dandoy

I can’t think of anything not to like about pain à la grecque – crisp doughy goodness studded with large crystals of sugar. I had deliberately walked the long way home to include a detour via rue de la rollebeek to get a bag of these from the dandoy branch. they brought back instant memories of the snack I had as a child – slices of white sandwich bread, buttered and sprinked with sugar – devoid of all useful nutrition yet bringing so much innocent pleasure in its straightforward simplicity.

pain à la grecque, or ‘greek bread’ has nothing to do with Greece. according to the worldwidegourmet.com, these delectable snacks find their origin in the Fossé-aux-Loups, also known as the gulf of Gracht. a baker friar made baguettes and rolled them in coarse sugar and these came to be known as ‘bruut van de grecht’. the misnomer came about when french troops occupying Brussels mis-translated these as pain à la grecque. and so the name stuck. a little useful trivia for the next pub quiz.

dandoy are the oldest biscuiteers in Brussels. on entering their flagship store on rue au beurre (how very apt), the homely spiciness greets you in a warm embrace. the display of little butter sables, brown ginger speculoos – it makes you want to grab large handfuls of each offering and stuff them in your bag while the lady behind the counter isn’t watching instead of patiently waiting in line to choose each daintily packaged offering. but maybe that’s just me and my greediness speaking.

and simply because I miss george desperately, here’s a picture of the de la morinerie print I’ve bought for him.