Caldou

Ingredients

Fish

• 1.5 kgfirm white fish such as grouper, capitaine or sea bream, cut into thick steaks on the bone
• 2limes
• salt

Stew

• 100 mlgroundnut oil
• 2onions, sliced
• 4 clovesgarlic, crushed
• 3tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tbsptomato paste
• 300 gokra, trimmed
• 2carrots, in chunks
• 1aubergine, in chunks
• 1sweet potato, in chunks
• 1whole scotch bonnet
• 1 litrewater
• 1stock cube
• black pepper

To serve

• 500 gbroken rice

Directions

1. Rub the fish steaks with the juice of one lime and a good pinch of salt and leave them for 20 minutes. The lime firms the flesh so that it holds together in the pot instead of flaking apart into the broth.
2. Fry the onions in the groundnut oil over a medium heat for about 10 minutes, until soft and golden.
3. Add the garlic, tomatoes and tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes, until the paste has darkened.
4. Pour in the water, crumble in the stock cube, and add the harder vegetables, the carrot and sweet potato, then simmer for 15 minutes.
5. Add the aubergine and okra and cook for a further 10 minutes.
6. Lay the fish steaks on top, drop in the whole scotch bonnet, cover and poach gently for 10 to 12 minutes. Do not stir once the fish is in; move the pot itself if you need to.
7. Lift the fish and vegetables out onto a warmed platter and keep them covered.
8. Finish the broth off the heat with the juice of the second lime. Lime boiled in the pot goes flat and faintly bitter, and added right at the end it is precisely what makes this a Casamance dish.
9. Cook the broken rice separately, or steam it in a colander set over the pot.
10. Serve the rice with the fish and vegetables laid over it and the sour broth ladled around.

Technique

• This is the light, fresh-fish, lime-soured cooking of the southern coast. Northern thieboudienne uses dried and fermented fish and a heavy tomato base, and caldou is deliberately its opposite.
• Fish on the bone, in thick steaks. Fillets disintegrate and give the broth nothing.
• The whole pepper perfumes without heating. Break it into your own plate if you want the fire.

Substitutions

• Any firm white fish available on the bone, cut thick.
• A spoonful of yet, fermented sea snail, added with the tomato for a deeper Senegalese note.

Variations

• With extra okra for a thicker, more viscous broth.
• With sorrel leaves for additional sourness.
• Caldo, the closely related Guinea-Bissau version.

History

A light Casamance fish stew soured with lime, reflecting the southern coast’s fresh river and estuary catch rather than the dried fish of the north.

Frequently asked questions

What is Caldou?

Caldou is a main from Senegal: light Casamance stew of fresh fish, lemon and okra over rice. A light Casamance fish stew soured with lime, reflecting the southern coast’s fresh river and estuary catch rather than the dried fish of the north.

How long does Caldou take to make?

Caldou takes 25 min of preparation and 50 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Caldou?

Yes, within limits. Any firm white fish available on the bone, cut thick. A spoonful of yet, fermented sea snail, added with the tomato for a deeper Senegalese note.

What is the most important thing to get right in Caldou?

Rub the fish steaks with the juice of one lime and a good pinch of salt and leave them for 20 minutes. The lime firms the flesh so that it holds together in the pot instead of flaking apart into the broth.