Poisson Farci à la Saint-Louisienne (Stuffed Fish, in the Manner of St Louis)
Poisson Farci à la Saint-Louisienne (Stuffed Fish, in the Manner of St Louis) is a traditional Senegalese recipe for a classic dish of mullet that's boned and stuffed with a blend of tomatoes, spring onions, parsley, garlic, chillies, coriander leaves and bread before being baked. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Senegalese version of: Stuffed Fish, in the Manner of St Louis (Poisson Farci à la Saint-Louisienne).
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Ingredients:
1 large mullet (about 2kg)
1kg tomatoes, blanched, peeled and de-seeded
1 bunch of spring onions
1 bunch of parsley
3 garlic cloves
4 hot chillies
2 tbsp groundnut oil
1/2 bunch coriander leaves
1 large chunk of stale Breads bayleaves
thyme
salt and freshly-ground black pepper
Method:
Scale the fish, trim off the fins and tail (reserve these) then take out the gills and gut the fish through the holes thus made (this is the typical away of gutting fish in Senegal). Wash the fish and set aside to drain.
Once dry, take a sharp knife and cut through the ventral skin along the entire length of the backbone. Now carefully take out the backbone then remove the fish flesh from the skin (be careful not to break the skin and do not separate the skin from the fish's head). Place the fish on a dish and set aside.
Add 500ml water to a pan and add the bones, fins, tails, a few sprigs of parsley, salt, black pepper and bayleaf. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for about 20 minutes to make fish stock.
Soak the stale Breads in water. Finely shred the coriander and the remaining parsley then crush together the garlic, spring onions (reserve one) and two of the chillies in a mortar. Add the fish flesh, soaked bread (drain and squeeze out the excess moisture first) and two of the tomatoes.
Mix well, season to taste and pound to a paste. Use this mixture to carefully stuff the fish skin (do not over-fill as the stuffing will expand during cooking. Sew the skin closed.
Slice the remaining tomatoes and arrange half in the base of a baking dish. Set the fish on top then place the remaining tomatoes on top. Tuck in the two remaining whole chillies, finely shred the remaining spring onion and sprinkle over the top. Season ti taste with thyme and salt then cover with foil and place in an oven pre-heated to 180°C. Bake for 20 minutes then remove from the oven.
Take off the fish and baste the fish with the fish stock you made. Return to the oven and cook for 10 minutes more then repeat the basting process again. Return to the oven once more and cook for the final 10 minutes.
Serve hot on a bed of rice, accompanied by the tomato sauce.
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