Food festival Half & Half goes to slaughterhouse, ‘the belly of Brussels’
For the second year in a row, Brigade vzw is organizing a series of events about food supply in the city. On Saturday, the company will go to the site of the Anderlecht slaughterhouse, where tradition and innovation in the field of food supply come together. “This is the belly of Brussels.”
Cureghem expert Dirk De Caluwé gives interested parties a tour of the site of the Anderlecht slaughterhouse on Saturday morning, ‘the slaughterhouses† Not only tells about the history of the slaughterhouse, but also about the new food facilities: the food hall ‘Foodmet’ and the mushroom farm Eclo, which grows mushrooms and sprouts. In the basement, the company concludes with an acoustic concert by violinist Nick Boons and guitarist Ramsy Irani .†
According to co-organizer Arnaut Vandamme, tradition and innovation come together here. The slaughterhouse opened in 1890 and a mushroom farm was already there in 1930. The sprouts are shared on the roof of the Food with a fish farm.
“It also makes you think about the future of food: are we going to get strawberries from Dilbeek, or are we going to a cultivation system in the city? I am thinking, for example, of tomatoes and peppers in greenhouses.”
Half & Half – Feeding the City
The tour and concert are part of the ‘Half & Half – Feeding the City’ series of events. Co-founder Arnaut Vandamme divides his time between urban agriculture and the hospitality industry, where he works as a cook. In addition, he likes to share passion for food supply and food heritage through the festival, along with the other members of the collective.
The choice for the slaughterhouse was made quickly. The belly of Brussels is no longer Place Sainte Catherine, as Lucas Catherine once wrote. deserves the name, is the site of the Anderlecht slaughterhouse,” says Vandamme.
It may well have been Vandamme’s father who instilled in him his love for Brussels’ culinary heritage. The woodworking teacher regularly handed him chicory, which he himself worked into rolls in a wooden box.
Short chain
To keep the tradition alive, the collective has held workshops for years to learn how to grow chicory in the city. There has also been a theme evening about choesels (a typical Brussels dish made from meat waste, ed.). Last year there was already an edition of ‘Half & Half – Feeding the City’. This summer the collective will continue the series.
During the series of events, the aim is to highlight the importance of the short chain. A recurring theme is also that food innovations are not all that new. “Consider, for example, the trendy mushroom farm in the cellars of the slaughterhouseswhich we will visit on Saturday,” says Horace. “They already did that in 1930.”
Two new editions of ‘Half & Half – Feeding the City’ will follow this summer. The series may be extended by eight editions next year. The upcoming edition will most likely be about Molenbeek’s industrial past, with a visit to Santos Palace, an industrial coffee roaster in Rue Manchester.
HALF & HALF – ENTERING THE CITY
15/6, 9.30, registration required
www.brigade.brussels