10 great Belgian foods you can get at the supermarket

We all want to buy local more often. It's sustainable and it supports local business. There's good news - buying Belgian groceries is easier than we might think. Enter any big supermarket in Belgium and you'll find many great food items made locally and sold at a good price.

Here are 10 Belgian food items that you can use in your dinners and lunches! (We aren't including anything sweet, because then this list would be too long...)

1. Liège Syrup
2. Kanzi red apples
3. Sauces
4. Dark chocolate
5. Cassonade sugar
6. Beer (and cheese)
7. Mustard
8. Chicon/witloof
9. Peperkoek/pain d'épices
10. Butter

#1 Liège Syrup

For quick, flavourful caramelisation, Liège syrup is the best. And you can only find it in Belgium! A rich mix of condensed apples and pears, you can spread it on toasted bread with cheese or make amazing, fast caramelised onions.

Or you can add it to lots of Spoonfeed recipes!

• Boulets à la Liègoise
• Galettes bretonne
• Macaroni cheese Swiss-style
• Quiche
• Vegetable tart

How to caramelise onions fast (with one Belgian ingredient)

It need not take an hour to caramelise onions. With the right technique and Liège syrup - a great Belgian staple - you can do it in 15 minutes!

SpoonfeedBenjamin Daniels

#2 Kanzi red apples

Kanzis are crunchy, sweet, and Belgian! A mix between Gala and Braeburn, this apple variety was developed by a company called Better3Fruits - one of the largest apple breeders in the world - near Leuven in 1992 and hit supermarkets in 2005.

Aside from baking desserts and eating it fresh, you could slice Kanzi apples into salads with goat's cheese, couscous salads, or alongside meats like duck or pork.

#3 Sauces

I can't and won't list all the sauces in Belgium! There's so many from good brands like Devos Lemmons (DL), Diknek, La William, Brussels Ketjep, and Pauwels. We like to use the sauces with fries, meats, or inside wraps and sandwiches.

#4 Dark chocolate

This one is obvious! In Belgium, we can easily find some of the best chocolate in the world. How does this help with dinner? Put a square of chocolate in a chili (or bolognese/lasagna filling) for amazingly rich and bittersweet flavour.

And a reminder to support your local chocolate makers!

#5 Cassonade sugar

Belgian cassonade sugar is special and deliciously golden! Use it to glaze meats, as a part of a stir fry sauce, or add a teaspoon to tomato sauces to temper the acid and round out the flavour with a rich, caramel touch.

Belgium has produced sugar for centuries. Records show cane sugar sailing into Antwerp as early as 1317 and the first refinery opened in 1508. Today, Tienen sugar is the most popular cassonade brand. The company has been owned by a German group since 1989, but they still produce sugar in five factories across Belgium.

#6 Beer (and cheese)

Easy! You can cook great meals with Belgium's world-class beers. Some ideas:

• Bagels made with Belgian beer (in 1 hour!)
• Boulets à la Liègoise
• Beef & Guinness stew, take Donal Skehan's recipe and use a Belgian dark beer
• Pollo a la brasa; chicken Peruvian-style marinaded in dark beer

For extra points, use the cheese that goes with your favourite beer! There are great cheeses produced in breweries like Maredsous, Westmalle, Orval, and Chimay (alongside non-brewery cheese like mimolette, herve, oude brugge, and gouda).

Some ideas: spaghetti bolognese with Orval; slice a creamy cheese like Chimay on top of a quiche; put herve and Liège syrup on toasted baguette; or snack on cubes of Westmalle cheese dipped in mustard (don't forget the Westmalle dubbel).

#7 Mustard

Bister, Wostyn, Tierenteyn-Verlent, and DL all produce great mustard in Belgium. Wholegrain, smooth, or super strong, each mustard is different.

Whole mustard is great for Central European cuisine, while smooth makes a good vinaigrette or combines well into cooked sauces, and strong mustard is perfect to dip cubes of cheese into. I've even seen people dip fries into it...

#8 Chicon/witloof

Chicons/witloof - after all they're literally called Belgian endives. They're a classic and are usually on offer in supermarkets from December to April. We like to chop them up in salads or make a typical gratin.

#9 Peperkoek/pain d'épices

Stores in Belgium are stocked with great gingerbread made locally. You can enjoy them as a snack or spread with mustard and add to bubbling, dark stews like stoofvlees/carbonnade flamande for a sweet, spiced kick.

#10 Butter

Good butter is more expensive, but it can be worth it every once in a while. Whether you pick Rochefort, Brugge, Carlsbourg - or if you're lucky, you get it from your local farm - you are buying quality.

This makes sense if you're making a dish where butter can shine. For example, when pan-frying galettes bretonnes, adding butter while mashing potatoes, making a homemade pastry, or for the base of a cream/cheese sauce.

Some great Belgian food brands

Belgium is full of independent, quality food brands whose products can be found in supermarkets across the country. Here are just a few that we like:

• Didden. Brussels-based makers of sauces, dressings & delicious onion confit.
• Fruji. From Pepingen, refreshing sodas and drinks. Rhubarb is a favourite!
• Materne. Based in Floreffe - they make a great variety of quality jams.
• Any good Belgian food brands we've missed? Let us know!