Week 82. Benin. Dahomey Fish Stew

 

I’m currently writing this post under the covers of my bed whilst my wife sleeps next to me. I have to be under the covers as I’m writing this on my Smart Phone and when I lift them up, the light from the screen illuminates the room like lightening. I tried to shift out a minute or two ago and got kicked so hard in the back I’ve probably got a little bit of internal bleeding.

I’m doing a bit of an experiment. I’ve done 81 posts of this blog using proper cameras and writing on clumpy laptops and I’m not sure if I can be arsed to do that any more – hence me using my phone to do it all. I would be interested to know if the quality of the post and picture are that noticeable. What I was finding was that, with a very busy life at the moment, the thought of getting the camera down, firing up the laptop and then settling down to write a post was a hassle. It took a bit of the gloss of the enjoyment of the cooking. This way, I might be tired, but I’m in bed – so it’s easy to write.

The other advantage of using the phone is I can post a few pics up – so I’ll show some stages of the meal below. This meal was a real winner. It tasted really fresh – mainly as there are not many ingredients and instead of using processed sugary chopped tomatoes from a can, it uses fresh toms.

Before I get into the recipe, a quick note on the name. Dahomey

“In 1894, the Kingdom was colonized by France and made part of French West Africa, as part of the territory of French Dahomey (which also included Porto-Novo and a large area to the north of Dahomey). French rule lasted until 1960, after which the again-independent nation became Republic of Dahomey, and later Benin in 1975.”

Ok – the recipe:

• two porgies (or sea bream, scrup, tilapia, or any firm, low-fat flesh fish – I used Coley), one to two pounds each; cleaned
• flour
• salt, black pepper, to taste
• one quarter cup palm oil or vegetable oil
• two onions, finely chopped
• two tomatoes, chopped
• one cup fish stock or water
• red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper (optional)

What you do

• Cut the fish crosswise, into two-inch sections. Mix the flour, salt, and pepper in a bowl. Roll the fish in the flour mixture.
• Heat the oil in a skillet. Cook the fish in the oil, turning it until it is golden brown all over. Remove the fish and set aside.
• Fry the onions in the skillet for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes. Stir and cook for about ten minutes. Add the fish stock (or water). Reduce heat, cover and simmer for ten minutes more.
• Return the fish to the skillet. Add red pepper if desired. Simmer for twenty to thirty minutes. Serve with Rice.

Here are some pics:

Frying the fish in the oil

Fish out. Frying off onions and pepper

Add in tomato (I blended them) and fish back in. Simmer

 

See you next week. This was a doddle. Night night.