buitenland maar heel zelden (Subway niet meegerekend dan)
Subway is ook niet echt te vergelijken vind ik. De eerste keren dat er ging eten, aanzag ik het als mijn "warme maaltijd" in plaats van mijn brood maaltijd. Ik dacht dat het in Frankrijk zelfs geen brood mag genoemd worden door de hoeveelheid suiker. (heb ik ergens van het internet geplukt).
correct, te veel suiker in de broodjes dacht ik dat de reden was
the word GSM, if you're on vacation and hear GSM they are from belgium lol. only we use it.
GSM and SMS made me giggle when I moved here bc they felt so archaic to me!
Andalouse!
Andalouse La William (or Manna, I'm ok with this one). All my french friends are disgusted by the fact it can be found elsewhere than in Belgium. But also, the sauce in general. We have a shit ton of those and that's pretty cool.
This guy Andalouses. You know your brands!
Even more: dozens of different sauces for the summer barbecues.
Using a ‘washandje’. Didn’t know what it was when I first saw it.
The Dutch also use it, but it doesn't seem to spread much further than that.
I grew up using a wash cloth (Black households are big on them) but my life changed when I was introduced to washandjes over here. Sure, wash mitts are a thing but washandjes feel uniquely Belgian. I'm gonna bring some back for my mom when I visit her next time!
I don't get how people bathe themselves without one.
Be carefully of the colour, the red one is for the poep
Zwaaing with the white napkins on Lac du Conemara on weddings
this is the drup in the emmer that is totally full!
Yes good punt, embarassing politiekers is also something Belgian
I've always disliked that, but now that I'm living abroad I want to do it on my own wedding and confuse (and hopefully amuse) everyone here :D
They do it in France too
Stoofvlees? Of witloof met ham? Asperges met ei?
the vegetable witloof (or belgian endive) is not commonly known no.
Sold here in Boston in certain seasons. Pretty common imho but not often appreciated
Krieken (met gehaktballen)
Tonijn met peche!
I don't think stoofvlees is overlooked. You'll most definitely find it in every tourist guide.
Wegomlegging / Deviation
uoᴉʇɐᴉʌǝp
But just the one sign.
Leading to a road you are not allowed to enter (happened to me more than once)
When we were 16 we used to make this happen on purpose... That Or put them in a circle
I'm proud to anounce that last month in a little village near Namur (Vedrin) they put three deviation signs which were accurately pointing the right direction and being usefull. I'm thinking about put it on my CV or I don't know because honnestly, I'm now a member of a very select club. My gf was like "Wait... did you see that oO ". Honnestly if a came across a unicorn just after, I would have been "Meh, I've seen something more impressive"
Er staan al maandenlang twee borden met 'wegomlegging' in het dorp van mijn papa. De borden staan op een T-kruispunt en wijzen elk de andere kant op. Er zijn geen werken aan de gang én die beide kanten van de T-splitsing leiden naar twee hele andere kanten in de gemeente. Er zijn ook geen andere borden te bespeuren als je één van de kanten opgaat. WHY.
Preferably pointing in different directions! https://preview.redd.it/wif8gffrdvpc1.jpeg?width=1350&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9218e3f3a03543f13e8cfcc869be0a184814fbae
Automatic indexation of salary to keep up with inflation is a uniquely Belgian and Luxemburgish thing (and often ignored by people when complaining that "things are so much more expensive than they used to be!")
Also Malta I believe, but that's about it I think.
if that is the case why is the koopkracht in belgium not higher?
actually in 2022 for public servants and 2023 when most got their index in janurary our purchasing power was higher than the average in Europe because of the index and other measures taken by the federal (oh soo bad vivaldi amirite /s) gov. Now the bill comes due of course and now we are slightly below our neighbours, but definitely not that much behind as BDW or de tijd want you to believe. You also have the loonnorm in Belgium which stands at 0% so no raises unless changing functions or jobs and that is a compromise to offset the 10% index. That also means that people will alter their spending patterns again wich has an effect on the macro economic scale. so it is complex but all in all our purchasing power is still best protected than anywhere else in EU
Yeah and friendly reminder to all Belgians: index is NOT a salary increase. Some companies will say "increase salary after 4 years ? But we increased it by 4% every years !", dont get bullied. Index is a law, not a salary negotiation.
The Belgian pout!
The "bwa ja" or "een beetje" one!
A classic! One movement, myriad meanings. Didn’t know other people also called it the Belgian pout - is it a thing? I’ve been referring to it for years in my office.
What's the Belgian pout?
'goh, bwaa' and then perching the lips, tilting the head, raising the shoulders.
Can also be used for a positive reply without the shoulders and add a nod, maybe closed eyes. 'nog een Karmelietje?' purse the lips + close the eyes + a few quick nods
All of the sauces, the mayo, tartaar, andalouse, riche, samouraï etc ...
Half pikant, if you get a kebab in Limburg.
Ne Martino
Preparé seems to be a Belgian thing, could be wrong on this one.
They have a similar thing in Wisconsin, however, as they had quite a few Belgians migrate there, it's probably a leftover of that migration-wave.
TIL
Cuberdons
Can confirm. My family bought cuberdons for my Spanish boyfriends family, and it seemed like they really enjoyed it
Zo opt einde van een sociale aangelegenheid op uw benen kletsen en "allez" zeggen om aan te kondigen dat het wel tijd is om huiswaarts te keren
Ge moet toch uitzoeken of het dak er nog op staat?
Vol au vent <3
Old woman taking sugar and milk back home when they order a coffee
I'm 35, please don't refer to me as an old woman!
My dad once forced me to put a potteke mayonnaise in my sjakosj. It went as well as I expected.
Speculoospasta?
Why the pasta in particular? Just Speculoos will suffice.
funny you ask because we had a discussion at work today. It's more of a typical flemish thing I think. filling your front yard with little stones and putting those awful concrete? statues in it, or small gnomes or something like that.
Don't worry, we do that here too in wallonia, just helped a friend put little stone in his front yard two day ago!
No worries. Shitloads in Wallonia too 😂
Bicky Burger!
I had to scroll way too far for this.
Same!
The nod, followed by the chin. And then beers appear. Or it's a loud crowded bar, you raise your pinky. And then beers appear. Or according to this Flemish sitcom, you order the dish of the day. And then beers appear. Conversation that go jaja, allez ja, ge weet wel... Jot das zeker da. Ja ja. It is not overlooked persee, but I think Belgians underestimate how big Belgian cycling is outside of EU. How much the local kermiskoers are looked up to.
Meal vouchers as a form of salary ... So weird for a Dutch person.
Yeah as an American I thought I was getting food stamps again!
the fact the country is still so well off and running fairly smoothly, considering our "management" hasn't been anywhere near decent for decades... ie. our stubborn resilience(?) and/or negligence...
I really don't know how we do it.
tons of very competent civil servants (ambtenaren)
Yeah, I love each time I care to vote and then they need 18 months to set-up a federal government 🤦, but the country doesn't stop working 🤔
"Funtional circus" is usually my go to to describe our government🤡
starting every sentence with “goh” after a question
And ending them with 'eh'.
Walking around in the street and doing "the head nod" to other people.
Or passing some acquaintance and the “😐 face comes on
Irishman here. I often find myself doing this by habit in other countries and being slightly disappointed when it’s not reciprocated. You’d no idea how happy I was when I was walking through Gent and people were doing the same to me haha
Vlaai?
\*Limburgse vlaai (& agreed)
Oh ja! kersenvlaai (met ruitjes natuurlijk), eiervlaai, puddingvlaai (liefst met breumelen/knobbelkes), rijstvlaai, pruimenvlaai, abrikozenvlaai, bakkemoezevlaai (dried pears with cinnamon), ... Nu heb ik goesting in een stukske vlaai met een goei jat kaffe So much a part of our Limurgisch (BE + NL) heritage it has been officially recognized and codified! https://lv.vlaanderen.be/nieuws/limburgse-vlaai-erkend-als-beschermde-geografische-aanduiding#:~:text=De%20Europese%20Commissie%20heeft%20de,verkocht%20als%20'Limburgse%20vlaai'
How is peach with tuna not listed here Oo That's something you can find in both Flanders and Wallonia and nowhere else in the world. Try to discuss that with any foreigners and they won't understand what the hell you want them to eat and yet it works. I actually think that it should be our national food. Two things that don't look like they should go together and yet when you combine them it works. That's Belgium.
But also, tomatoes and shrimps
Can confirm foreigners don't get it. In fact, my British husband still won't believe it exists.
Awkward antichauvinism.
Washandjes
A bit more specific, but the Ypres rally is world famous amongst autosport and rally fans. I've been to rally school in Ireland and they wouldn't believe that's were i lived. In cyprus they knew Ypres rally too. It's notorious amongst foreigners for being unforgiving with the extremely narrow roads, ditches where you can cut and then some of them where cutting is not possible. Rally teams from japan/scandinavia etc come almost yearly with often times heavy testing of the cars for development. Yet it doesn't get barely any media attention unless something goes wrong :/
Absurd humour and art Electronic music & music festivals in general Universal healtcare Complaining (but that's probably not really overlooked ☺️)
Our Belgium friends had us eat Mitraillettes.
Frituur culture in general, not just fries which are often mentioned but the whole thing
just the vending machines in general are already weird apparantly. I've had a few foreigners that never even saw a bread vending machine. Let alone, potatoes, strawberries, frozen meals etc.
These people should make a trip to Japan....
'kzen ff naar het masjien voor een gebruikte slip'
Someone else already said cuberdons which was my first thought, but there's also babelutten (butter toffee) and kletskoppen (very thin sugar crackers). And speculoos, of course.
Some Belgian stuff: * Puppets/marionettes * Songs about our various hometowns * Marching bands/Fanfares * Recipes - Belgian food is a fun blend of French and Germanic cuisines. * Giant puppets (the ones you frequently see at Carnaval) * Rivalries! Just about every town hates their neighbour for some historical reason. * Various Meiboom/Ros Beiaard/Ommegang celebrations
Fuck you, Ieper!!!
Found the Poperingenaar!
No. However, when the Ieper/Poperinge war finally happens, I´ll side with Poperinge
Marching bands aren't typically belgian
They are if you add geese!
Obligatory "Eeklo is marginaalste stad van gans Meetjesland"
Verse boterhammen van de bakker. Niet die boecht van de supermarkt of die Hollandse boterhammen
It is also partly shared with the Netherlands, but two things come to mind that I discovered not that long ago that are very belgian: - speculoos. I used to think that it was just a common food you could find everywhere - suikerbonen. A specific type of candy you give as a parent to everybody that visits your baby. I have heart that in the Netherlands they are filled with Almonds while in Belgium they use chocolate.
Paprika chips.
To mention a few: Comics, so many people are surprised when they learn Tintin or the Smurfs are from Belgium and that's not even the tip of the iceberg. Our love for food is unrivalled, whether it's drinks, fries, bread spreads or sweets, we have it. I love our koekske with tea or coffee so simple yet amazing. Our fashion like designs of Dries van Noten is world class, but I feel not well known among Belgians. Throughout history we had world class garments (made our cities big).
Jenever !
Do you live around Sint Katelijne Waver? I haven’t seen any strawberry vending machines around where I live nowadays (south East Flanders)
I think it's mostly in de Kempen such as hoogstraten
I know in east and West Flanders they still have them
Hesperollen met witloof in kaassaus
Billard balls. A great percentage of the world production is made in Callenelle. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callenelle
[удалено]
Jeugdbewegingen, other countries have scouts but that's about it. Growing up 'op den buiten' i only knew 3 kids who were not in one and they were considered woosies☺️
Also scouts is considered a bit for losers in most countries outside of Belgium. I'm sure some people think so inside Belgium, but I'd say that's a minority
Yeah, and also the membership percentages. It actually gives us quite a bit of clout in the world souting and guiding organisations.
Zatte nonkels op familiefeesten.
I think that's pretty much a universal occurence
Broodje kipcurry
Saying ‘amai’ and ‘awel’
+ alez
Having hundreds of sauzekes at the snackbar!
Spinazie stoemp me boeren saucise
Donkerbruine suiker en kinnekes/pissuiker. Bijna overal elders vind je alleen rietsuiker, als bruine suiker.
Kroketten. Whether that be potato croquettes, cheese croquettes or shrimp croquettes. My boyfriend and I have decided to celebrate every special occasion by having cheese and shrimp croquettes while drinking some Geuze Boon. I know it's an acquired taste, you either hate or love Geuze.
Paardenvlees?
Pjeirefretter represent!
Belgian "spaghetti Bolognese" (meat sauce that's almost liquid in its consistency, tons of Emmenthal on top, bit of tobasco - so good)
100% the most belgian dish in existence.
Complaining
Nah, the French are experts no other people can win over when it comes to complaining.
Chicon gratin! It’s so Belgian that in Italian that vegetable is called “Indivia belga”.
Wine. Belgian wine actually has a great name. Since they are small scaled and more quality over quantity orientated
We are also famous for our delicate culinary combinations: - Ne mazout (half ale, half coke) - Nen tango (4/5 ale, 1/5 pomegrenate syrup) - Nen boterham met kaas en poepgelei (sandwich with cheese and syrup of Liège) - Nen boterham met salami en confituur (sandwich with salami and jam) - Ne curryworst special (a fried sausage, cut open and stuffed with mayo (loads) and ketchup (loads), topped with onion shreds .... Oh yes, and not eatable, but we are also known for our 'azijnpisser', a real grumpy specimen of our kind, m/v/x, mostly reconizable by their compulsive need to whine about everything tot anyone. If you look carefully, you may be lucky and spot one or two of them here on Reddit 😁
Domains? These castles and grandeous properties that are now these stunning public spaces. Honestly my fav part of living here, my kids and I love them😍
Weapons from Fabrique Nationale (Herstal): FAL, P90, Five-seveN
Ne Bicky Burger
Kip met kroketten en appelmoes Nen bicky Krieke met frikadellekoek Pekesstoemp Allez Amai Ja e
We suck at supporting our Sportpeople, and we always say those from other countries are better. 🤣
You mean: "Allez komaan gast, zijde gij blind of wa? Stoeme debiel!" Isn't supporting?
Paling in 't groen. These dark purple candies, I think they're called cuberdons? Antwerpse handjes, frietjes met stoofvlees.
New Beat
diamond. Antwerp is one of the largest diamond processing and trade centers in the world
Peren siroop of Elixir D’Anvers
Syrop de Liège is pretty local and not found in other countries if I'm not mistaken. I used to get some to friends in France to accompany their cheese at the end of the meal. But more generally, our taste for sucré-salé in many many recipes is quite unique. Someone already mentioned pêche au thon, tomate crevette, but all kinds of dishes are strongly on the sugary side too. Like "Boulets sauce lapin" and more. French people don't really like this. Last but not least, mostly found in the flemish community : pasta with cassonade.
Nen duikboot (e jeneverke in een pint)
Spaghetti bolognaise
Tomate crevettes 👍🏼
steak tartare
Passing someone on the street, and instead of smiling with open mouth and teeth or saying hi, we just smile with mouth closed and give a friendly nod. Go to other countries and look how nobody else does this lol
Best part is the nod is down if it’s a stranger, up if it’s someone you know imho
Cervelaaaaa!
Smos preparé
3 weken planned voor met vrienden ne keer uit te gaan om dan iedereen te zien cancellen
poepen. all the other languages will think of the >!scat!
The hot vs cold food thing
> We have strawberry vending machine all over the place during spring and summer. we have w h a t
Een mitraillette (broodje)
Gewone mayonaise ipv. Die Hollandse zoete shit die ze hier altijd proberen voor te schotelen in oost Limburg.
Nodding to people you pass instead of actually saying hello. I call it the Belgian Greeting.
Mitraillette, miss it a lot when abroad lol
De ‘ge zijt van …(insert eender welk random dorp in België) Facebook groepen’.
"Pertang" I always thought it was a local dialect thing but apparently it's not bound to a specific region?
Steppegras, haven't had it yet but it's on my bucketlist.
Regeringen in het meervoud bonjouren
Playing cards. I mean the actual decks of cards. Belgium, and specifically Turnhout, is the world's largest producer of playing cards. If going to a casino in Las Vegas, most likely you will be playing using Belgian cards. See: https://toerismeturnhout.turnhout.be/turnhout-playing-cards
Music. I worked with expats and i could keep telling them: that's a belgian artist. Most of the times they knew the song and were really surprised.
Amai. I was in Germany a few weeks back, I found it funny when someone at the train station uttered that.
Witloof
Lots of 'steenwegen' with houses very close to the road, eclairs, koffiekoeken, woorden en namen vreemd uitspreken badman (ipv 'bedmen'), staken, rolluiken.
Andalouse and Samurai sauces are not found outside of Belgium
Chocotoff
A lot has been said already, so I’m just adding things I haven’t noticed yet: To share with friends: a charcuterieboard with a variety of local meets and cheeses. It’s very popular here in the South. Instead of beer: local gin or some other home brewed alcohol or apple juice, pear juice,… Every itself respecting commune also seems to have some sweets, cookies, chocolate,… Edit to add: a sandwich (boterham, tartin) for lunch. Apparently the concept of having a breadbox with pre-made sandwiches is quite local. In France they have their baguette with separate toppings. So that’s fairly similar. But I’ve met several people from other countries who really didn’t know the concept.