Cinnamon patrol

I was first introduced to this tasty pastry by some Belgian friends of ours.

A speciality of the East Flanders city of Geraardsbergen, the mattentaart (matten = "curd", taart = "tart") is a cheesecakey-like cake encased in puff pastry. The secret ingredient is the buttermilk used to prepare the fine dry curd for the cheesecake part. The puff pasty is light and crunchy, and the cake has a very light crumb, and a delicious tangy sourness.

Eagle-eyed Laura found this at a stall in Ghent and we enjoyed several of them.

The tart is so special, it has been granted the sought-after European Regional Product status, designating it as qualifying for the Product Designation of Origin - the first Flemish food product to receive the designation. This means it can only be called mattentaart if it was actually made in Geraardsbergen (or the city's neighbouring village of Lierde) and made using the traditional, ancient recipe - which dates back to 1510 - while also using milk from the region.

Smakelijk eten!

Labels: david, Food + drink, Travelling