Wallonia produces more than just extraordinary meat, flavourful fruit and vegetables, delicious dairy products, exquisite fish and remarkable mineral waters. There are also all those little indispensable items that we cannot do without. Baby food, coffee, tea and chicory drinks, flour and semolina, rice and pasta, sauces and condiments, herbs and spices, vinegar, soups and others: in Wallonia, these accompaniments must be of the finest quality. A matter of tradition...
... The suppliers are in Wallonia! In a region where the bulk of food is comprised of products of remarkable quality (appreciated beyond its borders), the « rest » naturally comes to the fore.
Spaghetti, farfalle, lasagna, tagliatelle with salmon, basil or leek flavour... of Italian origin they may well be, but producers in Wallonia prepare an infinite range of delicious pastas, fresh or dried. Wholewheat flour, specially produced for breadmaking from rye, wheat or other grains; the range of flours and starches from rice and potatoes make delicious cakes, exquisite pies and wonderful sauces. Rice from all over the world and other « foreign » products, such as olives, are found in Wallonia and selected, prepared and packed with quality in mind. Baby and infant food, as well as dietary products are also well represented. As for coffee and tea, they are treated with the same jealous care as our own chicory.
Every type of oil plus a wide range of margarines and edible fats form a good foundation. But Walloon producers also know how to sharpen an appetite with a host of sauces: mayonnaise, béarnaise, curry, ketchup, American, Andalouse, tartare, aïoli, - the list goes on - and how to enliven a dish with fine vinegars made from wine, raspberries, blueberries, shallots and tarragon. Add pepper and salt and spices from four continents and you will begin to grasp why gourmets are so happy here... and elsewhere.
Dried prunes to cook with rabbit, plums or apricots for superb home-made pies, plums or little shallots in vinegar, provide the pickles to accompany our chips, gherkins, beetroot, basic sauces, « roux », fish stock, bouillon... so many indispensable companions to support regional or traditional cuisine.