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Fish waterzooi
waterzooi van vis
Ghent's creamy one-pot of fish, potatoes and vegetables in their own broth, the dish's original form before chicken took over. This is Jeroen Meus's lighter green version: cod poached on leek, celery and potato in fish stock, the broth turned pale green with puréed parsley and watercress.
- Servings
- 4
- Preparation
- 20 min
- Cooking
- 30 min
- Total
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- Moderate
Equipment
- Large casserole or deep sauté pan with a lid
- Small saucepan, slotted spoon and blender for the green sauce
Ingredients
The pot
Green sauce
Method
Warm the olive oil in the casserole over a moderate heat. Sweat the potato briefly, then the onion and garlic for a few minutes. Lower the heat.
Add the leek and celery, raise the heat a little and stir, then the courgette, thyme and bay. Season with pepper and a little salt.
Pour in hot stock until three quarters of the vegetables are covered. Bring to the boil, covered.
After a few minutes lay the cod on top, cover and poach for about 5 minutes over a moderate heat. Turn the pieces and give them 3–4 minutes more. Check with a skewer and do not overcook.
Timer · 9 min9:00Meanwhile boil the parsley and watercress for 5 minutes in water with the bicarbonate. Lift them out into the blender with a splash of their water and blend to a fine purée.
Why The bicarbonate keeps the green colour; Meus adds it for that reason.
Timer · 5 min5:00Lift out the cod. Remove the herbs, stir the cream and the green purée into the pot, taste and season. Serve vegetables and broth in deep plates with a piece of cod on top and a sprig of watercress.
Substitutions
- Cod → Any thick white fish. Meus warns that cod is a luxury best not eaten every week so stocks can recover. Historically Ghent used freshwater fish such as perch, pike or eel.
- Green sauce → For the classic pale waterzooi, leave out the herbs and finish with more cream, or with a little cream beaten with an egg yolk off the heat.
Common mistakes
- Boiling the fish hard: it flakes apart in the pot.
- Adding the green purée too early: it loses its colour.
Storage & reheating
Best eaten at once. Leftover broth and vegetables keep 2 days in the fridge; add freshly poached fish when reheating.
Safety
Contains fish, milk and celery; many fish stocks contain celery too. Check the label of bought stock.
Allergens
Fish · Milk · Celery
Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.
Fish first, then chicken
Visit Gent places the origin of waterzooi at the Braempoort, where in the 13th and 14th centuries grain mills drew so many fish that people made the first versions with perch, pike, barbel or eel. A later Visit Gent article adds that 19th-century industrial pollution drove the fish from Ghent's waters, so sea fish from the fish market, or a chicken, took their place. Today chicken waterzooi with carrot, leek, celery, potato and cream is the best known.
Jeroen Meus's version is a deliberate variation: lighter, and coloured with herbs.
Poaching on the vegetables
The vegetables cook in a modest amount of stock and the fish sits on top, half steaming, half poaching, under a lid. That keeps it in large moist pieces. The broth is thickened only by the potatoes and a little cream, so it stays light.
How it connects
Place
- origin Ghent In preparation