I moved to Brussels with my mom
in 1996, at the tender age of 14. Landing in this small, slow and quiet city
was not the easiest, especially coming from Istanbul. On our first day, a
Sunday
, my mom and I went out to explore the city, trying to calm ourselves
down after such a huge change in our lives. We saw a total of 10 people on the
streets on our way to the nearest metro station (which was a good 15 minutes
walk away). In our total ignorance, we got off the metro at Maelbeek, in the
middle of all the European institutions. When we got out of the station we were
in shock. There was no one, absolutely no one… anywhere. We were on Rue de
la Loi, the second grimmest boulevard in Brussels after Rue Belliard (which happens
to be parallel to Rue de la Loi). Everything was so grey. The sky (no
surprise there), the boulevard, the buildings… We for sure did not get a
pompous welcoming procession that day.
After that initial trauma, my mom really pushed for the two of us to explore our new city as much as possible and learn to appreciate it. On one such outing, we decided to visit the renowned Belgian Comic Strip Center. After all, some of the most famous comic strip characters had Belgian passports: Tintin, Lucky Luke, the Smurfs, Asterix etc.
However, our journey didn’t turn out to be what we expected. We had some directional problems. In Turkey, when you need directions to go from point A to point B, you’re not simply given an address and look it up on a map (I’m speaking of the pre-Google maps era, though with constantly changing street names and new neighbourhoods popping up everywhere, I don’t think much has changed). You’re given very thorough directions, which include groceries stores, street sellers, building sites and even big rocks. So my mom and I weren’t quite used to the idea of using a map. We knew more or less the direction in which we were supposed to go and set off.
Bad idea.
After an hour circling in Brussels city center area, we gave up and decided to satisfy our hunger first. We dived into a small restaurant located next to the Opera House (La Monnaie) called L'Intermezzo. It had one big central table that could sit about 10 to 12 people, and another 10 or so tables along the walls. You could see into the kitchen through a little opening on the back wall. An Italian family ran the restaurant. Apart from a few appetizers, including Parma ham and bruschetta, the whole menu consisted of about 10 different kinds of pasta. I ordered the “rigatoni ai funghi”. I was in heaven. I had never not eaten anything like that before that day and I haven’t since. The mushrooms were hidden in a cream of tomato sauce that was subtly flavoured by fresh tarragon leaves and the rigatoni was cooked perfectly al dante.
14 years have passed since our first visit there and L'Intermezzo has seen me grow up. Over the years the friendly service and the delicious food have not changed a bit. The restaurant had a big face lift a few years ago, but the set up, with the big central table, remains the same. I still devour a Parma ham appetizer and the rigatoni ai funghi all on my own. But I do have to negotiate my right to a tiramisu with Massimo, the waiter and the unofficial sommelier (the wines at Intermezzo are worth the try).
That day, in 1996, we left L'Intermezzo with complete satisfaction, and even managed to get some directions to the Comic Strip Center. But I guess the Comic Strip Center was never really our priority. To date, my mom still hasn’t been there!!
Rigatoni ai Funghi
Serves 4
This is my version of my favourite Intermezzo dish. I can never even pretend to beat the perfection of the ladies in the L'Intermezzo kitchen, but this turned out to be pretty good as well.
1 pack rigatoni (500gr)
5 ripe tomatoes, grated
1 ½ cup cooking cream (I used 15% but you can use a lighter version)
A handful of fresh tarragon leaves, torn
15 or so white button mushrooms, bottoms removed and sliced
Extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, finely grated
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
Mash the grated tomatoes through a fine strainer and discard the solids. In a medium bowl mix the cream, tomato juice and tarragon leaves. Add some freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add your rigatoni and cook until al dante. In the mean time heat some olive oil in a large skillet (it should be large enough to contain your pasta) and cook the mushrooms for about 5 minutes. Pay attention not to brown the mushrooms. Add the tomato and cream mixture and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the Parmesan cheese, mix well. Increase the heat to high and cook for another minute. This will reduce the sauce. Season it according to your taste with salt and black pepper. By this time your pasta should be cooked as well. Drain the pasta and add it to your sauce. Mix everything on the skillet and serve, making sure to drizzle a few extra spoonfuls of sauce on everyone’s pasta!
Buon appetito!
