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    Potatoes · Recipe · Brussels · Reference page

    Stoemp

    stoemp (wortelstoemp)

    Potatoes cooked with another vegetable, here carrots and onion, in a little water with thyme and bay, then roughly mashed with butter and nutmeg. Stoemp is a Brussels and Flemish everyday dish; this is Jeroen Meus's carrot version, served with chipolata sausages.

    Coarse orange carrot and potato stoemp in a white bowl,with small ivory potato flecks,in brown ink and watercolor.
    Editorial illustration of the documented recipe; not a photograph of a kitchen-tested result.
    Servings
    4
    Preparation
    15 min
    Cooking
    35 min
    Total
    50 min
    Difficulty
    Easy

    Equipment

    • Large pot with a lid; potato masher
    • Frying pan for the sausages
    Servings4

    Ingredients

    • Stoemp

    • To serve

    Shopping list

    Method

    1. Melt a knob of butter in the pot and soften the onion. Add the carrots, stir, and cook gently for a few minutes.

      Timer · 5 min5:00

    2. Add the potatoes and season with salt and pepper. Tie the thyme and bay into a bundle and add it.

    3. Pour in water until the potatoes and carrots are half covered. Bring to the boil, turn the heat down and cook for about 30 minutes with the lid ajar.

      Why Half covering means the vegetables partly steam; most of the water is absorbed or evaporates and what is left goes into the mash with its flavour.

      Timer · 30 min30:00

    4. Meanwhile fry the chipolatas in a little butter over a low heat, turning halfway.

      Timer · 15 min15:00

    5. Remove the herbs and mash the vegetables with the remaining cooking water. Stir in a knob of butter and season with nutmeg. Serve with the sausages and ketchup.

    To drink & serve with

    Substitutions

    • Carrots → Other vegetables: Dagelijkse kost has stoemps of kale, green cabbage, cauliflower and parsnip.
    • Chipolatas → Any fried sausage, bacon, or a fried egg; for a vegetarian meal, an egg.

    Common mistakes

    • Puréeing smooth: stoemp is a rough mash with visible pieces.
    • Adding too much water: the stoemp turns sloppy.

    Storage & reheating

    Keeps 2 days in the fridge; reheat in a pan with a little butter.

    Safety

    Sausages may contain gluten, sulphites or other allergens: check the label. Cook sausages through.

    Allergens

    Milk

    Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.

    A Brussels word

    Stoemp is a mash of potatoes and one or more other vegetables, eaten across Belgium and especially associated with Brussels, where the word is local dialect. We did not find an authoritative source for its history or the origin of the name, so we leave both open. The recipe here is Jeroen Meus's carrot stoemp (wortelstoemp) with chipolatas.

    [1]

    Cooked together, mashed rough

    Unlike a purée, stoemp cooks the potatoes and vegetables in the same pot, in just enough water to half cover them, with herbs. The cooking water is mashed back in, so nothing is lost, and the result stays coarse. Butter and nutmeg finish it.

    [1]

    How it connects

    Place

    • origin Brussels In preparation

    Potato

    Recipe

    Continue exploring

    Sources

    1. Wortelstoemp met chipolata — Jeroen Meus, Dagelijkse kost (VRT), 2016 verified

    Draft — sources being checked · Last reviewed