This is probably Senegal’s most famous dish, fish with vegetables served on a bed of rice. This, however is not you usual version but the dish that you will get served on the beaches of Dakar. Dakarois street food, if you like… There are about as many variations for spelling thiebou dieune (thiep bou dien, ceebu jën…) as there are to making it. This rice (thieb) and fish (dieune) recipe is the national dish of Senegal, and can also be made with beef (thiebou yapp) or by swapping out the spicy tomato-based sauce for a milder seafood broth. Pull up at any roadside street food stall in Dakar and you’ll find it. It can also be found at all the touristy beaches along with grilled fish. Interestingly, though its related to the Senegalese antecedent of Jollof Rice, thiebou dieune as a dish is a relatively modern invention. The story goes that a woman by the name of Penda Mbaye is to be credited with creating thiebou dieune during the 19th century (I say that it is recent, considering that the origins of Jollof rice go back to the 13th century). She lived in Saint-Louis, Senegal, the former colonial capital of West Africa, and worked for the governor. Her first recipe used barley, but when there was a shortage she substituted rice and it took off from there, rising to be the national dish in Senegal and also very popular in Mauritania.
I should say that my husband is the expert on Senegalese cookery and this is one of his speciality dishes that he makes for me on special occasions.
Prep time: 20 minutes/Cook time: 40 minutes/Serves 4
Thiebou dieune recipe (serves four)
Ingredients:
1 whole bulb of garlic, separated into cloves
Large bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 cubes of Maggi or Jumbo bouillon
1 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
160-240ml (2/3-1 cup) oil
1 Whole capitaine (Nile perch) or red snapper, cleaned and scaled
2-3 ripe tomatoes, chopped
3 tbsp tomato purée
1-2 onions, sliced
1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
4 wedges of cabbage, about 5cm (2 in) at thickest point
4 carrots, peeled
2 potatoes, sweet potatoes or other tubers, peeled
1-2 small aubergines
3 cupfuls of broken or small round rice
2 Scotch bonnet chillies, kept whole
Lime wedges, to serve
Method:
Pound together the garlic, parsley, bouillon, black pepper and dried chilli flakes in a mortar (it should make around 12 tbsp, and you will need to use a third of the mixture at a time).
Score 4 holes in both sides of the fish and stuff each with 1 tbsp of the garlic mixture. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Fry the fish until just lightly browned. Remove the fish and set aside.
Add the chopped tomatoes and tomato purée to the oil along with chopped onions and bell pepper. Fry just until tender. Remove and set aside.
Add the remaining whole vegetables and chillies along with 4 tbsps of the garlic mixture and enough boiling water to just cover. Cover the saucepan with a lid and allow the ingredients to simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the fish and continue simmering gently until the vegetables are done (about 15 minutes more). Remove the fish and vegetables and set aside, keeping warm. Also remove the whole Scotch bonnet chillies at this point. Put in a bowl with a little hot water and mash to a paste… this is your chilli sauce.
Use the remaining liquid to cook the rice. Add the rice and 4 tbsp of the garlic mixture then cover. Reduce the heat and cook until all liquid is absorbed and you begin to smell the rice on the bottom of the pan toasting.
Once cooked, spread the rice out on a large platter. Arrange the fish and veggies in the centre. Squeeze lime juice over the top and serve with the hot sauce.
