Reasonable turnout

Our members are pretty busy so the turnout for Old China Hands Lunch 5 December stood at 30, not too bad.
We celebrated the birthdays of the month: Nelson, Renaat and me. Our friend Marcin surprised me with a birthday gift, an impressive bottle of Polish vodka. Thanks!
I also had some gift coupons to distribute, from the Benelux Gala Ball.
Good food, good conversations as always

the menu, see the pictures:

• one local draft OR glass of house wine OR soft drink
• tomato stuffed with fish salad OR cooked ham roll stuffed with Russian potato salad OR fresh daily soup
• chicken schnitzel with spaghetti and tomato sauce OR Belgian vol-au-vent with chicken in rich cream sauce served with Belgian fries  OR waterzooi of fish served with boiled potatoes
• daily desert
• coffee or tea

See you all in the new year, 2026. Meanwhile Happy Holidays to all!
Both Renaat and Susan will be away in January for some time, heading to their home in Destelbergen (Ghent).

A dish from my hometown

Many were curious, what is “waterzooi of fish”?
In earlier posts I explained the famous dish from my home town, Ghent, coming in two versions: waterzooi of fish and waterzooi of chicken. Earlier posts: one of 2017 and one of 2022.
Waterzooi is a stew dish from Belgium and originated in Flanders. The second part of the name derives from the Middle Dutch terms sode, zo(o)de and soot, words referring to the act of boiling or the ingredients being boiled. It is sometimes called Gentse Waterzooi which refers to the Belgian town of Ghent where it originated. The original dish is often made of fish, either freshwater or sea, though today chicken waterzooi is more common. The most accepted theory is that rivers around Ghent became too polluted and the fish there disappeared.
From Wikipedia)
See here in Dutch one recipe: Belgische waterzooi met vis by Jolande Vos.