Chraime

Ingredients

Fish

• 6thick fish steaks on the bone
• 1 tspsalt
• juice of ½ lemon

Sauce

• 100 mlolive oil
• 8 clovesgarlic, sliced
• 3 tbsptomato paste
• 2tomatoes, grated
• 1red pepper, chopped
• 2 tbspsweet paprika
• 1 tbspground cumin
• 1 tspground caraway
• 1 tspharissa
• 1 tspturmeric
• 250 mlwater
• 1 tspsugar
• salt

To finish

• 1large bunch coriander
• lemon wedges

To serve

• challah

Directions

1. Salt the fish steaks, squeeze lemon over them, and leave them for 20 minutes.
2. Fry the sliced garlic gently in the olive oil for 2 minutes, until fragrant but not coloured.
3. Take the pan off the heat before adding the paprika, cumin, caraway and turmeric, and stir them into the warm oil.
4. Paprika in this quantity burns within seconds over direct heat and turns the whole sauce bitter. Off the heat it blooms into the oil and stains it deep red, which is where the colour of a chraime comes from.
5. Return the pan to a low heat, add the tomato paste and fry for 2 minutes, then add the grated tomato, red pepper, harissa, sugar and water.
6. Simmer for 15 minutes, until the sauce thickens and the oil begins to rise to the surface.
7. Lay the fish steaks into the sauce in a single layer and spoon sauce over them, then cover and cook for 12 to 15 minutes.
8. Do not stir once the fish is in. Shake the pan instead, or the steaks will break apart into the sauce.
9. Scatter over a great deal of chopped coriander and leave it to stand off the heat for 10 minutes.
10. Serve warm or at room temperature, with challah for the sauce, which is more than half of what people come for.

Technique

• Spices off the heat, fish on the bone, and let it stand. It is markedly better twenty minutes after it comes off the stove.
• It is cooked by Libyan and Tunisian Jews for Shabbat and holidays, and is generally eaten at room temperature for that reason.
• The bone and skin give the sauce body. Fillets make a thinner and much less interesting dish.

Substitutions

• Any firm white fish on the bone: grouper, sea bream, hake or cod.
• Two teaspoons of chilli flakes in place of harissa.

Variations

• With preserved lemon added to the sauce.
• Considerably hotter, in the Libyan style.
• With chickpeas simmered in the sauce alongside the fish.

History

Fish, typically cooked in a spicy sauce built from tomato, garlic and hot chili, documented across Israel with roots tracing to North African, particularly Libyan and Tunisian, Jewish culinary tradition, brought to Israel through significant waves of North African Jewish immigration during the mid-1900s. Its notably fiery heat, more pronounced than many other traditional Israeli fish preparations, reflects that specific North African Jewish culinary influence, and chraime is traditionally prepared for Jewish Sabbath and holiday meals, particularly closely associated with the Rosh Hashanah new year celebration among North African Jewish communities. Chraime remains closely tied to North African Jewish culinary heritage within Israel, now enjoyed more broadly across the country’s diverse food culture.

Frequently asked questions

What is Chraime?

Chraime is a main from Israel: fish simmered in fiery tomato-pepper sauce; North African Shabbat dish. Fish, typically cooked in a spicy sauce built from tomato, garlic and hot chili, documented across Israel with roots tracing to North African, particularly Libyan and Tunisian, Jewish culinary tradition, brought to Israel through significant waves of North African Jewish immigration during the mid-1900s. Its notably fiery heat, more pronounced than many other traditional Israeli fish preparations, reflects that specific North African Jewish culinary influence, and chraime is traditionally prepared for Jewish Sabbath and holiday meals, particularly closely associated with the Rosh Hashanah new year celebration among North African Jewish communities. Chraime remains closely tied to North African Jewish culinary heritage within Israel, now enjoyed more broadly across the country’s diverse food culture.

How long does Chraime take to make?

Chraime takes 20 min of preparation and 35 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Chraime?

Yes, within limits. Any firm white fish on the bone: grouper, sea bream, hake or cod. Two teaspoons of chilli flakes in place of harissa.

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

Paprika in this quantity burns within seconds over direct heat and turns the whole sauce bitter. Off the heat it blooms into the oil and stains it deep red, which is where the colour of a chraime comes from.