Pity Belgium, at least for its status in the States. The food product it’s best known for, the Brussels sprout, is routinely invoked as the object of children’s disdain (personally, I was rather fond of it). Meanwhile, its best known food product has been coopted and dubbed “French” fries.

Agatha Christie’s fictional detective Hercules Poirot hailed from Belgium, but was usually assumed by the English to be French — or simply dismissed, in the xenophobic days before World War II, as a “foreigner.” Needless to say, he inevitably turned this to his advantage.

So maybe Belgium only seems the underdog. The title of this cookbook has it that everyone eats well there, so we should probably be jealous instead. And based on the recipes I’ve made, it’s a pretty good claim.

Waterzooi is a classic Belgian dish, a sort of light stew of quickly cooked julienned vegetables (particularly leeks) with fish or chicken in a cream-and-egg-thickened broth. Supposedly the original version is with fish, but the increasing pollution of Belgium’s rivers has let the chicken version come to the fore. I’ve made chicken waterzooi and scallop waterzooi from “Everybody Eats Well in Belgium,” and now fish, and I can say they’re all delicious.

My photo here probably doesn’t do the fish waterzooi justice — multitasking got out of hand and the veggies were a bit overcooked. Really, it should be a tangle of delicately hued leeks and vibrant carrot shreds. The recipe tells you to cut up the fish in cubes, but I think you could also serve the fish in fillets on their beds of vegetables.

Waterzooi of Fish in the manner of Ghent
From Everybody Eats Well in Belgium, by Ruth van Waerebeek
Serves four

3 TB unsalted butter
4 leeks, white and light green parts only, rinsed well and julienned
2 shallots, finely minced
2 carrots, peeled and julienned
1/2 celery root, peeled and julienned
4 cups fish broth
1 cup dry white wine
1 TB fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried
1 bay leaf
Pinch of saffron threads
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 lbs fillets of firm white fish (turbot, cod, monkfish, halibut, tilapia or the like), cut into 1-inch cubes (or not)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
3 large egg yolks
2 TB finely minced fresh parsley or chervil

1. Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the leeks, shallots, carrots and celery root and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables have softened slightly, but don’t let them brown.

2. Add fish broth and wine, then thyme, bay leaf, and saffron. Simmer, covered, over medium heat for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. (You can prepare the dish in advance up to this point).

3. Bring the broth and vegetables to a simmer over medium heat. Add the fish and poach, uncovered, until just done, about 10 minutes. Remove fish with a slotted spoon and keep warm.

4. Whisk cream and egg yolks together, then gradually add some of the hot broth to the mixture. Pour the egg-broth blend into the rest of the broth in the pan, and heat gently until it thickens, but do not let boil. Add the fish just long enough to heat through.

5. Serve immediately. Place the pieces of fish on top of a mound of the julienned vegetables, and spoon the broth over them both. Sprinkle with parsley or chervil.