A few years ago, the owners of the Ghent grocery store Vits-Staelens pulled down the shutters. For several weeks, rumours circulated that it had closed down for good.
Hardly surprising, since the owners were in their eighties. They should have shut up shop long ago. But then Vits-Staelens reopened.
Founded back in 1929, it’s located in a corner building facing the Sint-Jacobskerk. The first thing you’ll notice, as soon as you push open the door, is the intoxicating smell of exotic herbs and spices.
The owners stock hundreds of varieties on high wooden shelves. They are sold in tiny cellophane bags with handwritten labels. You can find all the herbs you need to stock your cupboard.
You may have to pay in cash, but the prices are so low, you won’t need more than a euro coins.
Derek Blyth’s hidden secret of the day: Derek Blyth is the author of the bestselling “The 500 Hidden Secrets of Belgium”. He picks out one of his favourite hidden secrets for The Brussels Times every day.
