I was surprised to hear of the death of world-renowned chef Julia Child, not realizing she was just short of her ninety-second birthday. It seems as if she has been around forever; that she would always be a culinary presence. I remember watching Child’s cooking program on television as a child, and more recently her joint efforts with fellow chef Jacques Pépin.

 

In an article she wrote in 1987, Child claimed one of her favorite recipes was “chicken poached in wine with a julienne of vegetables.” It was a dish she said was age-old, but one she had been “re-thinking, transforming and enjoying” for thirty-five years.

 

Her article continued (as re-printed in the New York Times):

I first encountered the idea in the guise of a Waterzooi, a famous Belgian dish originally made with fish, and one of the specialties of my wonderful old teacher Max Bugnard, a French chef who had owned a chic little restaurant in Brussels before World War II. His waterzooi was an aromatic stew of eels, perch and other very fresh white fish cooked in white wine, fish stock, herbs and generous handfuls of matchstick-cut carrots, leeks, celery and onions. The resulting broth, rich and complex, was then thickened with egg yolks, a good bit of crème fraîche and a final velvety touch of the best butter, before being poured back over the fish. A divine ambrosia indeed, and in those halcyon days nobody gave a thought to six egg yolks, large dollops of heavy cream and lashings of butter. (Incidentally, despite his taste for rich foods, M. Bugnard had a long and healthy life, retiring at 85 and dying peacefully at the age of 93.) I served that well-remembered dish in 1950; in 1956 I encountered another waterzooi, in the French gastronomical magazine Cuisine et Vins de France, but it used whole small chickens instead of fish. I tried it on friends with signal success, and was pleased to see a similar version two years later in a New York Times article on Juliette Elkon's ''The Belgian Cookbook.'' Her waterzooi featured a seven-to-eight-pound capon.

 

When I was living in France in the early 1950's, cut-up chicken was unheard of. You bought your chicken whole. Returning to this country some years later, I snobbishly resisted any suggestion of ready-cut chicken until I started my television series, ''The French Chef,'' and was suddenly cooking for a large audience. I was rather rapidly won over to the idea of buying chicken in pieces.

 

Waterzooi is still truly one of my favorite recipes, because it is simple to do, delicious to eat - and so adaptable. (If you want a lighter version of this famous dish, leave out the last step of adding the cream and eggs.) Here is my easy-to-cook and easy-to-serve contemporary recipe.

The article also contains the recipe for Waterzooi:

Waterzooi of Chicken

2 large carrots

2 medium onions

2 tender ribs of celery

2 medium-sized leeks, white and tender green parts only

½ tsp. dried tarragon

Salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste

2½ LBS cut-up frying chicken, legs, thighs or breasts (with bone), or a mix of both

1½ C dry white French vermouth

1½ to 2 C chicken broth

½ C heavy cream

1½ tsp. cornstarch

6 egg yolks

3 TBS minced fresh parsley

 

Trim and wash the vegetables and cut them into julienne matchsticks one and three-quarters inches long and one-eighth inch wide. (This should come to about five cups in all.) Toss them in a large mixing bowl with the tarragon and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Wash and dry the chicken pieces and set aside.

 

Using a casserole large enough to hold the chicken and the vegetables comfortably, layer in the following order: one-third of the vegetables, half of the chicken, half of the remaining vegetables, the rest of the chicken and the remaining vegetables. Pour in the vermouth and enough chicken broth to barely cover the chicken. Up to this point, the recipe may be prepared several hours in advance. Cover and refrigerate.

 

When ready to cook, bring to the simmer, covered, and cook slowly 25 to 30 minutes or until the chicken pieces are tender and, when pierced, the juices run clear. Strain out the cooking liquid, degrease it and adjust the seasonings. Blend the cream and cornstarch in a small mixing bowl. Whisk the egg yolks in a large bowl and stir in the cream mixture. Slowly whisk in the hot cooking liquid. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Set over medium-low heat, swirling the casserole gently, until the sauce is warmed and thickens slightly, but do not bring to the simmer or the egg yolks will curdle.

 

To serve, ladle the chicken, vegetables and sauce into large warm soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with parsley. Serve with boiled potatoes, noodles, gnocchi or just good French bread. Yield: Four to six servings.

For more about Julia Child and her amazing life, click here for her three-page obituary at the New York Times. (Note: You may be asked to set up a free password account with the Times in order to access the article).