“The beer was brown, the bread black, the stew a creamy white. She served it in a trencher hollowed out of a stale loaf. It was thick with leeks, carrots, barley, and turnips white and yellow, along with clams and chunks of cod and crabmeat, swimming in a stock of heavy cream and butter. It was the sort of stew that warmed a man right down to his bones, just the thing for a wet, cold night...”

-A Dance with Dragons

Sister’s Stew

Our Thoughts

Ohmygoodness. This stew is exactly as good as it sounds in the book. Where to even begin describing it?

The vegetables are wonderful, and add a welcome splash of color that is absent from many seafood chowders. Your brain will think the turnips are potatoes, and the sliced leeks separate in the mix such that every bite is bursting with both veg and fish. Despite the vast quantities of fish that went into the stew, it did not taste overly fishy. Instead, the seafood flavors melt into the creamy broth, mingling with the aromatic garlic and the very subtle hint of saffron.

We served ours in a loaf of black bread, which adds so many additional complex flavors that we found ourselves spooning up more and more to try and experience them all.

Definitely a keeper, and a must try recipe that’s now in the cookbook!!