This year’s Chaud Boulette ('Hot Meatball') competition took place in the Belgian and Flemish capital at the weekend. Butchers from across the Brussels conurbation vied for the title of ‘Best Brussels’ Boulet’. This year, the jury of experts’ prize went to a boulet created by Delicatessen Cloetens, a butcher’s shop in the northern borough of Schaarbeek. De Spiegeleer, a butcher’s shop in the inner-city borough of Anderlecht, won the people’s choice award.
This edition of Chaud Boulette took place at an iconic Brussels café popular among Flemings, Les Brasseurs, on Anspachlaan in the heart of Brussels. “This unique event puts one of the capital’s most typical specialities in the spotlight: the cold café meatball, as it has been sold in Brussels butchers’ shops and cafés for generations.”
A "boulet" is a large Belgian meatball typically made from a mix of minced pork and beef, breadcrumbs, onions, and parsley. It can be eaten cold or hot, often with Liège sauce. That dish is known locally as ‘boulets à la liégoise’ when it is served in a rich, sweet-and-sour brown gravy known as sauce liégeoise, flavoured with Sirop de Liège (a thick apple/pear spread) and onions.
Ten Brussels butchers and charcutiers presented their meatballs to both the professional jury and a public jury of around 50 people during a blind tasting. More than 250 meatballs were thoroughly tasted and judged.
The highlight of the meatball festival began earlier at the famous Manneken Pis statuette. The laddie passing water to the joy of millions of tourists was dressed for the occasion in the costume of the Brussels Guild of Butchers and Charcutiers. The public were able to enjoy festive entertainment, with tastings of meatballs and Brussels beers, followed by a parade through the city centre, accompanied by the Meyboom Brass Band.
First prize goes to Schaarbeek
In the end, and after extensive tasting, the boulet from Delicatessen Cloetens in Schaarbeek , impressed the expert jury most; second prize went to De Spiegeleer in Anderlecht, whilst the bronze prize was awarded to Boucherie Pascale in Etterbeek.
However, De Spiegeleer’s boulet won over the public; in addition to the silver expert’s prize, the butcher takes home the public’s choice award.
‘Chaud Boulette was founded in 2024 by Tips From a Waitress (a food blog). Its aim is to showcase the craftsmanship of Brussels butchers and to preserve a popular tradition that is deeply rooted in Brussels culture,’ the organisation explains.
‘Each participant presents an identical meatball to the one sold daily in their shop. In this way, the public discovers the variety of recipes, spice blends and family traditions that form part of Brussels’ gastronomic heritage’.