Butchers Street

It is still early as I walk down Beenhouwersstraat to the sounds of Johan Verminnen’s ‘Rue des Bouchers’. Here, the pig slaughterers, sausage makers, and tripe sellers peddled their goods. The early spring sun casts a diffused light in the narrow, empty street. The restaurants are closed, but that will change in a few hours. It is a place with an atmosphere “that balances between late medieval and Montmartre with mussels,” says Van Loo. Someone opens a door and throws an indeterminate liquid onto the street; further down, empty mussel shells lie scattered. Mussels were also a treat for Burgundian Brussels residents, it sounds in my ears. Like oysters, they were nutritious and affordable.

Mediahuis België