Hungry? Grab a Machine Gun!

What are you hungry for after a big night out? The English go for curries. Germans gravitate toward a bratwurst. In much of the U.S. a late-night breakfast is the ticket. And here in the Mountain West we like Mexican food as our late-night crave. In Belgium, the after-hours food of choice is the Mitraillette sandwich – French for “submachine gun.” It’s a specialty of Brussels, but you can find it almost anywhere in the country.

Like many things in Belgium, there aren’t specific rules about what the Mitraillette may contain. Mainly it’s up to the shop making it – generally a frites stand. It starts with a baguette and a layer of some type of fried meat – often an elongated burger patty – but sausages, steak, meatballs and other meats may also be used. It may also get lettuce, tomato, peppers or other vegetables. But the defining ingredients are a heap of frites (fries) and some kind of sauce like andalouse, mayonnaise, ketchup, or curry ketchup. In this “submachine gun” the baguette is the gun and the fries are the bullets. Its big, messy and bursting with flavor!

If bread and potatoes seem like a starchy combo, consider that the infamous “chip butty” (fries between two slices of bread) and the crisp sandwich (potato chips between the slices) are among the most popular sandwiches in the U.K. And on this side of the pond, we eat fries with almost all restaurant and fast food sandwiches.

So the next time you find yourself hungry after a night out, or pretty much any time, grab a submachine gun. All you need is a baguette, a couple burger patties, a heap of fries, some dipping sauce and a Belgian beer. It’s a killer combo! Cheers!