Waterzooi is a
stew
A stew is a combination of solid food ingredients that have been cooked in liquid and served in the resultant gravy. A stew needs to have raw ingredients added to the gravy. Ingredients in a stew can include any combination of vegetables and ...
dish from
Belgium and originating in
Flanders. The second part of the name derives from the
Middle Dutch terms ''sode'', ''zo(o)de ''and ''soot'', words referring to the act of boiling or the ingredients being boiled.
[''van Dale Etymologisch Woordenboek'', p.965, dr. P.A.F. van Veen & drs. Nicoline van der Sijs, 1989, ] It is sometimes called ''Gentse Waterzooi'' which refers to the Belgian town of
Ghent where it originated. The original dish is often made of
fish, either freshwater or sea, (known as ''Viszooitje''), though today
chicken ''waterzooi'' (''Kippenwaterzooi'') is more common. The most accepted theory is that rivers around Ghent became too polluted and the fish there disappeared.
Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (Crown of Castile, Castil ...
ate the rich dish, even after suffering from
gout.
Varieties
All versions are based on a soup-base of
egg yolk
Among animals which produce eggs, the yolk (; also known as the vitellus) is the nutrient-bearing portion of the egg whose primary function is to supply food for the development of the embryo. Some types of egg contain no yolk, for example bec ...
,
cream and thickened vegetable
broth. The stew itself contains fish or chicken, vegetables including
carrot
The carrot ('' Daucus carota'' subsp. ''sativus'') is a root vegetable, typically orange in color, though purple, black, red, white, and yellow cultivars exist, all of which are domesticated forms of the wild carrot, ''Daucus carota'', nat ...
s,
onions,
celeriac
Celeriac (''Apium graveolens'' var. ''rapaceum''), also called celery root, knob celery, and turnip-rooted celery (although it is not a close relative of the turnip), is a variety of celery cultivated for its edible stem or hypocotyl, and shoo ...
,
leeks,
potatoes and herbs such as parsley, thyme, bay-leaves and sage.
Fish
Originally,
burbot was used but this fish had all but disappeared from the rivers until its recent return due to conservation efforts.
Nowadays, fish such as
eel,
pike
Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to:
Fish
* Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus''
* Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes
* ''Esox'', genus of ...
,
carp
Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...
and
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
are used, though other fish such as
cod
Cod is the common name for the demersal fish genus '' Gadus'', belonging to the family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gadus'' is commonly not call ...
,
monkfish, or
halibut can be used. ''Gentse Waterzooi van Tarbot'' includes
turbot.
Meat
Chicken is a popular alternative to fish in the recipe, though the rest of the ingredients remain the same.
See also
*
Belgian cuisine
*
List of stews
References
External links
*{{commonscatinline, Waterzooi
Belgian stews
Dutch words and phrases
Fish stews
Chicken soups
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