Market Bakery · Fruit Flan
Limburgse Vlaai
Photo: Els Diederen at li.wikipedia / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0
Vlaai and the English word 'flan' share a root: both descend from an old Germanic word for a flat cake.
A wide, shallow, yeast-based tart filled edge-to-edge with fruit, custard or rice pudding (cherry, apricot and rijstevlaai are classics), cut into wedges and sold by the slice from market bakery stalls in Hasselt and across the province.
Why it's made this way: Limburg's yeast-dough flan tradition, shared with the Dutch side of the province just across the border, grew out of local farmhouse baking, using the same slow-proofed dough as bread but topped with whatever fruit was in season.
More from Belgium
Belgian Fries (Frites/Friet)
Belgian Waffle (Gaufre de Liège)
Mitraillette
Kaaskroket (Cheese Croquette)
Rodenbach
Garnaalkroket
Part of World of Street Food — 3443 dishes from 118 countries.
Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below.
Photo credits.