Jordanians offered a taste of Belgian cuisine

AMMAN — To give Jordanians a taste of Belgium’s culture, stalls offering Belgian waffles, chocolate mousse and cheeses started receiving curious visitors on Tuesday at Cozmo supermarket near the 7th Circle.

“One of the aims of this event is the image building of Belgium here in Jordan,” said Belgian Ambassador to Jordan Thomas Baekelandt, who inaugurated the Belgian Culinary Week.

“An important aspect of Belgium is our good food… We are proud of it and we want to share it with our Jordanian friends,” he told The Jordan Times. The event, which concludes on Sunday, entails discounts on Belgian products at Cozmo, as well as a presentation on Wednesday by the Belgian Food Industry Federation to Jordanian companies about the country’s food sector, and dinners prepared by a Belgian chef for Jordanian partners and friends of the Belgian embassy.

“Not many people know about Belgian food in this country,” said Imad Bukhari, CEO of Cozmo’s parent company — THE Group — and founder of Cozmo.

“This is the case even though there are a lot of Belgian products here, sold for instance through Danish or Dutch companies,” he noted.

Baekelandt explained that 60 per cent of the milk distributed in the Kingdom actually comes from Belgium, although final processing and packaging is done in Jordan.

“We want to raise awareness and step away from this idea that Belgium is just about chocolate and beer,” the ambassador said.

“So we have chosen Belgian products for the culinary week which Jordanians can relate to, such as cheeses, mustard, chips and fresh produce like leeks.”

“We would like to have Belgian goods being exported to Jordan… we want to have a greater penetration into this market, not only in Jordan but in the whole region,” Baekelandt said.

“But we are trying to promote our living, our taste for food, without imposing it,” he added.

Belgian chef Brecht Vanthemsche was flown in from Belgium to prepare the food offered at the launch of the culinary week as well as two dinners and lunch at the ambassador’s residence.

“I will cook Belgian dishes, but I will use Belgian as well as local Jordanian products,” Vanthemsche said.

“I think it will be a nice thing to combine products from both countries for these occasions,” he added.

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