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Flavors · Tournai
Rabbit slowly cooked with onion, black plum and raisins, served with potato. It is the dish of the Lundi perdu dinner, the Monday after Epiphany, a Tournai tradition recognized as intangible heritage by the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles.
Traditional dish from Tournai, Hainaut
Also known as: lapin du Lundi perdu, lapin du lundi parjuré
Click a photo to enlarge it.
Lapin à la tournaisienne — Tournai, Belgium
Lapin à la tournaisienne is rabbit cut into pieces, browned in butter with onion and slowly cooked with thyme, bay leaf, a little vinegar and, depending on the recipe, brown sugar. At the end, black plums and raisins are added, which give the sauce a sweet-and-sour note. It is served with boiled potatoes.
The dish is central to the Lundi perdu, or lundi parjuré, the first Monday after Epiphany. In the past, it was the day when end-of-year gifts were distributed: the butcher gave sausage to good customers and workers received tips. The earliest written references to the custom date to the 13th century. In Tournai it is called the third réveillon.
The dinner follows an order: first the small sausage, with compote or cabbage; then the rabbit; next the salade tournaisienne, with many ingredients; and finally the king cake, with the hidden bean. At the table, each guest draws a slip that defines their role in the celebration. When the person who drew the king raises their glass, everyone drinks together, and songs are sung in the local dialect, Picard.
The Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles recognized the rabbit dinner of the Lundi perdu as a masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage. At that time of year, many restaurants in the Tournai region put rabbit on the menu and organize feasts.
There is no single recipe. For traditionalists, the rabbit is cooked in water, as in the simple original dish; other families use dark beer and add gingerbread. Each household defends its own version.
Tournai , Hainaut
Dish of the Lundi perdu dinner in Tournai, recognized by the Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles as a masterpiece of oral and intangible heritage.
Rabbit in pieces, onion, butter, thyme, bay leaf, salt, pepper, a little vinegar and, depending on the recipe, brown sugar; black plums and raisins. Some versions are cooked in water; others in beer.
Hot, with the sauce, dried fruit and boiled potatoes. At the Lundi perdu dinner it comes after the small sausage and before the salade tournaisienne and the king cake.
The Lundi perdu, the first Monday after Epiphany (January 6). At that time many restaurants in the region offer it.
Your questions
It is the first Monday after Epiphany, when families in Tournai gather for a traditional dinner featuring rabbit, salade tournaisienne and king cake. It is called the city’s third réveillon.
First a small sausage with compote or cabbage, then the rabbit with plums and raisins, next the salade tournaisienne and finally the king cake with the bean.
It depends on the recipe. For traditionalists, it is cooked in water; other families use dark beer. Black plums and raisins are present in the versions consulted.
Flavors of Belgium
Buttery cookie with almond slices, or a chocolate bonbon shaped like a hand. It recalls the legend of the hero Brabo and the giant Antigoon, which explains the name Antwerpen, and has been a city specialty since 1934.
Round tartlet from Lier, in the province of Antwerp, with a crunchy sugar-free pastry and a dark filling of breadcrumbs, cane sugar syrup and spices. The name is protected by a European geographical indication.
Savory pie from Nivelles, in Walloon Brabant, made with fermented fresh cheese, chard, eggs and plenty of butter, served very hot. A local brotherhood evaluates producers and awards quality seals every year.
Rectangular waffle, light and crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, served dusted with confectioners' sugar. It is the first specialty presented by Brussels official tourism and appears in Flemish paintings related to festive celebrations.
Very hard biscuit, made only of honey and wheat flour, pressed in wooden molds carved with animals, figures and views of the city. A tradition of Dinant, in the Meuse valley, it should be softened in the mouth, not bitten.
Small tart of puff pastry filled with matten, the curd of raw cow's milk, eggs and sugar. It is made in Geraardsbergen and Lierde, in the province of East Flanders, and has a protected geographical indication by the European Union.
Creamy stew from Ghent, with a broth thickened with cream, vegetables such as carrot, leek and celery, potato and chicken. The earliest versions were made with river fish, and fish still appears in some kitchens of the city.
Cooked fish, served cold in a vinegar jelly with onion, traditionally in a stoneware jar. It has a European geographical indication, produced in Chimay and in neighboring municipalities of the provinces of Hainaut and Namur.
Cereal distillate flavored with juniper and herbs, milder and sweeter than other jenever. It has a European geographical indication: it must be distilled in Hasselt, Zonhoven or Diepenbeek. The city maintains a museum of the drink in a former distillery.
Dense waffle, made from a brioche-like dough with pieces of pearl sugar that caramelize on the griddle. Rounded and without corners, it is eaten hot and without topping. According to tradition, it was created in Liège in the 18th century.
Open tart of creamy rice pudding on a thin crust, typical of Verviers in the province of Liège. Eaten warm or cold, at any time of day, often with coffee.
Round tart of thin fermented dough with a generous filling of fruit, rice pudding or cream. It is made in Belgian Limburg and Dutch Limburg, and the name is protected by a European geographical indication.
Croquette of creamy sauce with North Sea grey shrimp, breaded and fried, served with fried parsley and lemon. The Ostend version is recognized as a Flemish regional product, with rules about the shrimp’s origin and the filling.
