Pork belly with pork cheek, carrot puree, jus, pomme puree, spinach, carrot, Vrijmoed, Ghent

Vrijmoed, Ghent, Belgium, lunch

ByQin Xie 29/06/201319/05/2020

Menu from a lunch at the recently opened Vrijmoed in Ghent, Belgium, whose chef, Michael Vrijmoed, was previously the sous chef at the three Michelin-starred Hof van Cleve:

Cucumber and leek canapés
Leek soup with parmesan cappuccino, chives, crumbs and spring onion a la plancha
Radish carpaccio with crab, apple sauce
Poached and pan fried skate with mussels, cockles, watercress, smoked eel
White asparagus with brown shrimp, citrus sauce
Pork belly with pork cheek, carrot puree, jus, pomme puree, spinach, carrot
Apricot texture with compote, fruit, cream and gel

Cucumber and leek canapés, Vrijmoed, Ghent

Leek soup with parmesan cappuccino, chives, crumbs and spring onion a la plancha, Vrijmoed, Ghent

Radish carpaccio with crab, apple sauce, Vrijmoed, Ghent

Poached and pan fried skate with mussels, cockles, watercress, smoked eel, Vrijmoed, Ghent

White asparagus with brown shrimp, citrus sauce, Vrijmoed, Ghent

Apricot texture with compote, fruit, cream and gel, Vrijmoed, Ghent

Qin Xie

Qin Xie is a London based food, wine and travel journalist and trained chef.

When not infiltrating Michelin restaurants as a kitchen tourist, she writes about food, drink and travel. Her work has appeared on Yahoo, FT, The Times and CNN.

Her first cookbook, co-authored with YS Peng at Hunan Restaurant, is out March 2014.

According to friends, her watch is always set to UTC -- ready for the next big adventure. In reality, she is happiest at the dinner table or by the sea.