Welsh bits are a rare find in Brussels

Date: 08/03/01

Foot-and-mouth disease has finally reached Brussels - but only in that it played havoc with the Wales European Centre's public-relations efforts last week.

The organisation hosted a lunch on Friday at which it had planned to serve Welsh delicacies, including lamb, cream and cheese. But export bans on British meat and dairy put an end to that. The chefs scrambled to procure some lamb in the capital of Europe but none was available because of an Islamic holiday. So they settled for steak. The cheese course was simply dropped.

The group had also hoped to spotlight its cuisine this week at Commission canteens, where staff are having trouble swallowing Welshman Neil Kinnock's reform plans.

“Welsh is not exactly the flavour of the month at the Commission,” rued one of the event's organisers.