This beautiful work was made by Petrus Gerhardus Vertin in 1867 in a typical romantic style. Detailed. Partly romanticized. And therefore refined. And secretly pay more attention to the clouds in the sky. As if it were painted 'plein air'; which is certainly not entirely certain in this case.

The fish market in Utrecht still looks like this with the Visbrug and the old Vishal in the middle. On the right the houses of the Vismarkt, on the left the rear of the houses on the Choorstraat and in the background the City Hall. Not that fish is still traded, but still. Before that we walk to the market to the Vredenburg. We get a piece of gurnard there. The fish that is still widely available in the North Sea. We love local.

At home we wrap it up, or rather bury the gurnard in a baking dish under vegetables. The gurnard has been cleaned and we fill it with finely chopped celery, dill and garlic and place it under finely chopped leek and pointed pepper and place it in an oven dish. We cover it with oil and put it in the oven for about 40 minutes. We serve it with sweet potato puree and regular potato chips. Naturally homemade from wafer-thin potato slices. We season everything with sea salt and some parsley. Tasty. Preferably just one gurnard per person.