Samak Mashwī (Grilled Stuffed Fish)
Origin: Baghdad, Iraq
Source: Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Baghdādī, 1226
Ingredients
- fresh fish
- sumaq (sumac)
- dried thyme/savory
- garlic
- walnut kernels
- kusfara (coriander)
- darsini (cinnamon)
- cumin
- mastic
- sesame oil
- saffron
- rosewater
- salt
Instructions
- Scale a fresh fish with a knife, slit and gut it, wash well, and dry off the water.
- Pound sumac fine and discard the seeds; pound about half its amount of dried thyme (saʿtar), and about a quarter its amount of peeled garlic, fine.
- Pound about half the total of walnut kernels (lubb jawz) and mix everything together; sprinkle in coriander, cinnamon (dārṣīnī), cumin, and mastic ground fine.
- Knead the mixture with fresh sesame oil (shīraj) and adjust the salt to make the stuffing.
- Coat the fish inside and out with sesame oil and saffron dissolved in rosewater, and stuff its belly with the stuffing.
- Tie it with strong linen threads, set it on an iron skewer, and place it in the tannūr over a gentle, non-flaming fire.
- Cook until it is done, then lift it out; eat hot or cold.