How to Flame Your Dragon

This metal dragon now makes his home on the center floor of the Ghent Belfry, which dates from1313.  The dragon  originally lived on top of the building where a contemporary gilded dragon current resides. In the old days, when times got tough and invaders threatened,  the townspeople put burning pitch in the dragon’s mouth so he appeared to be spouting flames. It must have been impressive and probably terrifying.

To visit this dragon and another from the same period requires climbing a long flight of narrow, circular steps, the same kind as are in in many small Belgian buildings, perhaps to maximize space in this tidy, compact country.

Nearby, the St. Bavo Cathedral displays the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, a large altarpiece  completed  c. 1432 by the brothers Van Eyck. The lamb was having his coat tidied when I was there (undergoing restoration) so I made do with a copy hung in one of the large, rear chapels. The photo shows only the lamb section; the altarpiece has  twenty-four sections.

Since I couldn’t come up with a recipe for anything dragon-related (dragons-head meatballs are best left to good Chinese restaurants and dragon fruit isn’t a big seller in the US) and have too many recipes for lamb, I thought I’d recirculate that classic, braised Belgian endive. Curiously, in my whole time in Belgium, I rarely saw endive. Perhaps fall isn’t the right season.

Braised Belgian Endive

8 large endive

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons  fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon sugar

Wash and dry the endive and trim off the bottom end. If the tips are brown, carefully trim these off also. Put butter in a heavy skillet or saute pan and gently saute the endive, turning over, about two minutes on each side. Add all the other ingredients, stir gently and cover the pan. Lower the heat to a gentle simmer and cook about twenty minutes. Serve as a side dish with any meat.

Eat endive, think dragon!