The 'Couque de Dinant', the biscuit with a variety of designs
The Couque de Dinant is the pride of the city whose name it bears, but watch out for your teeth when you bite into it!
It is a kind of extremely hard biscuit made from pure honey, wheat flour and sugar. Different wooden moulds make it possible to give the dough a variety of designs: animals, everyday items, characters, floral motifs and even events. Some moulds dating from the 18th century are still in use today. The Couque seems to originate from this time, but the circumstances of how it came into being are not known for sure.
Baking the Couque de Dinant in an oven at a very high temperature (300°C) for about fifteen minutes makes the honey caramelize quickly. As it cools, the biscuit hardens like caramel, giving it a very long shelf life.
But don't just chomp straight into a Couque de Dinant! It's a very hard biscuit which you need to eat more like caramel. Break it into pieces and let it melt in your mouth. There is also a softer variant, also produced in Dinant: the Couque de Rins.