Authentic, Seasonal Belgian Cooking in a Beautiful Local Ghent Home - Day Trip — CALL

A creative cook who makes her own sambal with peppers from the garden, Suzy is an incredibly warm, wonderful and delightful host with a lovely sense of humor. Her home (which is the house she was raised in) is a beautiful and peaceful haven filled with beautiful Flemish art inherited from her family and surrounded by gorgeous rambling gardens. Suzy learned to cook through experimentation and from her mother, a great cook. Suzy's favorite memories of growing up are always around the dinner table, where she remembers enjoying healthy, delicious food and delightful conversations with family at the table. She is now excited to host travelers over food and engaging conversation at her table. Suzy is particular about cooking with high quality ingredients - she gets her meat from a local butcher that personally sources from a local farm. A retired high school teacher, Suzy hosts along with her husband, Bob, who is a genetics professor at the university. Begin your culinary adventure with a walk around Suzy's lush garden dotted with fruit trees and several varieties of herbs. Then sit down to a hearty meal, a creative take on Belgian cuisine, either indoors or at any of Suzy's many outdoor dining locations, depending on the time of day and season. You will start with a first course of salad or a seasonal soup like sorrel or pumpkin. For an appetizer, you might try courgettes stuffed with spiced beef or white asparagus a la Flamande - Suzy gets her white asparagus (only available in May and June) from a special farm in Holland. Your main course includes a fish or meat dish that Suzy procures from a butcher that raises his own cattle. You might try stoverij (juicy chunks of beef stewed in beer), vol au vent (chicken and mushrooms in a bechamel sauce), witloof (Belgian endive with cheese and ham) or Suzy's special roast chicken with fresh garden vegetables and homemade bread. You can expect Suzy's dishes to have a wonderful touch of spices and fresh garden herbs. Your Belgian meal will conclude with Dame Blanche, homemade ice-cream with Belgian hot chocolate sauce or Belgian chocolate mousse in the summer, frisse rabarberglaasjes (sweetened rhubarb from the garden with fresh Belgian cheese) or apple tart in the fall. Coffee/tea is served upon request. If you book a cooking experience, join Suzy in her modern kitchen and learn to cook three Belgian dishes that might include a soup or dessert, appetizer and main. You can expect the cooking experience to last two hours before you sit down and share the meal you helped prepare with Suzy and Bob. Please note that some parts of the dishes that need to cook for several hours might be prepared in advance to save time during the lesson.