FOOD Belgium is particularly famous for waffles and chips. Belgian chips are often eaten with mayonnaise or served with mussels. Endive is a popular vegetable, as are, of course, brussel sprouts. Sea food is plentiful and trout is fished in the rivers. Soups include waterzooi which is more like a stew.
Beer features in a number of recipes.
There are over four hundred types of beer brewed including Chimay. Belgium is well-known for its luxury chocolates which are sold widely and in the specialist chocolate shops. With the decline of the Roman Empire, in 406 AD, Belgian Gaul was passed to the control of the Franks. After Charlemagne's death the Empire was divided between his sons - two of the regions eventually became France and Germany. The Counts of Flanders became powerful, building the Flemish towns of Bruges, Ghent and Ypres whose economic success was founded on the cloth industry.