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Flavors · Brabante Valão
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.
Traditional dish from Brabante Valão
Also known as: tarte al d'jote, târte al djote, djote
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Tarte al djote — Brabante Valão, Belgium
The tarte al djote is a small, rich savory tart from Nivelles. Djote means chard in the Walloon spoken in the town. The filling combines chopped chard, cheese, eggs, butter, onion or shallot and parsley, on a fermented pastry. There are greener versions with more chard, yellower ones with more cheese, and half-and-half.
The cheese is the boulette de Nivelles, called bètchéye in Walloon: a fermented cow's-milk cheese, dry and crumbly in texture with a strong flavor. It gives the tart its taste, along with the generous butter.
There are records of a cheese tart in Nivelles dating back to 1218, linked to food distribution by the town's abbess. The name al djote, however, does not appear in old texts, and the current recipe is certainly documented in the early 20th century, when a restaurant on the central square advertised itself as the oldest house of tartes al djote.
In 1980 the confrérie (brotherhood) of the tarte al djote was founded to preserve Nivelles' cultural and gastronomic heritage. Members taste producers' tarts blind and give ratings from one to five stars; the awarding of seals usually takes place in February.
Local custom calls for eating the djote piping hot, very soft, with butter running. Nivelles lies in Walloon Brabant, south of Brussels, and its main monument is the collegiate church of Saint Gertrude.
Brabante Valão
Specialty of Nivelles, a town in Walloon Brabant, championed by a local brotherhood since 1980.
Fermented pastry; filling of boulette de Nivelles (fermented cow's-milk cheese), chard, eggs, butter, onion or shallot, parsley, salt and pepper.
Very hot, straight from the oven, with melted butter on top. Eaten with a fork, as a starter or a light meal.
Your questions
It is a savory tart from Nivelles, in Walloon Brabant, filled with chard, boulette de Nivelles cheese, eggs and butter. It is eaten very hot.
Chard, in the Walloon spoken in Nivelles. Chard is one of the tart's main ingredients.
The boulette de Nivelles, or bètchéye: a fermented cow's-milk cheese, dry and crumbly, with a strong flavor.
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.
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.
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.
