Wilgenhof and waterzooi

MY father was in Wilgenhof, that hostel of medieval torture. But he survived. Stephan Wentzel, my dad's friend, also survived. But he went on a student tour to Europe and didn't come back. Got off the boat somewhere and never got back on. I don't think Wilgenhof had anything to do with it.

In time, he sent infrequent postcards from the corners of Europe. Always just “Hello Swepie, Bye, Bach." The latter being his nickname, referring to his skills as a pianist. 

He later married the stunning Ilse Prozesky and became a diplomat. Interesting man. Interesting people. Foodies, who used his postings in Washington, London, Brussels, Marseille and Hamburg to track down, learn to make and introduce to us all kinds of fantastic dishes at a time when European cuisine was still unknown in the Little Karoo.

One of my favourites remains waterzooi, that wonderful, creamy Flemish chicken or fish stew. “Waterzooi" means “cooked in water" and gives a good idea of ​​the dish: the fish or meat is poached with vegetables in a thin stock, then enriched with cream and egg yolks. Simple, quick and absolutely delicious: Belgium on a plate.

Ghent waterzooi with chicken

• 3 tbsp butter
• 2 leeks (or 2 onions)
• 2 large carrots
• 3 celery stalks
• 1- 1.25 kg chicken breasts (boneless and skinless) or portions
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1-2 cups chicken stock
• salt and pepper to taste

Cut the vegetables into julienne strips and simmer slowly in the butter until soft but not brown. Use a saucepan with a lid, as this is what the dish will be made in.

Then arrange the chicken on the bed of vegetables. Pour in the wine and enough stock to almost cover the meat and increase the heat so the liquid starts to simmer. Now put the lid on the saucepan and simmer just long enough until the meat is cooked and the vegetables are tender — this should take about 7 to 10 minutes.

If you use chicken portions, slip the skin off before finishing the dish with the cream and egg yolk (see below). Your cooking time will be slightly longer if you use portions on the bone. 

Waterzooi is also made from a nice firm white fish, in which case your cooking time should not be longer than 5 minutes.

Season the dish with salt and pepper when the meat or fish is cooked. I season the portions with salt, pepper and lemon juice before I cook them and find that the flavour is usually exactly to my liking.

You can prepare the dish up to here in advance, then reheat it and finish it off just before you serve it.

Finishing off

• ½ cup thick cream
• 5 egg yolks
• 1½ tsp corn flour
• a handful of finely chopped parsley

Mix the cornflour with the cream and beat in the egg yolks. Now pour a little of the boiling stock from the dish into the cream mixture while stirring. Pour the cream mixture over the dish and heat (if necessary) over a medium low flame while stirring the cream sauce. The sauce will thicken slightly, but be warned: don't let it boil or it will curdle.

Serve the dish in deep soup plates, sprinkled with parsley. The traditional side dish is boiled potatoes or a hunk of French bread to mop up the sauces. It's a rich dish and this recipe is enough for six people.

Served with an unwooded chardonnay, a sauvignon blanc or a chenin blanc.

Golden elixir

Ilse and Stephan's recipe which is probably the most widely distributed among us had its origin because Stephan consulted an internist about his gout and was exasperated about all the consequences of years of good food and wine: blood pressure, sugar, cholesterol, arthritis, you name it.

Stephan didn't want to give up on food or take handfuls of pills. Ilse eventually tracked down a Russian home remedy of noble descent from a cousin who was also a doctor. This advice corrected the blood tests and got Stephan's gout under control. He found out that the recipe is also known in France but that they use the local eau-de-vie instead of vodka. Eternal nationalists, the French.

This is how it is made: 

• 10-12 garlic cloves, broken into small pieces and peeled
• 1 bottle vodka or any white spirit

Finely chop the garlic in a food processor or with a knife and pour it into a glass jar with a screw lid. Pour enough alcohol on the garlic to cover it generously. Screw the lid closed and shake well. Leave it in direct sunlight and give the brew a shake every day. If the liquid has a dark yellow colour, it is ready. Take a teaspoonful every night before bed. When the level of the liquid is equal to the garlic, strain it through a fine sieve or a muslin cloth. Discard the garlic and start a new brew in the meantime.

In addition to the list of ailments above, the priest swears it also helps with colds and other respiratory ailments. Interestingly, garlic breath is only noticeable for a short time after use.

Presents from the Karoo

My ever resourceful friend Paits surprised me with three interesting products from the Kroon family's farm Karri Grove, in the Graaff-Reinet district: beautiful thinly sliced ​​lamb; salami made from lamb, pork and venison; and a vial of genuine Karoo saffron. I threw a pinch of the saffron into the waterzooi: how delicious! We enjoyed the lamb bacon and salami with crackers, cheese and a glass of wine while looking out over the Southern Cape sea.

Contact Joe Kroon at karoofarm@blueskysa.com for more information.

Waterzooi tip

I managed to make my cream sauce curdle for the dish I made for the photo shoot. This was because I had overlooked that the heavy pot at the beach house would hold the heat much longer than even my good enamel pot. So be extra careful that the sauce is not too hot when you add the cream mixture. And don't forget to add the corn flour like I did.

However, I can report that the family maintains that the slightly altered sauce didn't really affect the taste.

♦ VWB ♦

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