Attieke poisson recipe

Fermented cassava couscous steamed loose, served under a whole fish scored and charred over coals, with a raw onion salad on the side.

2 days and 1 hourmedium10 ingredients

Ingredients

• 400 g attieke
• 2 whole tilapia
• 2 onions
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 lemons
• 1 fresh chili pepper
• 2 clove garlic
• 15 g ginger
• 3 tbsp peanut oil
• 2 tsp salt

How to make Attieke poisson

1. Scale and gut 2 whole tilapia of about 500 g each, then score each flank three times down to the bone so the marinade reaches the flesh.
2. Blend 2 garlic cloves, a 2 cm piece of ginger, half an onion, half a chili, 2 tsp of salt and the juice of 1 lemon, rub it into the cuts and the belly, and leave 30 minutes.
3. Grill the fish whole over charcoal, 10 to 12 minutes a side, brushing with peanut oil until the skin blisters and blackens in patches. An oven at 200 °C works but you lose the smoke, which is half the dish.
4. Attieke is bought ready made: it is grated cassava that has been fermented for days then steamed, and no home shortcut reproduces that fermentation.
5. Crumble 400 g of attieke with your fingers, sprinkle 2 tbsp of water over it and break up every lump.
6. Steam it 5 to 10 minutes over a pot of simmering water until it is hot and loose. Never boil it in water, which turns it to paste.
7. Make the raw salad: slice 1 onion, 2 tomatoes and the rest of the chili thin, then season with the remaining lemon juice, salt and a splash of oil.
8. Serve each fish whole on a bed of attieke with the raw salad alongside, and eat with your hands.

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