Book of Days Tales

Today is the birthday (1512) of Gerardus Mercator, Flemish cartographer, instrument maker, philosopher and mathematician. He is best known for his work in cartography, in particular the world map of 1569 based on a new projection, the Mercator projection, which represented sailing courses of constant bearing as straight lines.

Waterzooi is a very old Flemish dish normally associated with the city of Ghent.  It was originally a peasant dish but now can be found in elegant restaurants.  It is loaded with a variety of vegetables, and the choice is really up to you.  I give you here a good example.  Use root vegetables in the main, and do not use leafy ones.  The dish was originally made with river fish, but these days is almost always made with chicken.  I make it with fish usually, but I am giving you the normal modern chicken recipe because river fish can be hard to come by in most parts of the world. 

© Gentse Waterzooi

Ingredients:

1 chicken
3 leeks, cleaned and chopped
½ celeriac, peeled and coarsely shredded
3 carrots, peeled and diced
1 onion, peeled and diced
4 potatoes, peeled and diced
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 quarts/2 lt chicken stock
1 cup /2 dl cream
juice of 1 lemon
2 egg yolks

Instructions:

Melt the butter in a large heavy pot and sauté the vegetables for 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the chicken and the chicken stock. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes.

Reduce the broth to a slow simmer.  Take the chicken from the pot, remove the skin, and cut the meat from the carcass in large pieces.

Beat the egg yolks and cream in a bowl, and then add ½ ladle of the broth to the mixture, whisking constantly.  Add this mix to the broth while stirring constantly to incorporate it quickly and thoroughly.  If you do not follow these two steps the eggs will curdle.  Add the lemon juice.

Return the chicken pieces to the soup.  Let them heat through and serve the soup in deep bowls with desem (sourdough) rolls, or a baguette.