Lately my Google Reader has been full of posts about food – is it the season? I’m not a very interested cook, but I’m a committed foodie. Fortunately I found a fellow-foodie partner and a not insignificant amount of our family budget goes into trying new restaurants and bringing home local specialties (olive oil, honey, tea, wine) from our travels.

To follow the food blogging trend, I’d like to introduce The Brussels Food Club to the world. It’s the brain-child of my friend Inês, a talented amateur cook and professional graphic designer (check out her site at The Avenger Butterfly).

The idea was to challenge our group of friends to try new things and share established favorites with others. Each month we choose a theme, bring one or more dishes to that month’s host’s home, present them to the others, and then… we eat!

So far we’ve had four meetings:

The “Food From My Childhood” Edition

There were probably about 10 different nationalities in a group of about 15 people. So interesting to see the cultural differences. I made my mom’s chocolate salami.

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The “Cookies, Cupcakes and Muffins” Edition

This was a special gathering because we all cooked together, divided into three groups (go Cookie Team!).

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The “Out of Africa” Edition

My favorite Club so far for the sheer deliciousness of the food. The theme was dishes from Africa, any country. I brought two experiments and mint tea from Tunisia.

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The “Exotic” Edition

Last weekend we got together to present our experiments with unusual ingredients. I used persimmons to make a tarte tatin.

Next month it’s the Christmas Edition and I might go to Nigella for some ideas. I’ll let you know how it goes!