Tanguy Ottomer writes the life story of the Antwerp liqueur (Antwerp)
As usual, an Antwerper makes an appointment in the pub. Also when it comes to a conversation about a new book. Tanguy Ottoman is already waiting in café Paters Vaetje in the Blauwmoezelstraat. With, predictably, a glass of golden-yellow Elixir d’Anvers on the table in front of him.
“When the people at FX de Beukelaer asked me to write a book about the company and the drink, I was very honored. I am not only a lover of the drink, it also evokes memories in me of the past”, says Tanguy Ottomer.
Anyone who follows the Professional Belgian a little knows that he had a close relationship with his grandma. And that is no different in this story. “Once I had a sore throat she told me that an elixir always helps. It was eight thirty in the morning when I drank the liqueur for the first time. I don’t know then I thought, ‘now is us’ grandma all the way north.” But the drink does help with the sore throat.”
The Coca Cola of Antwerp (but tastier)
In the book with the appropriate and inevitable name Elixir d’Anvers Tangu Ottomer has stories, historical and testimonials from famous and slightly lesser known. But as much as he would have liked to reveal, the secret recipe of the liqueur remains a mystery to him too.
“I know there are 32 different herbs in an elixir. I even got to see some of them. But that’s where it stopped. There are only three people who know the complete recipe for making elixir. And the people of FX de Beukelaer do not intend to change that. Elixir d’Anvers is a bit like the Coca Cola of Antwerp. Nobody really knows what’s in it.”
FX de Beukelaer is one of the few truly Antwerp companies that is still really located in the city. “I think that in itself is a great achievement and something to be proud of. The company also exudes the atmosphere of the past. That alone is history and nostalgia,” Tanguy Ottomer continues.
Biscuits and chicory
Today, FX de Beukelaer is located in the Haantjeslei. Their story started at the Paardenmarkt. The liqueur distillery opened in 1864. The liqueur itself already existed a year earlier. Or slightly earlier, because it is not immediately clear when the first elixir became Ottomer,” says Tanguy Ottomer.
It is certain that the de Beukelaer family, whose ancestors emigrated from Strasbourg to Antwerp in the fifteenth century, were prominent citizens. An alderman and a mayor from Ekeren can be found within the family in the annals.
Edward De Beukelaer, when he started a biscuit factory in Antwerp around 1870, was the first industrial biscuit producer on the European mainland. François-Xavier starts a liqueur distillery and Bernardus a chicory factory on the IJzerlaan.
In the last century, the biscuit factory was merged into Parein and is now part of LU. The chicory factory closed its doors in 1983. Meanwhile, the liqueur still exists. And then sooner or later there will be a book. Bilingual Dutch and English.
Elixir d’Anvers is published by Luster and costs 39.95 euros.