…..and
at Easter time Mother would make “Kamper Steur”
By Hendrik de Boer. (14.1.3.3*)
On Saturday 6th October 2007, after a very successful reunion, (of
the Callenbach Meerburg Foundation) we were sitting on the terrace
of Wielbergen in the sun of the late afternoon enjoying a delicious stew.
While we were eating, the conversation turned to Willem, the first president of
the foundation, who would regularly explain why we would eat stew, in early
October, at the reunion. “Well, on the third of October 1574, the city of
Leiden was liberated by the Watergeuzen¹,
after many months of being besieged by the Spanish occupiers. The country had
been flooded to make life difficult for the Spanish and the Watergeuzen arrived
in their flat-bottom boats with herring, white bread and stew for the starving
population of Leiden. So, because Mother came from Leiden, we would follow the
tradition of the people of Leiden and eat stew on 3rd October.”
"A
lady at our table then commented: “but Willem told us more.” Things turned
quiet as none of us could remember anything else. “Yes” she continued:
“and at Easter Mother would make Kamper Steur. This was followed by the $64
million question: “Who has the recipe of the dish for Kamper Steur.” None of
us had any idea. I promised to follow this up with an acquaintance in the town
of Kampen. Unfortunately even there we drew a blank. Was this the end of the
story? Not quite!
Recently
I was walking through the woods and heather of ‘t Harde. (Not far from Kampen)
At a certain moment I had to step off the narrow path and onto the heather to
let a couple pass. The lady of the pair, was quite well
known as a culinary expert. After exchanging greetings with a few comments about
the beautiful spring weather in February, I asked her: “Have you ever heard
about a dish called Kamper Steur.”
“Yes, of course,” came the reply. “and I do have a recipe for it. There is
a story attached to it and I will drop a copy into your letterbox.” That is
what happened and that is how I became the owner of the recipe for Kamper Steur.
As
I do not know the address of the lady who asked the question at our dinner table
I publish it here for her and everyone who may be interested, to try it. We wish
you much fun in the kitchen and hope you will enjoy it at Easter time.
Kamper
Steur
It
is a very old and well known regional dish, which appeared already a century ago
in the cookbook written by Maria Haesenbroek called “The current art of
cooking.” This could be because of the comical story attached to it, which has
been told in many places as far as the province of Limburg in Belgium.
The town
council of Kampen planned to put on a festive dinner for a distinguished guest.
(According to the Belgians the Prince of Liège) He did not arrive so the steur which had been caught
especially for the occasion, was released into the river IJssel with a little
bell tied to it.
Since
then the people of Kampen serve Kamper Steur to all important guests, with a
straight face: hard boiled eggs with mustard. The story used to be told to show
how dumb the people of Kampen really were. In reality they were ahead of the
game. When the steur has become extinct, as a result of its relentless
persecution for its caviar, the people of Kampen will still have their steur.
The
recipe
Per
person: 2 eggs, 15 g of butter, 15 g of flour, 15 ml of water, pepper and salt,
half a dessert spoon of mustard and celery.
Boil the eggs in plenty of water for 10 minutes. Melt the butter in a small
saucepan and add the flour while stirring. Continue stirring while adding the
water, add plenty of salt and pepper and simmer for 5 minutes. Douse the eggs
under the cold water tap and after peeling cut them in half, length wise.
Take the saucepan
off the heat and stir in the mustard. Poor the sauce on a flat dish and place
the eggs, round side down, in the sauce. Decorate with whole celery leaves.
Serve with hot buttered toast or well done rice and lettuce..
| There
is an old verse in medieval Dutch which roughly translated goes like this:
“The people of Kampen were quite clever at the time. They had no regrets about the beautiful steur. They used to say: “If we feel like a fish like that, then at least we know where the animal is.” |
It
is not too late yet, you can easily translate this recipe back to a real fish.
Use a flounder and follow the instructions above except that you first brown
some onion rings in the butter. Add equal parts of lemon juice to the mustard
before adding it to the sauce. Add two folded flounder fillets, per person, to
the sauce and sprinkle with chopped parsley and grated cheese. Cook in a
preheated oven at 200º C for 15-20 minutes.
Remove from the oven when the cheese is lightly coloured. Serve with lettuce and
white bread.
¹
The Watergeuzen were the marines of the Dutch freedom fighters during the 80
years war (1568-1648) against the Spanish occupiers
(Previously published in the family magazine “The Prophet of the Velue”
No 77 in early 2008.)