“The Belgian Recipe Book is a hymn to the rich tradition of Belgian baking culture, with recipes ranging from ‘Antwerp hands’ to ‘Zottegemse koekelaring’.

Belgium has a veritable treasure trove of regional baking recipes that few people are aware of. In this book, more than one hundred of these culinary pearls are gathered together for the first time.

Master baker, Stefan Elias, for many years right-hand man to Jacques Bloch, the legendary baker from Ghent, started a quest to find authentic, sometimes virtually forgotten, regional products. Step by step and with useful tips, he explains how you can get stuck in yourself.

Greet Draye (Centre for Agricultural History in Leuven) supplements the recipes with anecdotes about the origins of each delicious treat, and demonstrates how their stories are ingrained in the Western culture of bread, pastries and feasting. Find out about why bakers in ancient Rome didn’t have to pay taxes, how people in the fifteenth century had themselves locked up in an Antwerp dungeon to fight hunger, and what a consecrated Sint Hubertus bread has to do with rabies.

The Belgian Recipe Book goes right back to the essence of baking and is bursting with passion for the craft. Be inspired by Belgian baking traditions and bring the delicious aromas of the bakery into your home.”

The Belgian Recipe Book was produced by its authors Stefan Elias and Greet Draye, with thanks to Cannibal Publishing and its entire staff.

Available in the better bookshops for € 35.