Brussels sprouts
 

Quite possibly the strangest question I have ever asked on any message board, but here goes! I am traveling to Brussels in the spring with a friend who loves Brussels sprouts and keeps insisting she must have them while we are in Brussels (3 nights) and Bruges (1 day). Does anyone, by any strange chance, know of anywhere I can take her to be sure that she gets these?? Personally, I'll be looking for the much easier to find chocolate!

Thanks in advance!!

Don't think spring is harvest time for them. Get her some frozen ones.

The main season for fresh Brussels sprouts is November-December-January.

Thanks!! This might just break her heart, but I'll break the news now! :)

you might just be able to find some sprouts in March, but not much after that,

I shouldn't think that they taste much different to the ones she gets at home!

Wikipedia says the most prolific producer in Europe is Netherlands. So go across the border for some . . .

>>Quite possibly the strangest question I have ever asked on any message board, but here goes!<<

You deserve some sort of award ;)

(Does she realize she can get them anywhere -- the biggest producers are the UK, Netherlands and California . . .)

Does she not get fresh brussels sprouts at home? Usually in November, you start seeing the whole stalks in the supermarket. Promise her some for Thanksgiving.

I'm waiting for the trip report on this one!

~ "keeps insisting" are not words I'd like to hear from any travel companion and also, why are the sprouts <u>your</u> responsibility? Good luck to you both.

<<Wikipedia says the most prolific producer in Europe is Netherlands. So go across the border for some . . .>>
Not in the spring! These are typical winter veggies.

yiikes.
If Brussels sprouts come from NL, I'll have to stop eating them.
no AOC here ?
Shame.

They are mostly grown in Germany, NL and England (though the UK eat all of those) and harvested from August to generally the end of March, depending on how the winter has been.

Here we have Brusselse Lof, which is witlof or chicory/endive. It too is grown here, not in Belgium.
Most of the mussels eaten in Belgium come from NL too, sorry.

Oh and we now have more breweries than Belgium as well.

<<Oh and we now have more breweries than Belgium as well.>>

Oh stop bragging. We all know Netherlands > Belgium. Last check one has actually made the World Cup title match, even though it hasn't won. One had its nobleman save the UK from tearing itself to shreds 400 years ago or so. And one didn't ravage the Congo as the personal playground of its royalty.

There is absolutely no shortage of brussels sprouts in the US - in late fall and winter you can get fresh ones in any greengrocer and any decent supermarket.

Perhaps the OP's friend only wants them cooked - in which case she should investigate restaurants at home that serve them - easy since they have become much more popular in the last coupe of years.

Not worth eating BS until after the first frost in Yorkshire.

Any jokes I can think of are just too purile :-)

They are not called brussels sprouts in Belgium. Just spruitjes.

Or Choux de Bruxelles, depending where you eat them.

Therefore nobody in Belgium will understand the significance of eating sprouts in Belgium. A bit like insisting on eating french fries in France.

Take her to England where at Christmas Brussels sprouts are a mainstay on the Christmas dinner table, to the dismay of many!

>>England where at Christmas Brussels sprouts are a mainstay on the Christmas dinner table, to the dismay of many!<<

Only if you insist on putting them on in November.....

Okay, what are some common locally grown veggies in Belgium? And traveling in the end of September, what other local specialties might we find?

Yes, sprouts only - on the same theory that in Denmark danish are called Vienna bread (in danish of course) and in Venice venetian blinds are thought to have come from Turkey I believe.

Okay, this thread has had me laughing out loud. No, her dietary preferences are not my "responsibility" but this is her first trip to Europe and she is a very dear friend, so if this was something I could make happen for her, I was willing to give it a shot. What do I know? We do eat the little green cabbages (as my daughters called them) here in the fall, and yes we can get them fresh (even now) in Florida, but this was just something that appealed to her. She has taken it in stride and is moving on. LOL!

Thanks again for the pointers!