The Gourmet Museum and Library (french: Bibliothèque et musée de la Gourmandise) is a museum dedicated to the history of gastronomy, located in Hermalle-sous-Huy,

province of Liège A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outs ...

, Belgium.

Overview

Library

It is the most important collection of

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

and

drink A drink or beverage is a liquid intended for human consumption. In addition to their basic function of satisfying thirst, drinks play important roles in human culture. Common types of drinks include plain drinking water, milk, juice, smoothies a ...

books in Belgium and one of the twenty largest in Europe. The books, mainly old, are about

, arts of the table and tobacco, mainly in Europe and particularly in Belgium. They are classified by subjects: biographies, history, biographies,

recipe A recipe is a set of instructions that describes how to prepare or make something, especially a dish of prepared food. A sub-recipe or subrecipe is a recipe for an ingredient that will be called for in the instructions for the main recipe. His ...

s, religious cookery,

child A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

ren’s cookery, dietetics,

vegetarianism Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism may ...

, veganism, home economics, sociology, food chemistry, publicities,

iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct fro ...

, literature, music, etc. The data-processing encoding is modern. An outline of the catalogue is reproduced on the website. This library has the only specimen of the ''Cuisinier anglais''. The library also has other specialities: * Art History and archaeology *

Dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and

choreography Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design ...

* Local and dialectal Archives * History of the Post office and of the

script Script may refer to: Writing systems * Script, a distinctive writing system, based on a repertoire of specific elements or symbols, or that repertoire * Script (styles of handwriting) ** Script typeface, a typeface with characteristics of handw ...

(funds created in 2004 with the Museum “Postes restantes” located in the same building). The works are consultable on written request and appointment, given the voluntary help of the librarians.

Museum

Authentic objects of gastronomy, original paintings,

furniture Furniture refers to movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating (e.g., stools, chairs, and sofas), eating (tables), storing items, eating and/or working with an item, and sleeping (e.g., beds and hammocks). Fu ...

masterpiece A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

s and objects of curiosity, etc. are laid out in vaulted rooms of the 17th

century A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

. The visits are always guided: the visitors are accompanied by a guide which explains, in an attractive and humorous way, the history of the cookery by taking its interlocutors into account. The children, the elderly, the disabled person find here an adapted reception. The association received the Belgium price CAP48 2009 for this policy

Exhibitions

Library and museum also organize in situ temporary exhibitions ; they take part in cultural big events (like Made in Belgium in Brussels), and collaborate with other museums or institutions for research.

Further activities

From 2002, the NPO founder organizes guided walks for the discovery of a particular gastronomic

heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset is a preexisting thing of value today ** Cultural heritage is created by humans ** Natural heritage is not * Heritage language Biology * Heredity, biological inheritance of physical c ...

: the edible wild plants. In addition, the tavern of the museums proposes dishes according to recipes from the library ; it thus allows the public to taste an old and regional cooking.

Sites of activity

Library and museum are installed in the “ Ferme castrale of Hermalle-sous-Huy” (in the administrative entity of Engis), old farm of the contiguous castle. The buildings, which date from 17th and 18th centuries, can be the subject of a guided visit for groups. In addition to diary and tourist information in English, the website offers, in its French part, feature articles on particular subjects of gastronomy.

Notes

Sources

* ''Le Patrimoine monumental de la Belgique, Wallonie, T. 16/1'', Mardaga, Liège, 1992, d/1991/0024/10 * ''Brochure des journées du Patrimoine en Wallonie'', 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 * ''Hermalle-sous-Huy Un village du val mosan'', D/2004/8066/2 – * ''Nos recettes anciennes et belges'', D/2002/8066/1 – * ''Guide des musées Wallonie-Bruxelles'', D/2007/3606/1 * ''A... Musées vous !'', ISSN 0033-1872, 02/2006 * ''Châteaux de la Meuse'', Ed. FTPL - VVV Zuid-Limburg - Toerisme Limburg - FTPN, 2006 * ''Fiche du Patrimoine (Hermalle-sous-Huy, Ferme)'', Ed. DGATLP, Ministère de la Région wallonne * ''Carnet du Patrimoine : Verstraeten J., Moreau Cl. et CX. Ménage, la Ferme castrale d'Hermalle-sous-Huy in Le Patrimoine rural du Pays d'Amay'', Ed. Ministère de la Région wallonne, 1996 * Lemonnier A. & Marlaire Cl., ''Le Pont de Hermalle-sous-Huy - la Ferme castrale d'Hermalle-sous-Huy in Ponts d'hier et d'aujourd'hui'' - Le Pays hutois, Ed. MET, 1999 * Portugaels, Lily, ''La « Rawète » d'Internet'', in La Libre Belgique-La Gazette de Liège, 2002, February 11 * Lemaire, Guy, ''Le musée de la gourmandise, Unique en Belgique'', in Ambiance, 2003, May 21 * Duchateau, Catherine, ''Al Rawète devient La rawète'', in Vers l'Avenir, 2003, May 16 * Lemaire, Guy, ''Keenan Vranckx – Cuisine pour Harry Potter - Taxidermie culinaire'', in Spectacles, 2004, March 3

External links

Website of the Gourmet museum

Website about Hermalle-sous-Huy
{{Authority control Libraries in Belgium Drink-related museums Museums in Liège Province Food and drink museums Literary museums in Belgium