Lambic, Oude Geuze and Oude Kriek
There's no better place than Halle to enjoy Lambic, Geuze and Kriek. These types of beer are brewed in the area around the River Senne, which lends them an unmistakeable flavour. This flavour is due to the two strains of wild yeast that are present in our region: Brettanomyces Bruxellensis and Lambicus. These yeasts make their way into the open vats of Lambic breweries at night and cause the beers to ferment spontaneously.
Lambic is the base beer for Geuze and Kriek. It is a non-carbonated beer, meaning it's not fizzy. The traditional Oude Geuze is created by blending young and old Lambic (a process referred to as steken) and allowing them to undergo secondary fermentation in the bottle. In turn, Oude Kriek is produced by pouring young Lambic over sour cherries.
Where to find these beers?
Our regional beers can be enjoyed in every café around Halle. If you'd like to delve a little deeper into our beer culture, make sure you visit one of the local breweries!
➜ Brouwerij Boon (Fonteinstraat 65, 1502 Halle)
➜ Café Brouwerij Den Herberg (Octave de Kerchove d'Exaerdestraat 16, 1501 Halle)
Grey blood sausages
Pieters family butchers delights its customers with a truly unique range of blood sausages. Aside from white and black blood sausages, Halle is widely known for its grey blood sausages. These are black blood sausages made of offal and blood as normal, but the secret ingredient is lung, which lends them their lighter colour. This perfect example of gastronomical heritage has been passed down from generation to generation in the Pieters family.
Where to find this product?
➜ Slagerij Pieters (Beestenmarkt 4, 1500 Halle)
Krotten
Halle's krotten are caramel-like sweets that owe their name to the sugar that is left to age (a process referred to as verkrotten) during their production. These sweets trace their roots to the pilgrimages that occurred here. During the novena, the pilgrims would eat a sweet after every prayer — nine in total. Johnny Sterck at the Streekproducten Centrum (Local Product Centre) still makes krotten according to the traditional recipe. Today, they are a main feature of the Halle Carnival. On Krotten Monday, the princes of the Orde van Tastendeuvel will throw no fewer than 5,000 of these delicacies out of the windows of the cafés on the Grote Markt.
Where to find this product?
➜ Streekproductencentrum (Poststraat 3A, 1500 Halle)
St Veronus gin
The St Veronus procession is the highlight of the annual calendar in the town of Lembeek, just outside of Halle — so much so that it's been declared an item of intangible cultural heritage. Every year on Easter Monday, five groups escort the silver reliquary of St Veronus along an 18-kilometre route. During this procession and the festivities that follow, the participants and onlookers are quite partial to a gin or two. Their tipple of choice is the St Veronus gin, of course, which is distilled according to an authentic recipe in Lembeek, especially for this unique occasion. Fortunately, this irresistible local product is also available to enjoy at other times of the year!
Where to find this product?
➜ Streekproductencentrum (Poststraat 3A, 1500 Halle)
Vaantjeskoek
Back in 1989, baker Jan Springael pulled the very first Vaantjeskoek out of the oven of the Mokkadis coffee house. He baked this creation in honour of the inauguration of the Vaantjesboer statue on Beestenmarkt, which was erected to symbolise the pilgrimage banner merchants (vaantjesboeren) in our city. Today, these biscuits made of sugar, butter, flour, egg, almonds and hazelnuts are officially recognised as a Straffe Streekproduct — an outstanding local product.
Where to find this product?
➜ Artisanale koffiebranderij Mokkadis (Beestenmarkt 17, 1500 Halle)
