We spent the first day of Sukkot with our married daughter and her young family. I’m lucky that my daughter married a boy from a Tunisian/Moroccan background. Apart from the fact that he’s an adoring husband to my daughter and a wise, gentle Abba to my little grandsons, I’m lucky that his Moroccan mother taught my girl so many of her recipes. Over time, some of the recipes and techniques have floated over to me.
This recipe doesn’t have a name, that I know of. The ladies just call it fish, and serve it most weeks on Shabbat. So I’ll name it: Moroccan Shabbat Fish. Took me a while to come up with that.
Moroccan Shabbat Fish
Serves 4 as a main dish, 8 as a hot first course.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 kg. firm white fish. Fresh is best, but Nile Perch is a good alternative.
Juice of 1/2 lemon, if fish was frozen
1 package of cilantro, or parsley if preferred
2 onions, halved if only medium-sized, quartered if large
4 large cloves of garlic, peeled and whole. Put in more if you love garlic.
1 large tomato, or 2 medium tomatoes, thickly sliced
1 red or green bell pepper, thickly sliced
4 medium potatoes, thickly sliced
4 carrots, quartered vertically
1/2 tsp. Hawaij spice, if you have it. If not, then 1/4 tsp. turmeric powder and 1/4 tsp. powdered cumin
1 Tblsp. sweet or hot paprika, according to your taste
salt and pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
Method:
Use a wide, shallow pot, if possible. This is important because the pot liquid is less likely to dry out.
If you’re using frozen fish, thaw it out and put it to soak in cold water to cover; squeeze half a lemon into the water. Fresh fish doesn’t need the lemon water treatment. Let the fish soak for 10 minutes, then rinse it.
Slice the fish into pieces about three fingers wide. Put the slices aside.
Place the cilantro or parsley on the bottom of the pot. Place the vegetables on top of the greens and set the pieces of fish on top of the vegetables.
Sprinkle vegetable and fish with the dry spices.
Pour the olive oil over the whole thing. Add no water nor any other liquid. The ingredients will release their juices and form a thin, but rich sauce.
Cover the pot and set it over a medium flame. Check it after 20 minutes, making sure that it’s not drying out. When the vegetables are cooked through and the liquid has cooked down to a thin sauce, it’s ready: it should take about 30 minutes total.
Serve it hot, with plenty of bread to sop up the delicious sauce.
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Mimi — If you were making this for Shabbat dinner, how would you prepare it? I don’t have a lot of experience cooking for Shabbat (well, plenty of experience cooking not as much experience cooking with Shabbat restrictions). When in relation to candle lighting would you start cooking Morrocan Shabbat Fish and how would you keep it warm without drying it out or otherwise over cooking it?
Hi, Fern,
The fish is the last thing my daughter makes, I’ve noticed. She has the pot ready with all the ingredients in, and just sets it to cook about half an hour before candle-lighting time. Then she puts it on the electric hot plate.
If you want to cook in advance and have it all ready, you can safely reheat it – gently, then put it on the hot plate just before you light candles. It won’t dry out by dinner time.
An afterthought:
If you don’t use an electric hot plate, you can just as easily keep the fish hot by lighting a low flame on your stove top and keeping a flame tamer or other fireproof device between the fire and the pot.
When I was a young bride (lo, these many years ago), electric hot plates were not common. We measured our stove top and went to an iron-worker in Meah Shearim to get a “bleckh” made. It was a sheet of metal that covered all the stove top, bent at the bottom to provide a cover for the gas controls as well. We lit two low flames and laid the “bleckh” over the grills. It would heat up and keep everything hot over Shabbat. Of course the two spots directly over the flames were the hottest, so we would keep our cholent and water kettle over them.
It was a big, unwieldy thing. We used it for years. I switched over to the electric hot plate with relief, but I realize now – more years later – that the metal bleckh may be a better way if using less electricity is important to you.
Which is the best kind of fish? I think you may have left out the name.
Any firm white fish without too many bones. Sea bream and trout are nice fresh, but frozen Nile Perch is also tasty, and cheaper.
Thanks for your tips Mimi! I’m definitely going to try this recipe out.
Let me know how your fish turned out, Fern!
Mimi,
This recipe is so delicious! I make it in the crockpot, and my house smells amazing while everything cooks down. I’ve only used flounder, because my access to kosher fish here is limited.
Thanks for posting it.
Beth
Beth, I’m delighted that the recipe pleases you.