West Africa · Volume 01, The Wolof-Mandinka World
Kethiakh
Serer technique for preserving small pelagic fish, principally sardinella
Illustration
- Time
- 3 hours
- Researched
- Researched from 160 sources in the brief
- Reviewed
- Awaiting a reader from inside the tradition
- Cooked
- Awaiting a cook report
As tradition built it
Makes about 3 kg. Several hours, mostly drying.
Ingredients
- 5 kg sardinella, whole
- to taste salt
Method
- Braise the sardinella directly over an open fire, flame contact rather than smoke, until the skin blisters.
- Skin, head and salt the fish.
- Sun-dry on raised racks, covered against rain.
- A single crate of raw fish yields more than 40 kilograms of finished kethiakh at scale; a home batch of 5 kg raw will yield roughly 3 kg dried.
What a modern chef changes
A dehydrator standing in for the sun, and the braise timed rather than eyeballed
No new rung: this is a straightforward substitution of controlled equipment for climate
Method
- Braise hard and fast over very high heat to blister the skin without cooking the flesh through, then finish drying in a dehydrator at 45 to 50°C for 18 to 24 hours rather than relying on British sun.
- Eaten on its own with legumes, as the tradition does inland, or flaked into the ceebu jën variant it gives its name to, thiébou kéthiakh.