In Belgium, the shrimp war will not take place
While the war is raging somewhere a little further east, do not believe that in Belgium, all is calm. Because another fire is smoldering, all to the north, and threatens to lead to a major conflict, which opposes two seaside resorts, or more exactly their mayors, those of Ostend and Coxyde, around a local specialty: the shrimp croquettes.
This regional specialty has just been recognized by the Flemish Center for the Promotion of Agriculture and Fisheries (VLAM) as a local Flemish product, which has awarded it the “edible heritage” label. Because these croquettes are made exclusively with shrimp shelled by hand and caught by Ostend fishermen. In addition, they must be manufactured within a radius of ten kilometers around Ostend.
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Yes, but here it is: if the fishermen are from Ostend, if the croquettes are made in Ostend and the surrounding area, we should not hastily conclude that Ostend has the monopoly of traditional shrimp croquettes, nor even less that all the credit goes to them.
And this is precisely what the mayor of Koksijde, Marc Vanden Bussche, criticizes Bart Tommelein for, who rightly points out that Nieuwpoort is where the best prawns are found, and that it is in Oostduinkerke, a section of the municipality of Koksijde, that shrimp fishermen on horseback have developed their centuries-old art, a type of fishing so specific that it has been recognized by Unesco as an immemorial cultural heritage of humanity.
Bread, chocolatine or… couque?
The mayor of Koksijde says it quite clearly: he would have expected more solidarity from his colleague Bart Tommelein, who is now boasting in the press, claiming to want to make Ostend the capital of shrimp croquettes, scandalously ignoring the fact that on the whole stretch of the Belgian coast, such homemade croquettes can be found. In short, one cannot reduce a culinary art which extends over no less than 70 kilometers to a miserable radius of ten kilometers around Ostend.
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Fortunately, we in Belgium have a long tradition of negotiation and compromise: in the perilous exercise of forming our governments, we have already had explorers, clearers, conciliators, mediators and deminers – each times designated by the king, excuse yourself a little! There is therefore no doubt that we will be able to defuse this grenade before it permanently compromises peace in the region.
And as soon as we have settled that, we will come to help you with this story of “chocolatines”, which some stubbornly call “pains au chocolat”, while all Belgians know that the exact name is “couque au chocolat”. “. And afterwards, we’ll see what we can do for Ukraine. The main thing is obviously not to rush, so as not to give the impression, finally to have the appearance of, above all not to give a pretext, to play the appeasement, the de-escalation, finally all that what.