Stoemp (Flemish Savoy Cabbage Mash)

My Flemish stoemp or a creamy savoy cabbage potato mash with pan fried sausages and a fat slab of sizzling bacon on top… This is good old-fashioned Belgian comfort food, perfect grub for any winter’s day!

Are you ready for a treat? You will love this dish!

Have you heard of this dish before?

Flemish stoemp is not only a funny word to pronounce. It is the perfect comfort food meal as well. Do you know what exactly it means? Or where that name comes from?

We have this Flemish verb ‘stampen’, or ‘stoempen’ in our dialect which means ‘to mash or crush something up’. In this case right here, potatoes and cabbage.

You can also find this dish in the Netherlands under the name of stamppot. You will usually find this vegetable mash accompanied by the Dutch smoked bologna sausage ‘rookworst’.

Stamppot kind of resembles another classic: Flemish hutsepot, mashed potatoes with a mixture of vegetables. However stoemp normally contains only one type of vegetable. Savoy cabbage stoemp is a popular one.

Stoemp (Flemish Savoy Cabbage Mash)

I love Savoy cabbage stoemp.

Other delicious versions of this dish contain cooked carrots, endives or spinach together with some pan fried piece of meat on top. Such as bacon, boiled pork meat or sausages.

Some more subtle versions can contain fish instead of meat and then we are talking about (salt) cod, fresh salmon or (smoked) haddock. Leeks, cauliflower, broccoli or green peas are usually added to the potato mash.

Whenever we have this mash for dinner, the jar of strong mustard is never far away. It is a great condiment for sausages. The best drink to go with it? No wine this time, but a cold crisp beer. I’d go for a tripel style beer.

Do you love potato mash and soft vegetable dishes?

Then also check out my Flemish hotchpot also known as hutsepot!

Enjoy!

The Recipe

5 from 1 vote

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Stoemp

Prep Time

30 mins

Cook Time

1 hr

Total Time

1 hr 30 mins

 

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Belgian

Servings: 2

Calories per serving: 522 kcal

Ingredients

• 2 pork sausages
• 2 thick slices salted bacon
• 1 lb potatoes for mash (450 g), peeled and chopped
• 7 oz savoy cabbage (200 g)
• 3 medium garlic cloves chopped
• 1 handful fresh parsley chopped
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• ¼ cup whole milk (60 ml)
• nutmeg
• pepper
• salt

Instructions

1. Add the chopped potatoes and garlic to a high pan and fill it with tap water until the potatoes are fully submerged.
2. 
3. Add some salt. Then place the pan over high heat and bring the potatoes to a boil. Cook them until tender. In the meantime rinse and drain the savoy cabbage. Slice it up finely.
4. 
5. Add a tablespoon of the butter to a large non-stick pan and place it over medium-high heat. Once the butter has melted, then add the finely sliced savoy cabbage. Season with a pinch of pepper and salt.
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7. Stir fry the cabbage for 10 minutes or until the cabbage is soft and smooth. Then turn the heat off and take the cabbage off the heat. Bake the bacon in a non-stick pan without any butter or oil until brown and a little crisp.
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9. Then transfer the bacon on a plate and cover with tinfoil. On the same pan you just cooked the bacon in, add a teaspoon of unsalted butter. Bake the sausages in it until browned and cooked through.
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11. Then add the cooked bacon to the same pan again and cover with a lid to keep the meat warm. Drain the cooked potatoes and garlic, add them back to the pan you cooked them in together with the fried cabbage.
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13. Sprinkle with some pepper, salt and nutmeg. Also add the whole milk.
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15. Stir and add the freshly chopped parsley and the rest of the unsalted butter.
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17. Mash the potatoes, parsley and cabbage up. Add extra butter or milk if necessary. Also check the seasoning and add extra pepper, nutmeg or salt to taste if necessary. Scoop the cabbage mash onto plates and top with the baked sausage and a slice of bacon. Serve hot.
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