Festival Stall · Creamy Chicken Stew
Gentse Waterzooi
📷 Closely related photo — Photo: belgianchocolate / Flickr · CC BY 2.0
It was originally made with freshwater fish from Ghent's rivers; by the usual account, chicken took over once pollution made river fish scarce.
Chicken (or, in the original version, freshwater fish) is simmered with leeks, carrots and celery in a light broth finished with cream and egg yolk. During Gentse Feesten, the city's huge summer street festival, vendors ladle it into cups to eat on the move.
Why it's made this way: The name combines the Dutch 'water' and 'zooien', to boil, and the one-pot stew has been a Ghent specialty for centuries before becoming a festival comfort food.
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Part of World of Street Food — 3443 dishes from 118 countries.
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